Exodus 30

1 Also thou shalt make an altar of the wood of shittim, for to burn incense; (And thou shalt make an altar out of shittim wood, or acacia wood, on which to burn incense;)

2 and the altar shall have a cubit of length, and another cubit of breadth, that is four-cornered, and two cubits in height; (and the) corners shall come forth of the altar. (and the altar shall be one cubit in length, and one cubit in breadth, that is, square, and two cubits in height; and horns shall come forth from the altar.)

3 And thou shalt clothe it with cleanest gold, as well the roof thereof, that is, the higher part, as the walls, and [the] corners by compass thereof; and thou shalt make to the altar a little golden crown by compass, (And thou shalt cover it with pure gold, the top of it, and its walls, and the horns on its corners; and thou shalt put a gold band all around the altar,)

4 and two golden circles under the crown by all sides, that bars be put into those rings, and so the altar be borne. (and thou shalt fasten two gold rings under the band on each side, so that bars can be put through those rings, and the altar can be carried.)

5 Also thou shalt make the bars of the wood of shittim, and thou shalt overgild them; (And thou shalt make the bars out of shittim wood, and thou shalt gild them with gold;)

6 and thou shalt set the altar against the veil, that hangeth before the ark of witnessing, (and) before the propitiatory, with which the witnessing is covered, where I shall speak to thee. (and thou shalt put the altar outside the Veil, that hangeth in front of the Ark of the Witnessing, and in front of the propitiatory, that is, the mercy seat, or the lid, that covereth the Ark of the Witnessing, where I shall speak to thee.)

7 And Aaron shall burn thereon incense smelling sweetly early (And early each day, Aaron shall burn sweet smelling incense on it); when he shall array the lanterns, he shall burn it;

8 and when he setteth the lanterns at eventide, he shall burn everlasting incense before the Lord, into your generations. (and when he setteth the lanterns in the evening, he shall also burn everlasting incense on it before the Lord, and so shall all your generations to come.)

9 Ye shall not offer thereon incense of (any) other making, neither offering, nor slain sacrifice, neither ye shall offer flowing offerings thereon (nor shall ye offer any wine offerings on it).

10 And Aaron shall pray on the horns thereof once by the year, in the blood which is offered for sin, and he shall please (the Lord) thereon in your generations; it shall be the holy of holy things to the Lord. (And once every year Aaron shall put blood on its horns, from the yearly sin offering, and for all your generations to come, the priest shall cleanse, or shall purify, the altar in this way; for it is most holy to the Lord.)

11 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

12 When thou shalt take the sum of the sons of Israel, all by themselves shall give by the number (the) price for their souls to the Lord, and vengeance shall not be in them, when they be numbered. (When thou shalt take the sum of the sons of Israel, that is, when thou shalt register them, each one shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord, and so vengeance shall not come upon them, as they be listed.)

13 Soothly each that passeth to the name(d), that is, of twenty years, shall give this price (And each one who passeth over to the named, that is, he who is twenty years of age, or older, shall pay this amount of money), half a shekel by the measure of the temple; a shekel hath twenty half-pence; the half part of a shekel shall be offered to the Lord.

14 He that is had in the number, from twenty years and above, shall give this price; (He that is had in the number, from twenty years of age and older, shall pay this amount of money;)

15 a rich man shall not add to the half of a shekel, and a poor man shall nothing abate (and a poor man shall not pay less).

16 And thou shalt betake into the uses of the tabernacle of witnessing the money taken, which is gathered of the sons of Israel, that it be a mind of them before the Lord, and he shall be merciful to their souls. (And thou shalt use the money, which is gathered from the sons of Israel, for the needs of the Tabernacle of the Witnessing; and it shall be a reminder of them to the Lord, and so I shall be merciful to their souls.)

17 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

18 Also thou shalt make a great vessel of brass with his foundament, to wash in, and thou shalt set it betwixt the tabernacle of witnessing and the altar; and when water is put therein, (And thou shalt make a great bronze vessel, with a bronze foundation, or a bronze base, to wash in, and thou shalt set it between the Tabernacle of the Witnessing and the altar; and when water is put in it,)

19 Aaron and his sons shall wash therein their hands and their feet,

20 when they shall enter into the tabernacle of witnessing, and when they shall nigh to the altar, that they offer therein incense to the Lord, lest peradventure they die; (whenever they shall go into the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, or when they shall approach the altar to offer incense on it to the Lord, otherwise they shall die/or they shall be killed;)

21 it shall be a lawful thing everlasting to him and to his seed by successions. (this shall be an everlasting law for him and for his descendants by succession.)

22 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

23 Take to thee sweet smelling spiceries, of the first and chosen myrrh, (equal to the weight of) five hundred shekels; and of canel the half (and half as much canel), that is, (the weight of) two hundred and fifty shekels; [and] in like manner of calamus, that is, a sweet smelling tree, small and full of knots, (the weight of) two hundred and fifty shekels;

24 also of cassia five hundred shekels, in the weight of [the] saintuary; the oil of olives trees, the measure of hin; (and of cassia, the weight of five hundred shekels, all by the measure of the sanctuary; and the oil of olives trees, the measure of a hin, that is, two pounds;)

25 and thou shalt make the holy oil of anointing, an ointment made by the craft of an ointment maker.

