Exodus 30:24

24 and of cassia five hundred shekels of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil.

Exodus 30:24 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 30:24

And of cassia five hundred [shekels]
Or two hundred and fifty ounces:

after the shekel of the sanctuary;
according to the standard weight kept there. This "cassia" was not the "cassia solutiva", which is of a purgative nature, and now in use in physic, but the "cassia odorata", or the sweet smelling "cassia": which, Pancirollus ^F19 says, some take to be the nard, out of which a most sweet oil is pressed; and Servius

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 says, that cassia is an herb of a most sweet smell. Pliny ^F21 speaks of it along with cinnamon; and Galen says, when cinnamon was wanting, it was usual to put in its stead a double quantity of cassia {w}; Leo Africanus speaks of trees in Africa bearing cassia, and which chiefly grew in Egypt ^F24;

and of oil olive an hin;
containing twelve logs: according to Godwin ^F25, it was of our measure three quarts; but, as Bishop Cumberland has more exactly calculated it, it held a wine gallon, a quart, and a little more: this was the purest and best of oil, and most fit and proper to be a part of this holy anointing oil.

F19 Ut supra, (Rer. Memorab. sive Deperd. par. 1.) tit. 11. p. 30.
F20 In Virgil. Bucol. Eclog. 2.
F21 Ut supra, (Nat. Hist. l. 12.) c. 19.
F23 Apud Dalechamp in Plin. ib.
F24 Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 752.
F25 Moses & Aaron, l. 6. c. 9.

Exodus 30:24 In-Context

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

23 Do thou also take sweet herbs, the flower of choice myrrh five hundred shekels, and the half of this two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet-smelling cinnamon, and two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet-smelling calamus,

24 and of cassia five hundred shekels of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil.

25 And thou shalt make it a holy anointing oil, a perfumed ointment by the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil.

26 And thou shalt anoint with it the tabernacle of witness, and the ark of the tabernacle of witness,

Footnotes

• [a]. iris.