Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 30:34
And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; [these] sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like [weight]:
34. sweet spices ] In the Heb. one word, sammim (plur.), from the same root as the Arab. shamma, to ‘smell,’ not the one rendered ‘spices’ ( besmim) in v. 3, and, to judge from Exo 25:6 (‘ besmim for , and for the incense of sammim ’), a narrower term than that: used exclusively (but only in P and Chr.) of the materials of which the incense was made, and mostly in the expression ‘incense of sweet spices’ (sometimes rendered ‘sweet incense’) v. 7, Exo 25:6, Lev 4:7; Lev 16:12 al.; 2Ch 2:4 ; 2Ch 13:11 (both passages written by the Chronicler himself). It might be rendered for distinctness (cf. EB. iv. 4746), fragrant powders.
stacte ] Heb. nph , from naph, to drip. Some fragrant oil or resin is evidently meant; it is uncertain what. ‘Stact’ is a transliteration of LXX. , Vulg. stacte, meaning also something that drips or trickles. Stacte was the Gk. and Lat. name of a very fragrant and costly kind of myrrh ( ), variously described by the ancients as an oil ‘dripping’ from crushed myrrh, either alone (Theophr. Odor. 29; on the text, see Schneider’s note: cf. Diosc. i. 77) or mixed with a little water (Diosc. i. 73), or as prepared from crushed myrrh dissolved in oil (Theophr. l.c.), or as exuding spontaneously from the tree (Plin. H.N. xii. 15, 68). Myrrh-oil would be a clearer rend. Lucr. (ii. 847) mentions the ‘blandum stactaeque liquorem’; and Plautus ( Truc. ii. 5, 23) speaks of it as burnt on the altar to Lucina. This rend, of LXX. seems probable: still we do not know that it is right: it may be founded merely on the agreement of meaning between nph and ‘stacte.’ Ges. ( Thes.) identified nph with the gum of the storax tree ( NHB. 395 f.), a beautiful perfumed shrub, abundant on the lower hills of Palestine, the gum of which (Diosc. i. 79) is still used in Syria as a perfume. The Rabbis identified it with ri (EVV. ‘balm’), and said that it was so called because it ‘dripped’ from the tree called e ph, i.e. (Kimchi, Book of Roots, s.v.) the balsam -tree: hence, no doubt, RVm. opobalsamum (‘juice-balsam,’ as opposed to xylobalsamum, ‘wood-balsam,’ the scented twigs of the balsam-tree), an aromatic gum obtained (Diosc. i. 18; Plin. H.N. xii. 25, 116, cf. 118) from the Judaean balsam-tree by incisions in the bark. If however the mr of v. 23 (see the note there) was really the juice or gum of the balsam-tree, it is hardly likely to have been called here by a different name.
onycha ] Heb. sh e leth ; LXX. , Vulg. onyx, whence EVV. onycha (cf. Sir 24:15 ); i.e. unguis odoratus, the ‘operculum,’ or closing flap, called from its resemblance to the nail, of certain molluscs, which, when burnt, emits a strong aromatic odour 1 [214] . Onycha is still gathered along the coasts of the Red Sea; and is largely used as an ingredient in the perfumery of Arab women ( EB. s.v.); it is also said to be the principal component of incense in India and elsewhere (Kn.).
[214] Cf. Diosc. ii.10, as cited by Rd. in Ges. Thes. p. 1388: , (and also, he adds, though of a different kind, in the Red Sea): , .
galbanum ] Heb. elb e nh ; LXX. , Vulg. galbanum. This was the resin of an umbelliferous plant, used by the ancients medicinally, and also, from its pungent odour, when burnt, to keep off insects (Plin. xix. 58 al.), to expel serpents from stables (Verg. G. iii. 415 ‘ Galbaneoque agitare graves nidore chelydros’), and revive sick bees ( ib. iv. 264 ‘Hic iam galbaneos suadebo incendere odors’). Diosc. (iii. 87) and Theophr. (ix. 7) speak of galbanum as obtained from a Syrian : but in modern times it seems to be almost entirely a product of Persia ( EB.).
sweet spices, with ] (even) fragrant powders, and. But probably the tautologous ‘fragrant powders’ is merely repeated by error from the previous line.
frankincense ] Heb. lb nh (‘whiteness,’ with reference doubtless to the milky form in which it exudes from the tree), a fragrant gum-resin, obtained, by means of incisions, from trees belonging to certain species of the genus Boswelliana. These are now found mostly in Somali-land; but the most famous growth in ancient times was in the mountains of Shb, or the Sabaeans, in S. Arabia ( EB. s.v.: cf. Bent, S. Arabia, 1900, pp. 89, 91, 234 f., &c.: comp. Jer 6:20 (‘frankincense from Shb ’), Isa 60:6; Verg. G. i. 117 ‘solis est turea virga Sabaeis,’ Aen. i. 416 f. ‘centumque Sabaeo Ture calent arae’). Frankincense is mentioned first in Jer. (Jer 6:20, Jer 17:26, Jer 41:5); elsewhere only in P (here; Lev 2:1 f., Lev 2:15 f., Exo 6:15 as a concomitant of the meal-offering, cf. Exo 5:11, Num 5:15; Lev 24:7 as placed on the Presence-bread), II Isaiah (Isa 43:23, Isa 60:6, Isa 66:3), 1Ch 9:29; and, for its fragrance, Son 3:6; Son 4:6; Son 4:14. The epithet pure, or better, clear ( zakkh; LXX. ), is meant probably to denote the superior kind called by Theophr. (ix. 4) , ‘pure and transparent,’ and said by Pliny (xii. 32) to be that gathered in autumn. Knobel states that he had some incense prepared according to this receipt in the laboratory of a colleague at Giessen, and that its odour was ‘strong, refreshing, and very agreeable.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
34 38. The holy Incense (cf. Exo 37:29 b). Incense to be made, of, four specified ingredients, mixed together in equal proportions, and tempered with salt, for use upon the altar of incense ( vv. 7 f.). Incense of the same composition to be used for no other purpose.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Exo 37:29. The incense, like the anointing oil, consisted of four aromatic ingredients.
