The altar of incense: money to be gathered for the use of the tabernacle: the brazen laver: the holy oil of unction, and the composition of the perfume.

¹ “You shall also make an altar, for the burning of incense, from setim wood,¹

1. 30:1An altar to burn incense: This burning of incense was an emblem of prayer, ascending to God from an inflamed heart. See Ps. 140.2; Apoc. 5.8, and 8.4.(Challoner)

² having one cubit in length, and another in width, that is, four equal sides, and two cubits in height. Horns shall proceed from the same.

³ And you shall clothe it with the purest gold, both its grating and the walls around it, and also the horns. And you shall make for it a crown of gold in a circle,

⁴ and two gold rings under the crown on each side, so that the bars may be set in them and the altar may be carried.

⁵ Also, you shall make its bars of setim wood, and you shall overlay them with gold.

⁶ And you shall set the altar opposite the veil, which hangs in front of the ark of the testimony, before the propitiatory with which the testimony is covered, where I will speak to you.

⁷ And Aaron shall burn incense upon it, a sweet fragrance, in the morning. When he lights the lamps, he shall burn it.

⁸ And when he assembles them in the evening, he shall burn an everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations.

⁹ You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition, nor an oblation, nor a victim; neither shall you offer libations.

¹⁰ And Aaron shall pray over its horns once a year, with the blood of what was offered for sin. And he shall make atonement over it in your generations. It shall be the Holy of holies to the Lord.”

¹¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

¹² “When you have taken the sum of the sons of Israel, according to their number, each shall give a price for their souls to the Lord, and there will be no scourge among them, when they will be reviewed.

¹³ Then all those who pass shall give by name: one half shekel, according to the measure at the temple. A shekel has twenty obols. The half part of a shekel shall be offered to the Lord.¹²

1. 30:13An obol is a coin (and a unit of weight) worth one sixth of a drachma.(Conte)
2. 30:13Half a sicle: A sicle or shekel of silver, (which was also called a stater,) according to the standard or weight of the sanctuary, which was the most just and exact, was half an ounce of silver, that is, about half a crown of English money. The obol, or gerah, was about three halfpence.(Challoner)

¹⁴ He who has been numbered from twenty years and above shall give the price.

¹⁵ The rich shall not add to the half shekel, and the poor shall diminish nothing.

¹⁶ And the money received, which was collected from the sons of Israel, you shall deliver for the uses of the tabernacle of the testimony, so that it may be a memorial of them before the Lord, and he may act favorably toward their souls.”

¹⁷ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

¹⁸ “You shall also make a bronze washtub with its base to wash in; and you shall place it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar. And when water has been added,

¹⁹ Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet in it:

²⁰ when they enter the tabernacle of the testimony, and when they approach to the altar so as to offer incense to the Lord upon it,

²¹ otherwise, they may die. This shall be an everlasting law to him, and to his offspring, throughout their successions.”

²² And the Lord spoke to Moses,

²³ saying: “Take for yourself aromatics: of the first and best myrrh, five hundred shekels, and of cinnamon half as much, that is, two hundred and fifty shekels; of sweet flag similarly two hundred and fifty,¹

1. 30:23A shekel, and in general other units of money at that time, were units of weight. A shekel was about 11.5 grams.(Conte)

²⁴ but of cassia, five hundred shekels by the weight of the sanctuary, and of the oil of olives the measure of a hin.

²⁵ And you shall make the holy oil of unction, an ointment composed with the skills of a perfumer,

²⁶ and with it you shall anoint the tabernacle of the testimony, and the ark of the testament,

²⁷ and the table with its vessels, and the lampstand and its utensils, the altars of incense

²⁸ and of holocaust, and all the items that pertain to their rituals.

²⁹ And you shall sanctify everything, and they shall be the Holy of holies. He who will touch them must be sanctified.

³⁰ You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and you shall sanctify them, so that they may exercise the priesthood for me.

³¹ Likewise, you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘This oil of unction will be holy to me throughout your generations.

³² The flesh of man shall not be anointed from it, and you shall not make any similar compound, for it has been sanctified and it shall be holy to you.

³³ Whatever man will have composed such a thing and have given it to a stranger, he shall be exterminated from his people.’ ”

³⁴ And the Lord said to Moses: “Take to yourself aromatics: stacte, and onycha, galbanum of sweet odor, and the clearest frankincense, all these shall be of equal weight.

³⁵ And you shall make incense composed with the skills of a perfumer, diligently mixed, and pure, and most worthy of sanctification.¹

1. 30:35The word ‘unguentarii’ refers to someone who composes ointments, including those for health and those for beauty.(Conte)

³⁶ And when you have crushed all these into a very fine powder, you shall place some of it before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where I will appear to you. The Holy of holies shall this incense be to you.

³⁷ You shall not make such a compound for your own uses, because it is holy to the Lord.

³⁸ Whatever man will have made anything similar, so as to thoroughly enjoy its smell, he shall perish from his people.”