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Êxodo 30

ARC · Chapter 30/40

1E farás um altar para queimar o incenso: de madeira de sittim o farás.

2O seu comprimento será d'um covado, e a sua largura d'um covado; será quadrado, e dois covados a sua altura: d'elle mesmo serão os seus cornos.

3E com oiro puro o forrarás, o seu tecto, e as suas paredes ao redor, e os seus cornos; e lhe farás uma corôa d'oiro ao redor.

4Tambem lhe farás duas argolas d'oiro debaixo da sua corôa; aos dois lados as farás, d'ambas as bandas: e serão para logares dos varaes, com que será levado.

5E os varaes farás de madeira de sittim, e os forrarás com oiro.

6E o porás diante do véu que está diante da arca do testemunho, diante do propiciatorio, que está sobre o testemunho, onde me ajuntarei comtigo.

7E Aarão sobre elle queimará o incenso das especiarias; cada manhã, quando põe em ordem as lampadas, o queimara.

8E, accendendo Aarão as lampadas á tarde, o queimará: este será incenso continuo perante o Senhor pelas vossas gerações.

9Não offerecereis sobre elle incenso estranho, nem holocausto, nem offerta: nem tão pouco derramareis sobre elle libações.

10E uma vez no anno Aarão fará expiação sobre os seus cornos com o sangue do sacrificio das expiações: uma vez no anno fará expiação sobre elle pelas vossas gerações: sanctissimo é ao Senhor.

11Fallou mais o Senhor a Moysés, dizendo:

12Quando tomares a somma dos filhos d'Israel, conforme á sua conta, cada um d'elles dará ao Senhor o resgate da sua alma, quando os contares; para que não haja entre elles praga alguma, quando os contares.

13Isto dará todo aquelle que passar ao arrolamento: a metade d'um siclo, segundo o siclo do sanctuario (este siclo é de vinte obolos): a metade d'um siclo é a offerta ao Senhor.

14Qualquer que passar o arrolamento de vinte annos e acima, dará a offerta alçada ao Senhor.

15O rico não augmentará, e o pobre não deminuirá da metade do siclo, quando derem a offerta alçada ao Senhor, para fazer expiação por vossas almas.

16E tomarás o dinheiro das expiações dos filhos d'Israel, e o darás ao serviço da tenda da congregação; e será para memoria aos filhos d'Israel diante do Senhor, para fazer expiação por vossas almas.

17E fallou o Senhor a Moysés, dizendo:

18Farás tambem uma pia de cobre com a sua base de cobre, para lavar: e as porás entre a tenda da congregação e o altar; e deitarás agua n'ella.

19E Aarão e seus filhos n'ella lavarão as suas mãos e os seus pés.

20Quando entrarem na tenda da congregação, lavar-se-hão com agua, para que não morram, ou quando se chegarem ao altar para ministrar, para accender a offerta queimada ao Senhor.

21Lavarão pois as suas mãos e os seus pés, para que não morram: e isto lhes será por estatuto perpetuo a elle e á sua semente nas suas gerações.

22Fallou mais o Senhor a Moysés, dizendo:

23Tu pois toma para ti das principaes especiarias, da mais pura myrrha quinhentos siclos, e de canella aromatica a metade, a saber, duzentos e cincoenta siclos, e de calamo aromatico duzentos e cincoenta siclos,

24E de cassia quinhentos siclos, segundo o siclo do sanctuario, e d'azeite de oliveiras um hin.

25E d'isto farás o azeite da sancta uncção, o perfume composto segundo a obra do perfumista: este será o azeite da sancta uncção.

26E com elle ungirás a tenda da congregação, e a arca do testemunho,

27E a mesa com todos os seus vasos, e o castiçal com os seus vasos, e o altar do incenso,

28E o altar do holocausto com todos os seus vasos, e a pia com a sua base.

29Assim sanctificarás estas coisas, para que sejam sanctissimas: tudo o que tocar n'ellas será sancto.

30Tambem ungirás a Aarão e seus filhos, e os sanctificarás para me administrarem o sacerdocio.

31E fallarás aos filhos d'Israel, dizendo: Este me será o azeite da sancta uncção nas vossas gerações.

32Não se ungirá com elle a carne do homem, nem fareis outro similhante conforme á sua composição: sancto é, e será sancto para vós.