Stacte – supposed to be either the gum of the Storax tree (Styrax officinale) found in Syria and the neighboring countries, or the gum known as Benzoin, or Gum Benjamin, which is an important ingredient in the incense now used in churches and mosques, and is the produce of another storax tree (Styrax benzoin) that grows in Java and Sumatra.
Onycha – , a perfume perhaps made from the cap of the strombus, or wing-shell, which abounds in the Red Sea.
Galbanum – , a gum of a yellowish brown color, in the form of either grains or masses. It is imported from India, Persia, and Africa; but the plant from which it comes is not yet certainly known.
Pure frankincense – This was the most important of the aromatic gums. Like myrrh, it was regarded by itself as a precious perfume Son 3:6; Mat 2:11, and it was used unmixed with other substances in some of the rites of the law. The tree from which it is obtained is not found in Arabia, and it was most likely imported from India by the Sabaeans, like Cinnamon, Cassia, and Calamus (see Exo 30:23). The tree is now known as the Boswellia serrata, or B. thurifera, and grows abundantly in the highlands of India. The frankincense of commerce is a different substance, the resin of the spruce and of some other kinds of fir.
Exo 30:35
See Exo 30:25.
Tempered together – The four substances were perhaps pounded and thoroughly mixed together, and then fused into a mass. This rendering is to be preferred to that in the margin.
Exo 30:36
See Exo 30:6.
Exo 30:37-38
Compare Exo 30:32-33.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 30:34-38
Sweet spices.
The incense
The incense employed in the service of the Tabernacle was compounded of four ingredients: stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense. It might only be used in the worship of God. The penalty of death was affixed to the making or using of it for profane purposes (Exo 30:37-38). It is called holy of holies (Exo 30:36), or most holy. This incense was burnt morning and evening upon the golden altar of incense, which stood in the holy place (Exo 30:7-8). We see, here, that in the original institution the burning of incense was the special work of the high priest; the duty is assigned to Aaron himself, not to his sons. Like the shewbread, and the daily sacrifice, the incense also is called perpetual (Exo 30:8). Besides the daily incense, the offering of incense in the Holy of Holies by the high priest on the Day of Atonement, formed a very solemn and important part of the ceremonies of that day. But for the cloud of incense covering the mercy-seat, the high priest would have died on entering the holiest place (Lev 16:13). Incense was a symbol, not only of prayer generally, but more especially of intercessory prayer. On one remarkable occasion we find even the power of atoning ascribed to the offering of incense (Num 16:46-48). Here the rehearsal, as it were, of the incense-offering of the day of atonement, exercised a similar intercessory and atoning power, even without any accompanying sacrifice or shedding of blood. A wonderful foreshadowing of the more powerful incense-offering of a greater High Priest who ever liveth, etc. (E. F. Willis, M. A.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 34. Take unto thee sweet spices] The holy perfume was compounded of the following ingredients:
Stacte] nataph, supposed to be the same with what was afterwards called the balm of Jericho. Stacte is the gum which spontaneously flows from the tree which produces myrrh. See Clarke on Ex 30:23.
Onycha] shecheleth, allowed by the best critics to be the unguis odoriferans described by Rumph, which is the external crust of the shell-fish purpura or murex, and is the basis of the principal perfumes made in the East Indies.
Galbanum] chelbenah, the bubon gummiferum or African ferula; it rises with a ligneous stalk from eight to ten feet, and is garnished with leaves at each joint. The top of the stock is terminated by an umbel of yellow flowers, which are succeeded by oblong channelled seeds, which have a thin membrane or wing on their border. When any part of the plant is broken, there issues out a little thin milk of a cream colour. The gummy resinous juice which proceeds from this plant is what is commonly called galbanum, from the chelbench of the Hebrews.
Pure frankincense] lebonah zaccah. Frankincense is supposed to derive its name from frank, free, because of its liberal or ready distribution of its odours. It is a dry resinous substance, in pieces or drops of a pale yellowish white colour, has a strong smell, and bitter acrid taste. The tree which produces it is not well known. Dioscorides mentions it as gotten in India. What is called here pure frankincense is no doubt the same with the mascula thura of Virgil, and signifies what is first obtained from the tree – that which is strongest and most free from all adventitious mixtures. See Clarke on Ex 30:7.
