1"Harás asimismo un altar para quemar incienso. Lo harás de madera de acacia. 2Será cuadrado, de un codo de largo, de un codo de ancho y de dos codos de alto. Sus cuernos serán hechos de la misma pieza. 3Lo recubrirás de oro puro, tanto su cubierta como sus paredes alrededor y sus cuernos. Le harás alrededor una moldura de oro. 4Le harás también dos aros de oro debajo de su moldura en sus dos costados, en sus dos lados, donde se colocarán las varas con que será transportado. 5Harás las varas de madera de acacia y las recubrirás de oro. 6"Pondrás el altar delante del velo que está junto al arca del testimonio y delante del propiciatorio que está sobre el testimonio, donde yo me encontraré contigo. 7Aarón quemará incienso aromático sobre él; lo quemará cada mañana cuando prepare las lámparas. 8Cuando encienda las lámparas al anochecer, también quemará incienso delante de Jehovah, continuamente, a través de vuestras generaciones. 9No ofreceréis sobre el altar incienso extraño, ni holocausto, ni ofrenda vegetal. Tampoco derramaréis libación sobre él. 10Una vez al año Aarón hará expiación sobre los cuernos del altar. Con la sangre de la víctima para la expiación por el pecado, hará expiación sobre él, una vez al año, a través de vuestras generaciones. Será muy sagrado a Jehovah." 11Jehovah habló a Moisés diciendo: 12"Cuando hagáis el censo para obtener el número de los hijos de Israel, según los que sean contados de ellos, cada uno dará a Jehovah el rescate por su persona. Así no habrá mortandad entre ellos, cuando hayan sido contados. 13Esto dará todo el que sea contado: medio siclo conforme al siclo del santuario. El siclo tiene 20 geras. La mitad de un siclo será la ofrenda alzada para Jehovah. 14Cada uno que sea contado, de veinte años para arriba, dará esta ofrenda alzada para Jehovah. 15Al entregar la ofrenda alzada para Jehovah a fin de hacer expiación por vuestras personas, el rico no dará más, ni el pobre dará menos del medio siclo. 16Tomarás de los hijos de Israel el dinero de las expiaciones y lo darás para el servicio del tabernáculo de reunión. Ello será un memorial a los hijos de Israel, delante de Jehovah, para hacer expiación por vuestras personas." 17Jehovah también habló a Moisés diciendo: 18"También harás una fuente de bronce para lavarse, con su base también de bronce. La pondrás entre el tabernáculo de reunión y el altar, y pondrás en ella agua. 19Aarón y sus hijos se lavarán en ella sus manos y sus pies. 20Cuando entren en el tabernáculo de reunión, se lavarán con agua, para que no mueran. Cuando se acerquen al altar para servir y presentar la ofrenda quemada a Jehovah, 21también se lavarán las manos y los pies, para que no mueran. Esto será un estatuto perpetuo, tanto para él como para sus descendientes, a través de sus generaciones." 22Jehovah también habló a Moisés diciendo: 23"Toma especias aromáticas: de mirra granulada de primera, 500 siclos; de canela aromática, la mitad, es decir, 250; de cálamo aromático, 250; 24de casia, 500, según el siclo del santuario; y un hin de aceite de oliva. 25Con esto prepararás el aceite de la santa unción. Será un ungüento combinado, obra de perfumador, el cual será el aceite de la santa unción. 26Con él ungirás el tabernáculo de reunión y el arca del testimonio, 27la mesa con todos sus utensilios, el candelabro con sus utensilios, el altar del incienso, 28el altar del holocausto con todos sus utensilios y la fuente con su base. 29Así los consagrarás, y serán cosas muy sagradas. Todo lo que los toque será santificado. 30"También ungirás a Aarón y a sus hijos, y los consagrarás, para que me sirvan como sacerdotes. 31Y hablarás a los hijos de Israel, diciendo: ‘Este será mi aceite de la santa unción a través de todas vuestras generaciones. 32No será vertido sobre el cuerpo de ningún hombre, ni haréis una composición similar. Sagrado es, y sagrado será para vosotros. 33Cualquiera que prepare un ungüento similar y cualquiera que ponga de él sobre una persona extraña será excluido de su pueblo.’" 34Jehovah dijo también a Moisés: "Toma especias: estacte, uña aromática, gálbano e incienso puro; igual peso de cada cosa. 35Haz con ello el incienso aromático, obra de perfumador, salado, puro y santo. 36Molerás una parte de él muy fina y la pondrás delante del testimonio, en el tabernáculo de reunión, donde yo me encontraré contigo. Será para vosotros cosa muy sagrada. 37No os haréis incienso de una composición similar. Te será cosa sagrada para Jehovah; 38cualquiera que haga una composición similar para olerla será excluido de su pueblo."
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE ALTAR OF INCENSE. (Exo. 30:1-38)
thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon, &c.--Its material was to be like that of the ark of the testimony, but its dimensions very small [
Exod 25:10].
2 foursquare--the meaning of which is not that it was to be entirely of a cubical form, but that upon its upper and under surface, it showed four equal sides. It was twice as high as it was broad, being twenty-one inches broad and three feet six inches high. It had "horns"; its top or flat surface was surmounted by an ornamental ledge or rim, called a crown, and it was furnished at the sides with rings for carriage. Its only accompanying piece of furniture was a golden censer or pan, in which the incense was set fire to upon the altar. Hence it was called the altar of incense, or the "golden altar" [
Exod 39:38;
Exod 40:26], from the profuse degree in which it was gilded or overlaid with the precious metal. This splendor was adapted to the early age of the church, but in later times, when the worship was to be more spiritual, the altar of incense is prophetically described as not of gold but of wood, and double the size of that in the tabernacle, because the church should be vastly extended (
Mal 1:11).
