30:1 And thou shalt make an altar a to burn incense upon: [of]
shittim wood shalt thou make it.
(a) Upon which the sweet perfume was burnt, (Ex 30:34).
30:2 A cubit [shall be] the length thereof, and a cubit the
breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits
[shall be] the height thereof: the horns thereof [shall be]
b of the same.
(b) Of the same wood and matter.
30:6 And thou shalt put it c before the vail that [is] by the
ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that [is] over
the testimony, where I will meet with thee.
(c) That is, in the sanctuary, and not in the holiest of
all.
30:7 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning:
when he d dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon
it.
(d) Meaning, when he trims them, and refreshes the oil.
30:9 Ye shall offer no e strange incense thereon, nor burnt
sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink
offering f thereon.
(e) Otherwise made them this, which is described.
(f) But it must only serve to burn perfume.
30:12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after
their number, then shall they give every man g a ransom
for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that
there be no plague among them, when [thou] numberest them.
(g) By which he testified that he redeemed his life which
he had forfeit, as is declared by David,
(2Sa 24:1).
30:13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them
that are numbered, half a shekel after the h shekel of
the sanctuary: (a shekel [is] twenty gerahs:) an half
shekel [shall be] the offering of the LORD.
(h) This shekel was worth two common shekels: and the
gerah about 12 pence at a rate of five shillings
sterling to an ounce of silver.
30:15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give
less than half a shekel, when [they] give an offering unto
the LORD, i to make an atonement for your souls.
(i) That God should be merciful to you.
30:19 For Aaron and his sons shall k wash their hands and
their feet thereat:
(k) Signifying that he that comes to God must be washed
from all sin and corruption.
30:21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they
die not: and it shall be a statute l for ever to them,
[even] to him and to his seed throughout their
generations.
(l) So long as the priesthood shall last.
30:23 Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh
five hundred m [shekels], and of sweet cinnamon half so
much, [even] two hundred and fifty [shekels], and of sweet
n calamus two hundred and fifty [shekels],
(m) Weighing so much.
(n) It is a type of reed with a very sweet savour within,
and it is used in powders and odours.
30:26 And thou shalt anoint the o tabernacle of the
congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony,
(o) All things which belong to the tabernacle.
30:32 Upon p man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall
ye make [any other] like it, after the composition of it:
it [is] holy, [and] it shall be holy unto you.
(p) Neither at their burials nor otherwise.
30:33 Whosoever compoundeth [any] like it, or whosoever putteth
[any] of it upon q a stranger, shall even be cut off
from his people.
(q) Either a stranger or an Israelite, save only the
priests.
30:34 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices,
stacte, and r onycha, and galbanum; [these] sweet spices
with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like
[weight]:
(r) In Hebrew, Sheheleth: which is a sweet kind of gum and
shines as the nail.