33O homem que compozer tal perfume como este, ou que d'elle pozer sobre um estranho, será extirpado dos seus povos.

34Disse mais o Senhor a Moysés: Toma-te especiarias aromaticas, estoraque, e onicha, e galbano; estas especiarias aromaticas e o incenso puro de egual peso;

35E d'isto farás incenso, um perfume segundo a arte do perfumista, temperado, puro e sancto;

36E d'elle moendo o pizarás, e d'elle porás diante do testemunho, na tenda da congregação, onde eu virei a ti: coisa sanctissima vos será.

37Porém o incenso que farás conforme á composição d'este, não o fareis para vós mesmos: sancto será para o Senhor.

38O homem que fizer tal como este para cheirar, será extirpado do seu povo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Instructions are given for building the altar of incense, collecting a half-shekel tax for the sanctuary, the bronze basin for ritual washing, and the special formula for the anointing oil and the sacred incense.

Explanation

This chapter adds final, important elements to the furnishings and practices of the tabernacle. The altar of incense, placed in front of the veil of the Most Holy Place, represented the constant offering of prayer rising before God, a symbol taken up repeatedly in later biblical tradition, including in the book of Revelation. The half-shekel tax, collected equally from rich and poor 'to make an atonement for your souls' (v. 15), established an important principle of spiritual equality before God regardless of a person's economic standing. The bronze basin, used for ritual washing of hands and feet before priestly service, reinforced the need for physical and symbolic purity before approaching what was holy. Finally, the strict prohibition against reproducing the sacred anointing oil or the sanctuary incense for common use (v. 32-33, 37-38) showed that certain elements of worship had to remain exclusively set apart and distinct from any everyday or profane use.