6 thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony--which separated the holy from the most holy place. The altar was in the middle between the table of showbread and the candlestick next the holy of holies, at equal distances from the north and south walls; in other words, it occupied a spot on the outside of the great partition veil, but directly in front of the mercy seat, which was within that sacred enclosure; so that although the priest who ministered at this altar could not behold the mercy seat, he was to look towards it, and present his incense in that direction. This was a special arrangement, and it was designed to teach the important lesson that, though we cannot with the eye of sense, see the throne of grace, we must "direct our prayer to it and look up" [
Ps 5:3] (compare
2Cor 3:14;
Heb 10:20;
Rev 4:1).
7 Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense--literally, "incense of spices"--Strong aromatic substances were burnt upon this altar to counteract by their odoriferous fragrance the offensive fumes of the sacrifices; or the incense was employed in an offering of tributary homage which the Orientals used to make as a mark of honor to kings; and as God was Theocratic Ruler of Israel, His palace was not to be wanting in a usage of such significancy. Both these ends were served by this altar--that of fumigating the apartments of the sacred edifice, while the pure lambent flame, according to Oriental notions, was an honorary tribute to the majesty of Israel's King. But there was a far higher meaning in it still; for as the tabernacle was not only a palace for Israel's King, but a place of worship for Israel's God, this altar was immediately connected with a religious purpose. In the style of the sacred writers, incense was a symbol or emblem of prayer (
Ps 141:2;
Rev 5:8;
Rev 8:3). From the uniform combination of the two services, it is evident that the incense was an emblem of the prayers of sincere worshippers ascending to heaven in the cloud of perfume; and, accordingly, the priest who officiated at this altar typified the intercessory office of Christ (
Luke 1:10;
Heb 7:25).
every morning . . . at even--In every period of the national history this daily worship was scrupulously observed.
8 Aaron shall burn incense--seemingly limiting the privilege of officiating at the altar of incense to the high priest alone, and there is no doubt that he and his successors exclusively attended this altar on the great religious festivals. But "Aaron" is frequently used for the whole priestly order, and in later times, any of the priests might have officiated at this altar in rotation (
Luke 1:9).
9 Ye shall offer no strange incense--that is, of a different composition from that of which the ingredients are described so minutely.
11 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, &c.--Moses did so twice, and doubtless observed the law here prescribed. The tax was not levied from women, minors, old men (
Num 1:42,
Num 1:45), and the Levites (
Num 1:47), they being not numbered. Assuming the shekel of the sanctuary to be about half an ounce troy, though nothing certain is known about it, the sum payable by each individual was two and four pence. This was not a voluntary contribution, but a ransom for the soul or lives of the people. It was required from all classes alike, and a refusal to pay implied a wilful exclusion from the privileges of the sanctuary, as well as exposure to divine judgments. It was probably the same impost that was exacted from our Lord (
Matt 17:24-
Matt 17:27), and it was usually devoted to repairs and other purposes connected with the services of the sanctuary.
18 Thou shalt . . . make a laver of brass--Though not actually forming a component part of the furniture of the tabernacle, this vase was closely connected with it; and though from standing at the entrance it would be a familiar object, it possessed great interest and importance from the baptismal purposes to which it was applied. No data are given by which its form and size can be ascertained; but it was probably a miniature pattern of Solomon's--a circular basin.
his foot--supposed not to be the pedestal on which it rested, but a trough or shallow receptacle below, into which the water, let out from a cock or spout, flowed; for the way in which all Eastern people wash their hands or feet is by pouring upon them the water which falls into a basin. This laver was provided for the priests alone. But in the Christian dispensation, all believers are priests, and hence the apostle exhorts them how to draw near to God (
John 13:10;
Heb 10:22).
23 Take thou also . . . principal spices, &c.--Oil is frequently mentioned in Scripture as an emblem of sanctification, and anointing with it a means of designating objects as well as persons to the service of God. Here it is prescribed by divine authority, and the various ingredients in their several proportions described which were to compose the oil used in consecrating the furniture of the tabernacle.
myrrh--a fragrant and medicinal gum from a little known tree in Arabia.
sweet cinnamon--produced from a species of laurel or sweet bay, found chiefly in Ceylon, growing to a height of twenty feet: this spice is extracted from the inner bark, but it is not certain whether that mentioned by Moses is the same as that with which we are familiar.
sweet calamus--or sweet cane, a product of Arabia and India, of a tawny color in appearance; it is like the common cane and strongly odoriferous.
24 cassia--from the same species of tree as the cinnamon--some think the outer bark of that tree. All these together would amount to one hundred twenty pounds, troy weight.
hin--a word of Egyptian origin, equal to ten pints. Being mixed with the olive oil--no doubt of the purest kind--this composition probably remained always in a liquid state, and the strictest prohibition issued against using it for any other purpose than anointing the tabernacle and its furniture.
34 the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices--These were:
stacte--the finest myrrh;
onycha--supposed to be an odoriferous shell;
galbanum--a gum resin from an umbelliferous plant.
frankincense--a dry, resinous, aromatic gum, of a yellow color, which comes from a tree in Arabia, and is obtained by incision of the bark. This incense was placed within the sanctuary, to be at hand when the priest required to burn on the altar. The art of compounding unguents and perfumes was well known in Egypt, where sweet-scented spices were extensively used not only in common life, but in the ritual of the temples. Most of the ingredients here mentioned have been found on minute examination of mummies and other Egyptian relics; and the Israelites, therefore, would have the best opportunities of acquiring in that country the skill in pounding and mixing them which they were called to exercise in the service of the tabernacle. But the recipe for the incense as well as for the oil in the tabernacle, though it receives illustration from the customs of Egypt, was peculiar, and being prescribed by divine authority, was to be applied to no common or inferior purpose.