26 And thou shalt anoint thereof the tabernacle of witnessing, and the ark of the testament, (And thou shalt anoint with it the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, and the Ark of the Witnessing,)

27 and the board with his vessels, [and] the candlestick, and the purtenances thereof, (and) the altars of incense, (and the table, and its vessels, and the lamp-stand, and its purtenances, and the altar of incense,)

28 and of burnt sacrifice, and all the purtenance, that pertaineth to the adorning of those things. (and the altar of burnt sacrifice, and the purtenances of the altars, and the great washing vessel, and its foundation, or its base.)

29 And thou shalt hallow all (these) things, and they shall be the holy of holy things; he that shall touch those, shall be hallowed beforehand. (And thou shalt hallow all these things, and they shall be most holy; anyone who is unclean who toucheth these things, shall be harmed.)

30 Thou shalt anoint Aaron, and his sons, and thou shalt hallow them, that they be set in priesthood to me (so that they can serve as my priests).

31 And thou shalt say to the sons of Israel, This oil of anointing shall be holy to me into your generations. (And thou shalt say to the Israelites, This anointing oil shall be holy to me, for all your generations to come.)

32 The flesh of (a) man shall not be anointed thereof, and by the making thereof ye shall not make another such oil, for it is hallowed, and it shall be holy to you.

33 Whatever man maketh such oil, and giveth thereof to an alien, he shall be put out of his people. (Whoever maketh such an oil, or giveth it to anyone, shall be put out, or shall be cut off, from his people.)

34 Forsooth the Lord said to Moses, Take to thee sweet smelling spiceries, stacte, and onycha, galbanum of good odour, and most pure (frank)incense, all these shall be of even weight (and they all shall be of equal weight).

35 And thou shalt make (the) incense, made by the craft of an ointment maker, meddled together diligently (diligently mixed together), and pure, and most worthy of hallowing.

36 And when thou hast pounded all these things into (the) smallest powder, thou shalt put thereof before the tabernacle of witnessing, in which place I shall appear to thee; the made incense shall be to you the holy of holy things. (And when thou hast pounded all these things into the smallest powder, thou shalt sprinkle it in front of the Ark of the Witnessing in the Tabernacle, where I shall appear to thee; this incense shall be most holy to you.)

37 Ye shall not make such a making into your [own] uses, for it is holy to the Lord. (Ye shall not make such incense for your own uses, for it is holy to the Lord.)

38 Whatever man maketh like thing to it, that he use the odour thereof, he shall perish from his people. (Whoever maketh anything like it, so that he can have its aroma for himself, he shall perish, or shall be cut off, from the midst of his people.)

Exodus 30 Commentary

Chapter 30

The altar of incense. (1-10) The ransom of souls. (11-16) The brazen laver. (17-21) The holy anointing oil, The perfume. (22-38)

Verses 1-10 The altar of incense represented the Son of God in his human nature, and the incense burned thereon typified his pleading for his people. The continual intercession of Christ was represented by the daily burning of incense thereon, morning and evening. Once every year the blood of the atonement was to be applied to it, denoting that the intercession of Christ has all its virtue from his sufferings on earth, and that we need no other sacrifice or intercessor but Christ alone.

Verses 11-16 The tribute was half a shekel, about fifteen pence of our money. The rich were not to give more, nor the poor less; the souls of the rich and poor are alike precious, and God is no respecter of persons, ( Acts 10:34 , Job 34:19 ) . In other offerings men were to give according to their wordly ability; but this, which was the ransom of the soul, must be alike for all. The souls of all are of equal value, equally in danger, and all equally need a ransom. The money raised was to be used in the service of the tabernacle. Those who have the benefit, must not grudge the necessary charges of God's public worship. Money cannot make atonement for the soul, but it may be used for the honour of Him who has made the atonement, and for the maintenance of the gospel by which the atonement is applied.

Verses 17-21 A large vessel of brass, holding water, was to be set near the door of the tabernacle. Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and feet at this laver, every time they went in to minister. This was to teach them purity in all their services, and to dread the pollution of sin. They must not only wash and be made clean, when first made priests, but must wash and be kept clean, whenever they went to minister. It teaches us daily to attend upon God, daily to renew our repentance for sin, and our looking to the blood of Christ for remission; for in many things we daily offend.

Verses 22-38 Directions are here given for making the holy anointing oil, and the incense to be used in the service of the tabernacle. To show the excellency of holiness, there was this spiced oil in the tabernacle, which was grateful to the sight and to the smell. Christ's name is as ointment poured forth, So. 1:3 , and the good name of Christians is like precious ointment, ( Ecclesiastes 7:1 ) . The incense burned upon the golden altar was prepared of sweet spices. When it was used, it was to be beaten very small; thus it pleased the Lord to bruise the Redeemer, when he offered himself for a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savour. The like should not be made for any common use. Thus God would keep in the people's minds reverence for his own services, and teach us not to profane or abuse any thing whereby God makes himself known. It is a great affront to God to jest with sacred things, and to make sport with his word and ordinances. It is most dangerous and fatal to use professions of the gospel of Christ to forward wordly interests.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 30

This chapter treats of the altar of incense, its form and use, Ex 30:1-10 of the ransom of the Israelites, with the half shekel when numbered, Ex 30:11-16 of the laver for the priests to wash their hands and feet at before service, Ex 30:17-21 of the anointing oil, the ingredients of it, and what was to be done with it, Ex 30:22-33, and of the perfume, the composition and use of it, Ex 30:34-38.