THE Israelites were most strictly prohibited, on the most awful penalties, from making any anointing oil or perfume similar to those described in this chapter. He that should compound such, or apply any of this to any common purpose, even to smell to, Ex 30:38, should be cut off, that is, excommunicated from his people, and so lose all right, title, and interest in the promises of God and the redemption of Israel. From all this we may learn how careful the Divine Being is to preserve his own worship and his own truth, so as to prevent them from being adulterated by human inventions; for he will save men in his own way, and upon his own terms. What are called human inventions in matters of religion, are not only of no worth, but are in general deceptive and ruinous. Arts and sciences in a certain way may be called inventions of men, for the spirit of a man knoweth the things of a man – can comprehend, plan, and execute, under the general influence of God, every thing in which human life is immediately concerned; but religion, as it is the gift, so it is the invention, of God: its doctrines and its ceremonies proceed from his wisdom and goodness, for he alone could devise the plan by which the human race may be restored to his favour and image, and taught to worship him in spirit and in truth. And that worship which himself has prescribed, we may rest assured, will be most pleasing in his sight. Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire before the Lord; and their destruction by the fire of Jehovah is recorded as a lasting warning to all presumptuous worshippers, and to all who attempt to model his religion, according to their own caprice, and to minister in sacred things without that authority which proceeds from himself alone. The imposition of hands whether of pope, cardinal, or bishop can avail nothing here. The call and unction of God alone can qualify the minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Stacte, and onycha, and galbanum: the Jews themselves are not agreed what these were, and it concerns not Christians much to know, the use of them being abolished. It is evident they were each of them sweet spices, and therefore this galbanum was not of the common kind, which gives a very ball scent.
Of each shall there be a like weight, Heb. alone shall be with alone, i.e. each of these alone shall be with another alone, to wit, in equal quantity. Or it may note, that each of these was to be taken and beaten apart, and then mixed together. Or, it shall be alone alone, i.e. absolutely and certainly alone, the doubling of the word increasing the signification, and thus it doth not belong to all the ingredients, because the Hebrew verb is here of the singular number, but only to the frankincense; and the sense may be, that whereas the other things shall be tempered together, the frankincense should be alone, which may seem most agreeable both to the common use of frankincense, and to its differing nature from the other things mentioned, two of them at least being confessedly liquid things.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
34-38. the Lord said unto Moses,Take unto thee sweet spicesThese were:
stactethe finestmyrrh;
onychasupposed to bean odoriferous shell;
galbanuma gum resinfrom an umbelliferous plant.
frankincensea dry,resinous, aromatic gum, of a yellow color, which comes from a tree inArabia, and is obtained by incision of the bark. This incense wasplaced within the sanctuary, to be at hand when the priest requiredto burn on the altar. The art of compounding unguents and perfumeswas well known in Egypt, where sweet-scented spices were extensivelyused not only in common life, but in the ritual of the temples. Mostof the ingredients here mentioned have been found on minuteexamination of mummies and other Egyptian relics; and the Israelites,therefore, would have the best opportunities of acquiring in thatcountry the skill in pounding and mixing them which they were calledto exercise in the service of the tabernacle. But the recipe for theincense as well as for the oil in the tabernacle, though it receivesillustration from the customs of Egypt, was peculiar, and beingprescribed by divine authority, was to be applied to no common orinferior purpose.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord said unto Moses,…. In a continued discourse, or some time after the former, though more probably at the same time; since it concerns the incense to be offered on the altar of incense, about which directions are given in the former part of the chapter:
take unto thee sweet spices: which are as follow, “stacte”, “onycha”, and “galbanum”; the former of these has its name from dropping; and of the same signification is the Hebrew word “Nataph”, here used. Pancirollus says a, myrrh is a drop or tear distilling from a tree in Arabia Felix; and stacte is a drop of myrrh, which is extracted from it, and yields a most precious liquor: and so Pliny b relates, that myrrh trees sweat out of their own accord, before they are cut, what is called stacte, to which nothing is preferable: though some naturalists, as Theophrastus and Dioscorides c speak of this as flowing from it when it is cut; however, all agree it is a liquor that drops from myrrh; though the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem interpret it “balsam” or “rosin”; as does Jarchi on the place, and Maimonides d: the second of these, “onycha”, has its name from being of the colour of a man’s nail, as the onyx stone is, and is the same with the “unguis odorata” or “blatta byzantia”. Jarchi says it is the root of a spice, smooth and shining like a man’s nail. It is by some
“understood of “laudanum” or “balellium”; but the greatest part of commentators explain it by the “onyx”, or the odoriferous shell, which is a shell like to that of the shell fish called “purpura”: the onyx is fished for in watery places of the Indies, where grows the “spica nardi”, which is the food of this fish, and what makes its shell so aromatic: they go to gather these shells when the heat has dried up the marshes. The best onyx is found in the Red sea, and is white and large, the Babylonian is black and smaller; this is what Dioscorides says of it e.”
And the best being found in the Red sea, it may be reasonably supposed it was what Moses was bid to take. In all India, it is the principal thing in all perfumes, as the aloe is in pills f; the Targum of Jonathan interprets it by “costus”; and the Jerusalem Targum by spike of myrrh, meaning perhaps spikenard. The last of these, “galbanum”, what now goes by that name, is of a very ill smell, and therefore cannot be thought to be one of these sweet spices; but another is meant, and which, by its name “Chelbanah”, was of a fat and unctuous nature; though Jarchi says, galbanum, whose smell is ill, is put among the spices; and Maimonides g and Kimchi h describe it like black honey, and of an offensive smell; but it must be something odoriferous, and therefore most likely to be the galbanum Pliny i speaks of as growing on Mount Areanus in Syria, which he mentions along with several sorts of balsams, and as a sort of frankincense; and the Vulgate Latin version, to distinguish it, calls it “galbanum” of a “good smell”:
[these] sweet spices with pure frankincense; for which Sabaea in Arabia Felix was very famous, and was called the thuriferous country, as Pliny k says; who observes that there were in it two times of gathering the frankincense, the one in autumn, that which was white, and the purest, the other in the spring, which was reddish, and not to be compared with the former:
of each shall there be a like weight; just as much of one as of the other: in the Hebrew text it is, “alone by alone”; and the sense may be, that each spice was beaten alone, and after that mixed, as Aben Ezra, or weighed alone, and then put together.