Fun facts

  • The 'half shekel' tax collected equally from all Israelites (v. 15) is referenced centuries later in Matthew 17:24-27, when Jesus miraculously pays the 'temple tax' using a coin found in the mouth of a fish — a direct historical continuity of this ancient practice of contributing to the sanctuary.
  • The sacred incense, whose specific formula was forbidden to be copied for personal use (v. 34-38), was made of aromatic resins such as stacte, onycha, and galbanum, substances that archaeologists confirm were traded and highly valued along real trade routes of the ancient Near East.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 30:1Besides the altar of sacrifice outside, the tabernacle had a second, smaller altar, meant specifically for burning incense inside the sanctuary.
  2. Êxodo 30:2The incense altar was small, about 18 inches on each side, but much taller than it was wide, with the same horns at its corners seen on the larger altar.
  3. Êxodo 30:3Unlike the altar of sacrifice covered in bronze, this smaller altar was overlaid with pure gold, including a decorative rim around the top.
  4. Êxodo 30:4Gold rings below the rim allowed the carrying poles to be fitted, following the same system used for other movable pieces of the tabernacle.
  5. Êxodo 30:5The incense altar’s poles were also acacia wood overlaid with gold, keeping the material standard of the other portable pieces.
  6. Êxodo 30:6Its location was strategic: right in front of the veil that hid the ark, as close as possible to the most holy place without crossing the barrier.
  7. Êxodo 30:7Aaron burned incense on this altar every morning, at the same time he tended the lamps of the lampstand, linking the two daily tasks.
  8. Êxodo 30:8The same burning of incense was repeated in the evening, when Aaron lit the lamps for the night, making incense a continual practice, day after day.
  9. Êxodo 30:9Forbids using this particular altar for any other kind of offering, incense different from what was prescribed, animal sacrifices, or wine libations.
  10. Êxodo 30:10This annual ritual, performed on the incense altar’s “horns,” corresponds to what would later be the Day of Atonement, the most solemn day of the Israelite priestly calendar. It was the only time of the year that this particular altar received this purification treatment.
  11. Êxodo 30:11Introduces a new subject in the conversation between God and Moses: the rules for a census, detailed in the following verses.
  12. Êxodo 30:12Taking a census, counting the people, was seen as something that required this “ransom,” a small payment in silver, as a way of acknowledging that each person’s life belonged to God, not just an administrative number. The idea that counting without this payment would bring a plague comes up again later in the Bible, when a king takes a census without following this rule.
  13. Êxodo 30:13The shekel was a unit of weight used as currency in the ancient world, usually silver. The “shekel of the sanctuary” was an official standard kept by the temple, to ensure that the half shekel charged to each person counted was always the same value, without variation.
  14. Êxodo 30:14Specifies the minimum age to take part in this census and pay the ransom: twenty full years old, the same age used later to count men fit for military service.
  15. Êxodo 30:15This census payment was the same for everyone, regardless of each person’s income: the rich did not pay more, the poor did not pay less. The idea is that, in this particular ransom, the value of each person’s life was treated as equal before God.
  16. Êxodo 30:16The money collected in this census had a fixed purpose: funding the tabernacle’s service, while also serving as a symbolic record of each person counted.
  17. Êxodo 30:17Introduces another subject in the sequence of instructions: building a basin for ritual washing, detailed in the next verse.
  18. Êxodo 30:18The bronze basin was positioned strategically between the entrance of the tabernacle and the altar of sacrifice, along the path the priests walked to their service.
  19. Êxodo 30:19The “laver” was a bronze basin placed between the altar and the tent, where the priests washed their hands and feet before any service in the sanctuary. It was not ordinary hygiene: it was a purification ritual required before approaching what was considered holy, on pain of death.
  20. Êxodo 30:20Washing hands and feet before entering the tabernacle or approaching the altar was not optional: neglecting this ritual put the priest’s life at risk.
  21. Êxodo 30:21Reinforces the seriousness of the rule, repeating the threat of death, and determines that this practice had to keep being followed by all future generations of priests.
  22. Êxodo 30:22Introduces yet another subject in the sequence: the exact formula for the special anointing oil, detailed in the following verses.
  23. Êxodo 30:23Lists the main ingredients of the holy oil: pure myrrh, sweet cinnamon, and sweet calamus, each in a specific amount measured in shekels.
  24. Êxodo 30:24Completes the list of ingredients with cassia and olive oil, forming the liquid base into which the spices would be mixed.
  25. Êxodo 30:25This perfumed oil, made with a specific blend of myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia, was used only to consecrate objects and people in sacred service, such as the tabernacle, its utensils, Aaron, and his sons. It was not a perfume for ordinary use, and the following verses forbid anyone from making the same formula for another purpose.
  26. Êxodo 30:26The holy oil would be used to formally anoint the whole tabernacle, starting with its most important piece: the ark of the covenant.
  27. Êxodo 30:27The anointing also extended to the table of bread, the lampstand, and the altar of incense, consecrating every piece inside the sanctuary.
  28. Êxodo 30:28Completes the list of anointed objects with the altar of sacrifice outside and the basin for ritual washing.
  29. Êxodo 30:29Once anointed, these objects would become so holy that anything coming into contact with them would also come to be considered holy.
  30. Êxodo 30:30The same oil used on the tabernacle’s objects also consecrated people: Aaron and his sons would be anointed to formalize their entry into the priesthood.
  31. Êxodo 30:31God instructs Moses to explain to the people that this specific oil formula had to keep being used, without changes, by the generations to come.
  32. Êxodo 30:32Forbids using this holy oil to anoint ordinary people outside the priestly context, and also forbids reproducing the same formula for any other use.
  33. Êxodo 30:33Cut off from his people is a phrase used several times in these laws to indicate a serious punishment, probably expulsion from the community or even the death penalty, depending on the reading, since the text does not spell out exactly how this punishment was applied. Here it falls on anyone who tried to copy the exclusive formula of the holy oil for use outside the religious context.
  34. Êxodo 30:34Like the anointing oil, the sanctuary’s incense also had a specific formula, with ingredients such as stacte, onycha, and galbanum in equal parts.
  35. Êxodo 30:35The incense had to be prepared by a specialist, blended, seasoned, and kept pure, following a demanding quality standard.
  36. Êxodo 30:36Part of the prepared incense was ground into a fine powder and placed very close to where the tablets of the law stood, inside the tabernacle’s most sacred space.
  37. Êxodo 30:37Repeats the prohibition already made regarding the anointing oil: this specific incense formula could not be reproduced for personal or ordinary use.
  38. Êxodo 30:38Closes the chapter with the same severe penalty: whoever made this incense just for his own enjoyment, outside the sacred context, would be cut off from the community.

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