a Rer. Memorab. & Deperd. par. 1. tit. 12. p. 32. b Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 15. c Apud Dalechamp. in Plin. ib. d Cele Hamikdash, c. 2. sect. 4. e Calmet’s Dictionary on the word “Onycha”. f Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 2. p. 243. g Cele Hamikdash, c. 2. sect. 4. h Sepher Shorash. Rad. . i Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 15. k Ib. c. 14.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Holy Incense was also to be made of four ingredients, viz., (1) nataph ( , stacte ), i.e., not the resinous myrrh, or sap obtained from the fragrant myrrh and dried, but a kind of storax gum resembling myrrh, which was baked, and then used, like incense, for fumigating; – (2) shecheleth ( , ungius odoratus ), the shell of a shell-fish resembling the purpura , of an agreeable odour; – (3) chelbenah ( ), a resin of a pungent, bitter flavour, obtained, by means of an incision in the bark, from the ferula , a shrub which grows in Syria, Arabia, and Abyssinia, and then mixed with fragrant substances to give greater pungency to their odour; – and (4) lebonah ( or ), frankincense, a resin of a pleasant smell, obtained from a tree in Arabia Felix or India, but what tree has not been discovered. pure, i.e., unadulterated. The words “part for part shall it be,” are explained by the lxx as meaning , Vulg. aequalis ponderis erunt omnia , i.e., with equal parts of all the different substances. But this is hardly correct, as literally means separation, and the use of in this sense would be very striking. The explanation given by Aben Ezra is more correct, viz., “every part shall be for itself;” that is to say, each part was to be first of all prepared by itself, and then all the four to be mixed together afterwards.
Exo 30:35 Of this Moses was to make incense, spicework, etc. (as in Exo 30:25), salted, seasoned with salt ( , a denom. from salt), like the meat-offering in Lev 2:13. The word does not mean , mixtum (lxx, Vulg.), or rubbed to powder, for the rubbing or pulverizing is expressed by in the following verse.
Exo 30:36 Of this incense (a portion) was to be placed “ before the testimony in the tabernacle,” i.e., not in the most holy place, but where the altar of incense stood (cf. Exo 30:6 and Lev 16:12). The remainder was of course to be kept elsewhere.
Exo 30:37-38 There is the same prohibition against imitating or applying it to a strange use as in the case of the anointing oil (Exo 30:32, Exo 30:33). “ To smell thereto,” i.e., to enjoy the perfume of it.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 34-38:
The formula for the incense to be burned on the golden altar, is here given. It consisted of four ingredients, each of equal weight. It was to be finely beaten, likely to the consistency of powder, and compounded after the perfumer’s art.
“Stacte,” nataph, “a drop.” The exact nature of this ingredient is not known, but it is thought to be gum storax, from the Styrax officinalis.
“Onycha,” sheheleth, “shell.” The term implies a substance from the shell of a sea-creature, likely the covering of the mussel Unquis odoratus, which when burned emits a musk odor.
“Galbanum,” khelbnah, a gum from a tuberous plant, Opoidia galbanifera. This substance when burned by itself gives off a strong, disagreeable odor. But when mixed with other spices increases and retains their fragrance.
“Frankincense,” levonah, “whiteness,” a resinous substance from the Boswellia genus of certain balsam trees. The juice of this plant exudes from an incision in the bark. When it hardens it is white, tear-shaped, and very pungent.
Like the anointing ointment, the sacred incense was exclusively used for worship purposes. It must not be compounded for any other purpose, under penalty of excommunication.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
34. Take unto thee sweet spices. This oblation might have been noticed with the others, yet, since it merely describes the composition of the incense, which is connected with the altar of incense, and in fact is but an appendage to it, I have seen no reason why I should separate them. Let the curious subtilely discuss, if they please, the ingredients themselves; it is enough for me that they were chosen at God’s will to make a very sweet smell. For I know not whether it is likely, as some suppose, that galbanum (154) is of a strong and disagreeable savor, and, since they only offer this conjecture in an unknown matter, they deserve little credit. My conviction is that it was sweet, which the words of Moses himself a little further on confirm, where he denounces the penalty of death upon those who should use such perfume for their private gratification; for this prohibition would have been absurd, unless its odor had been very agreeable. Besides, the analogy between the sign and the thing signified would not have held good, unless its sweet savor had testified that God is greatly pleased with the prayers of His people. Moreover, in order that the sacred symbol might be the more reverenced, it was not allowable to transfer this mixture to private use; for since men are rude and earthly-minded, there is nothing they are more prone to than to mix up heavenly things with those of earth. Therefore, to elevate their minds the more, it was necessary that the incense, in which there was a special holiness due to God alone, should be set apart from common use.
(154) “Not of strong and evil savor, as R. Salomom, for then it had been unfit to make a perfume of.” — Tostatus in Willet. “ Dioscor. asserit galbanum esse gravis odoris, et Plinius ait galbanum foetere et castorem olere; quod forte intelligit de partibus galbani magis terrestribus — ideoque noster interpres addit τὸ bonis odoris ;” ( i.e., V., after LXX. Χαλβάνην ἡδυσμῦ·) Corn. a Lapide, in loco.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 30:34-38
SPIRITUAL WORSHIP
Notice here
I. The elements of true worship.
1. There must be nothing in prayer but what is sweet. Sweet spices. No anger. Some nations leave their swords outside their temples; we must cherish no angry or warlike sentiments in worship. Lifting up holy hands, without wrath. No pride. No, I thank God I am not as other men. No selfishness. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts (Jas. 4:3). No unbelief. Without doubting. Some prayers have in them so much of doubt and passion, of pride and hypocrisy, that they go up to the sky more like the vapour of a noxious drug, than the pure incense in which God delights. In worship there are various elements of thought and feeling, as there were various spices in the priestly censer, but we must take care that there is nothing bitter or bad. All peace, love, faith, charity, admiration, hope, joywhatsoever is otherwise enters not into true worship.
2. Nothing in prayer but what is pure. Pure frankincense. If we do not renounce iniquity in our life, God will not hear us. (Isa. 1:12-15). If we do not renounce iniquity in our heart, God will not hear us. Worship is not a substitute for righteousness, but the expression of a soul delighting in righteousness, longing for righteousness. The prayers of a bad man, although offered in a white or golden surplice, although expressed in seraphic language, although borne upward on the voices of singers and organs, are an abomination to the Lordit is the smoke of the pit, not the sweet incense of Gods holy temple.
Pure and sweet worship is delightful to us; it is the highest condition of the soul. Such worship is sweet and grateful to God.
II. The expression of true worship. And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony. Is it not suggested here, that in worship there should not be vague and general feeling and language, but that our service should be specialised and particular? Our penitence should be thus special. Our sins should be discriminated as far as possible, so that with each fault should go the appropriate confession and sorrow. Our supplications thus distinguishing. Our intercessions thus. Praying for special individuals, pleading for special gifts. Our praises thus. Forget not all His benefits. It is a good thing to recall the mercies of God, one by one, as far as that is possible. We are not to worship in the lump, as if God were too grand to recognise the detail of life; we are not to worship in the lump, as if the least mercies were not worth recognition.
III. The efficacy of true worship. Where I will meet with thee. God met them as they came near Him with this incense. We hear worship depreciated sometimes, and are told that life is worship, work is worship; let us not be led away by such plausible sayings from a personal, constant, express fellowship with God. It is only as we come to God with the pure and loving worship of the heart that we realise His presence. Life may be worship, and work may be worship; but life and work are never worship, until the heart gives its highest love and trust to God.
IV. The exclusive object of true worship. As for the perfume, &c., Exo. 30:37-38. No worship of man: No worship of humanity: No saint-worship: No angel-worship. Worship God.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
THE COMPOSITION OF THE HOLY INCENSE.
(34) Take unto thee sweet spices.Rather, Take unto thee spices. The word translated spices has no epithet. Incense, as commonly used in the ancient world, was not a composition, but some single spice, most frequently frankincense. That, however, employed by the Hebrews was always a compound. According to Josephus (Bell. Jud., v. 5, 5), the incense burnt in the later temple contained thirteen ingredients.
Stacte is probably the gum storax, which is the produce of the styrax officinalis, a tree common in Syria and Palestine. It burns readily, and emits much smoke (Herod. iii. 107).
Onycha is thought to be the claw or operculum of the unguis odoratus, or blatta Byzantina, a sort of shell-fish common in the Red Sea. This claw produces, when burnt, a strong odour.
Galbanum is a gum well known to modern chemists. It may be procured from various plants, as the opoidia galbanifera, the galbanum Persicum, and others. When burnt, this gum has a strong pungent odour, which is said to be disagreeable in itself, but to bring out and prolong the scent of other spices (Plin. H. N., xii. 54).
Frankincense was probably the main element of the holy incense, as it is of such incense as is burnt in modern times. It is a gum or resin obtained from incisions in the bark of the arbor thuris, or frankincense-tree, which grows abundantly in India, and in the islands of the Indian archipelago. Anciently, the tree appears to have grown also in Arabia, whence the Egyptians (Records of the Past, vol. x., pp. 14-17), the Phnicians, the Hebrews (Isa. 60:6; Jer. 6:20), and the Greeks obtained it in large quantities. The odour is very peculiar, and to most persons very agreeable. In England it is best known as the scent given out by the pastilles which are burnt in sick rooms.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
COMPOUNDING OF INCENSE, Exo 30:34-38.
34. Stacte This is the name used by the Greek and Latin version as representing the Hebrew , nataph, which denotes something that drops, and is commonly held to be the gum of the storax tree, which is found in Syria, and grows to the height of fifteen feet or more . The gum which exudes from its bark has a fragrant odour, and is mentioned by Pliny as being burned as a perfume in his time .
Onycha This word occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Scriptures . Pliny mentions onyx as a shell which was used in the composition of perfume, and most versions and interpreters have understood it as the winged strombus, a species of mollusk which is said to abound in the Red Sea. The fact, however, that all the other ingredients of this composition were vegetable should incline us rather to think of it as the exudation of some plant or tree. Galbanum is another word not elsewhere found in the Old Testament, but seems to be the same as the Greek , which is found in the Septuagint of this verse, and is the name of the gum of a plant which is found in Africa, Syria, Persia, and India . The Opoidia Galbanifera has been adopted by the Dublin College in their Pharmacopoeia as that which yields the galbanum . Frankincense, so often referred to in the Scriptures as a kind of precious perfume, is here mentioned for the first time . It was the odoriferous resin of some kind of plant or tree of which the ancient writers do not seem to have possessed any specific knowledge. That it was of a white colour may be inferred from its Hebrew name, , and according to Isa 60:6, and Jer 6:20, it was found in Sheba .
Modern botanists identify it with the Boswellia serrata, which grows luxuriantly in the mountainous parts of India.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Incense ( Exo 30:34-38 ).
a
b They are to be made into incense, a perfume after the art of the perfumer.
c Seasoned with salt, pure and holy (Exo 30:35).
d It is to be beaten very small and put before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting (Exo 30:36 a).
d There Yahweh will meet with Moses (Exo 30:36 b)
c It shall be to them most holy (Exo 30:36 c).
b They shall not make the same composition of incense for themselves , it is to be holy to them from Yahweh (Exo 30:37).
a Whoever makes its like in order to smell it will be cut off from his people (Exo 30:38).
Note the parallels. In ‘a’ the constituents of the incense are described and in the parallel the warning not to make its like in order to smell it. In ‘b’ they are to make the incense through an expert, and in the parallel it is to be holy to them from Yahweh so that they must not make any for themselves of the same composition. In ‘c’ it is to be seasoned with salt, pure and holy, and in the parallel it is to be to them most holy. In ‘d’ it is to be put before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, and in the parallel Yahweh will meet there with Moses.
Exo 30:34
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Take to yourself sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense. There shall be a like weight of each (or ‘every part shall be for itself’).”
Stacte (‘dropping’) is a fragrant resin obtained from droppings of resin from a plant, either the ‘balm of Gilead’ (from southern Arabia) or storax from the Palestinian hills. Onycha may be from shellfish in the Red Sea or from the horny plate that covers a species of mussel now found in the lakes of India which, when burned, emits a musky odour. Galbanum is a pleasantly aromatic gum resin derived from certain umbelliferous plants. Frankincense, (named so from the Old French for ‘pure incense’), as used by the Jews, Greeks, and Romans, was a gum resin now called olibanum which was derived from certain trees of the genus boswellia found growing on the limestone of South Arabia and Somaliland. Thus, three of the four ingredients in the incense burned on the golden altar were gum resins. Gum resins are mixtures of gum and resin obtained from plants or trees by incision. Resins burn readily because they contain volatile oils. If it means the ‘like weight of each’ it confirms its perfect balance. But it may mean that each was prepared separately before being combined. We note that, along with the salt which seasoned the mixture (Exo 30:35), there were five ingredients, the number of covenant.
Exo 30:35-36
“And you shall make incense of it, a perfume resulting from the skilful art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. And you shall beat some of it very small, and put it before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.”
Once again the skilled work of the perfumer must be utilised to produce the very best refined incense. And all was to be seasoned with salt. When required the resultant incense was to be ground small and probably placed in a hollow on the altar of incense which was set before the veil behind which was the Testimony (the covenant of the ten words and other records) within the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh. There Yahweh would meet with him. Whether the ‘you’ (singular) is Moses or Aaron or the people as represented by Aaron we are not told. Probably all were included. The great holiness of the incense is then stressed.
Exo 30:37-38
“And the incense which you shall make, you shall not make for yourselves of the same composition. It shall be holy for Yahweh to you. Whoever will make the same as that, to smell it, he shall be cut off from his people.”
Like the anointing oil the incense is to be sacred to its purpose and used for no other. It was to be seen by the people as ‘holy for Yahweh’. Anyone seeking to reproduce it in order to smell it was to be ‘cut off from his people’. This may have meant permanent expulsion into the desert, or being put to death (Exo 31:14). The significance of this is that the incense smell was reserved for Yahweh and was most holy, signifying the praise and worship and declaration of loyalty of His people and that alone.
Notes for Christians.
The incense altar represents Christ through Whom we must come if our worship is to be acceptable to God. Having been cleansed with blood at Christ the brazen altar we come through Christ the golden altar to offer up the incense of our worship, praise and prayers (Rev 5:8). For it is only through Him that we can be acceptable at all. But through Him we are presented, now potentially and by imputation and one day fully, holy, unblameable and unreproveable in His sight (Col 1:22), as holy and without blemish (Eph 5:27), accepted in the Beloved (Eph 1:6).
The summing of the people of God is a reminder that we are all individually known to Him as one of His whole complete people (Rev 7:1-8), and that even the hairs of our head are numbered (Mat 10:30; Luk 12:7 – something Moses was never told to attempt). And the payment of the ransom money an indication that our service for Him is never as full as it ought to be so that we must always admit that we have not totally done what it was our duty to do.
The laver reminds us that hourly and daily we must wash ourselves as we enter His presence because we are constantly tainted by contact with the world and with sin. We must walk in His light and let the blood of Christ continually cleanse us from all sin (1Jn 1:7; compare Joh 13:10). We must allow Christ to wash us constantly through the water of His word (Eph 5:26). We must constantly wash ourselves and make ourselves clean by doing what is right and turning from all that is wrong (Isa 1:16-18).
The holy anointing oil is a reminder that we can only be His by the means that He has provided as revealed in His word. God’s way must alone be our way. There is no other name but one, given under heaven, by which we must be saved, and that the name of Jesus Christ (Act 4:12). It is through the anointing that comes from Him that we can know God and be sure of His truth (1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27), and it is made complete through our dedication to Him.
And the holy incense is a reminder that our untainted worship can only be offered through Him (Heb 13:15), for he alone can make us acceptable in His sight, but that when it is so offered through Him it is a sweet odour to God (Rev 8:3-4; Psa 141:2).
End of note.
The Incense Exo 30:34-38 describes the making of the incense.
Exo 30:34 Word Study on “stacte” Strong says the Hebrew ( ) (H5198) means, “ a drop, stacte.” Easton says it refers to a fresh resin from the storax tree.
The Holy Incense
v. 34. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, v. 35. And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, v. 36. and thou shalt beat some of it very small, v. 37. And as for the perfume, v. 38. Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, EXPOSITION
THE HOLY INCENSE. It remained to give directions concerning the composition of the incense, which, according to Exo 30:7, was to be burnt upon the altar of gold. That it was to be of one and one only peculiar kind had been already implied in the prohibition to burn “strange incense” (Exo 30:9). Moses is now told exactly how it was to be composed. As the oil was to contain four spices, so was the incense to be made of a like numberstacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincenseof each the same quantity (Exo 30:34). The art of the apothecary was to be called in for making it up (Exo 30:35). A portion of it was to be “beaten very small,” and placed in front of the ark of the covenant, probably on the golden altar outside the vail (Exo 30:36). A prohibition is added, similar to that given with respect to the holy oil: no one is to make any like it for private use, under pain of being “cut off from his people” (Exo 30:37, Exo 30:38).
Exo 30:34
Take unto thee sweet spices. Rather, “Take unto thee spices,” or “perfumes.” The word has no epithet. Stacte. The Hebrew word used means simply “a drop” (Job 32:1-22 :27), and might be applied to any gum or resin which exuded from a tree. We have no clue to the gum here intended but that which is furnished by the rendering of the LXX; , which our translators have followed. Now the Greeks seem to have called two gums by this nameone, the natural exudation from the myrrh tree, called above (Exo 30:23) “pure myrrh,” or “the myrrh that flows freely;” and the other gum storax. As it is not likely that the same substance has been given two names within the space of ten verses, we must suppose the latter to be meant. Gum storax is the produce of a tree allied to the poplar, and known as Styrax officinalis, which grows abundantly in Syria and Palestine. It was frequently used as a perfume by the ancients (Herod. 3.107; Plin. H. N. Exo 12:17, 40). Onycha. The Hebrew word, shekheleth, seems to mean a “shell” of some kind or other. The Greek , Lat. onycha, was applied to the operculumthe “nail” or “claw”of certain shell-fish of the genus Strombidae, which were common in the lied Sea, and elsewhere. The particular strombus which furnishes the onycha of the ancients is thought to have been the Unguis odoratus or Blatta Byzantina. The opercula of these shell-fish have, when burnt, a strong odour, “something like castoreum.” The onycha is, again coupled with galbanum and gum storax in Ecclesiates Exo 24:15. Galbanum. The Hebrew word khelb’nah, is so near the Greek and the Latin galbanum that it has with good reason been assumed to designate the same substance. Galbanum is a gum well known both to ancients and moderns. It is admitted into the pharmacopeia. Several plants seem to produce it, as the Opoidia galbanifera, the Galbanum Persicum, and a plant which grows in Northern Persia, very like the Ferula erubeseens. When burnt, galbanum has a strong pungent odour, which is said to be disagreeable by itself, but to improve and preserve other odours (Plin. H. N. 12.54). Frankincense. On the wide use of frankincense, see the comment on Exo 24:1. It was the produce of a tree which anciently flourished in Arabia, but which appears to have degenerated, and now produces only an inferior quality. The best frankincense comes now from the high lands of India. It exudes from a tree called salai (the Boswellia setrata or thurifera of botanists). Some think that the frankincense exported largely from Arabia to the neighbouring nations was in part the produce of this tree imported by the Arab merchants from Hindustan.
Exo 30:35
A confection after the art of the apothecary. Like the holy oil, the incense was to be artistically compounded by one accustomed to deal with such ingredients. It was actually, in the first instance, the work of Bezaleel (Exo 27:1-21 :29). Tempered together. This translation is supported by the authority of the Septuagint and the Vulgate, and is defended by Canon Cook. But the mass of modern critics is in favour of the translation “salted,” or “with salt.” (So Buxtorf, Gesenius, De Wette, Kalisch, Keil, etc.) If, nobel suggests “comminuted,” identifying malakh with marakh. The point is not one of much importance.
Exo 30:36
Thou shalt beat some of it very small. This is against Knobel’s rendering of malakh, which would imply that all was broken into small pieces. A certain portion only was to be thus prepared from time to time and placed ready for offering. It was to be put before the testimonyi.e; opposite the m-k, but outside the vail. This near vicinity to the Divine Presence rendered it most holy.
Exo 30:37, Exo 30:38
Ye shall not make unto yourselves, etc. None shall be made by any man for private use according to the same recipe, since the compound, as described, is “holy unto the Lord.” If any man does so, he shall be “cut off from among his people”i.e; “put to death by the civil authority.” (See Exo 31:14.)
HOMILETICS
Exo 30:34-38
The Holy Incense.
Let us note here
I. THE COMPOSTION OF THE INCENSE (Exo 30:34, Exo 30:35). The utmost care was taken in the law that the incense should be properly composed, of the right materials, in the right proportion. Equal care is to be taken by Christians with their incense. Prayer is not to be adventured on rashly, carelessly, unpreparedly. The matter, even the very words, of prayer should be carefully weighed beforehand. To approach God with unworthy thoughts, to beseech him for those temporal advantages which we ought to regard as of no moment at all, is to “pray amiss”to approach him with “strange incense.” Equally unbecoming is it to use homely or over-familiar expressions in prayer. What we have to aim at is to reflect “the mind of Christ.” Christ has given us three pattern prayers
1. The Lord’s prayer;
2. The intercessory prayer after the last supper (Joh 17:1-26.), and
3. The prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (Mat 26:39).
Let these be our frankincense, and stacte, and onycha. For a fourth material, we may us( the Psalms of Davidespecially the penitential Psalms. We need not then to fear lest our incense should be “strange.”
II. THE CONTINUAL PRESENTATION OF THE INCENSE (verse 30).A portion of the incense was to be “beaten very small, and. put before the testimony” i.e; before the ark and the presence of God, where it was to remain continually. It was not to be lighted, but to be in constant readiness for lighting. So there is in the Christian heart a prayerful temper, ever present before God, which God accepts and values, in the intervals between actual prayer. Our incense cannot always be mounting in cloud after cloud to the courts of heaven. But the temper may be in us, ready to kindle, at all times.
III. THE VALUE OF THE INCENSE. The incense was among the things that were “most holy” (verse 36). God set special store by it. He would have it near himin front of the tabernacleonly just outside the vailand he would have it there constantly. So it pleases him to value the prayers of his saints. Angels offer them (Rev 8:3). They ascend before his throne (Rev 8:4). They are acceptable to him. They have power with him. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (Jas 5:16). One humble prayer, breathed by the publican, gained him forgiveness”justified” him. One earnest prayer, uttered by the penitent thief, obtained him Paradise. There is no limit to the value of faithful prayer, whereby we draw upon the bank of omnipotence.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Exo 30:1-11, Exo 30:34-38
The golden altar and the perfume.
The golden altar was of small dimensions, a cubit in length, a cubit in breadth, and two cubits high. It was a true altar, as shown by its square shape, and by its horns. Its place was immediately in front of the vail dividing the two portions of the sanctuary, with the innermost or’ whichthe holy of holiesit was regarded as having the more intimate connection (1Ki 6:22; Heb 9:4). The command was that Aaron should burn upon it sweet incense morning and eveningin the morning when he trimmed, and in the evening when he lighted, the lamps. This was done, in the one case, at the offering of morning, in the other, at the offering of evening sacrifice, the synchronism of the acts deserving our attention. Once a year the horns of the altar were to be smeared with the blood of the sin-offering. Minute directions are given for the making of the incense (Exo 30:34-38). It was to be “salted, pure, and holy” (Exo 30:35). The burning of this incense on the altar was at once a symbol of prayer and devotion, and a call to the congregation to engage in these spiritual exercises (Psa 141:2; Luk 1:10; Rev 5:8; Rev 8:3, Rev 8:4). As an act of the priest, it may be viewed as a type of the intercession of Christ. The service of this altar suggests the following ideas
1. Prayertaking the word in its widest sense, as denoting the exercise of.all devout feeling and spiritual desire towards Godis the holiest act of the spiritual life. It is figured as incense. And the altar of incense stood in immediate relation with the holy of holies. The altar and the incense offered upon it, are declared to be “most holy” (Exo 30:10, Exo 30:36). The reason is not difficult to find. The very essence of the devotional life expresses itself in prayer. Its love, its awe, its thankfulness, its aspirations, its unutterable yearnings after Godits breathings after holiness, its very contrition and sorrow for its sinsall ascend to Jehovah in this supreme act of the nature. Words bear but a small part in prayer. The province of words is to define. Hence the soul, in the intensity of its aspirations, in its reachings out towards the infinite, often feels the need of escaping from words, of leaving them behind. Prayer becomes “the burden of a sigh””the falling of a tear”perhaps a purely inward act of the mind realising union with Jehovah. Or its uncontrollable desires may express themselves in “groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26). And it is precisely these unutterable parts of our prayers which are the sweetest to God. The appropriate symbol of them is the incense, rising in its unconfined wreaths from the priest’s censer, or from the golden altar.
2. Prayer is an act of sacrifice. “In prayer,” says Martensen, “the profoundest act of conscience and obedience is inwardly accomplished, for prayer is only in so far a laying hold and appropriation of God, as it is likewise a sacrifice; and we can only receive God into us when we likewise give ourselves to him. he who offers no sacrifice in his prayer, who does not sacrifice his selfwill, does not really pray.”
3. The connection with the sacrifice of burnt-offering. The coals for the altar of incense were brought from the altar of burnt-offering (cf. Le Exo 16:12, Exo 16:13). This teaches that the worshipper needs reconciling before he can acceptably offer the sacrifices of his devotion. But there is a further connection, arising from the significance of the burnt-offering as a symbol of dedication. Keil says truly”The incense-offering was not only a spiritualising and transfiguring of the burnt-offering, but a completion of it also.” The connection may be stated thus. The yielding up of the life to God, symbolised in the continual burnt-offering, transforms itself in practice into the three following modes of self-surrender.
1. Holy practical activity, of which the fruit, good works, is represented in the shew–bread.
2. Public witness-bearing for God, by manifestation of the truth, and by holiness of walkrepresented by the candlestick.
3. Devotion”the soul’s going forth to unite itself in appropriate actings with the great centre of Being, and to devote its own inmost being to him” (Fairbairn)symbolised by the burning of the incense. This is the culminating act of self-devotion, and crowns the sanctuary-worship, raises it to its consummation.
4. Connection with light. The incense was to be burned at the time of the trimming, and again of the lighting of the lamps. The brighter the light, the purer the devotion. In Christianity no countenance is given to the maxim that devotion is connected with ignorance. Christ and his apostles attach the utmost importance to the possession of right knowledge, and to growth in it. Growth in knowledge is the condition of sanctification, of spiritual fruitfulness, of enlargement of nature, of being filled with all the fulness of God.
5. Prayer a daily duty. The “perpetual incense before the Lord” reminds us of the apostolic injunction, “Pray without ceasing” (1Th 5:17). Prayer, devotion, is to be the element we live in. And prayer, “with thanksgiving,” is to sanctify everything we do (Eph 5:20; Php 4:6; Col 3:17; 1Ti 4:4, 1Ti 4:5).J.O.
Exo 30:34-38. Take unto thee sweet spices The composition of the perfume for the golden altar of incense is next prescribed; concerning which the same prohibition is made, Exo 30:37-38 as concerning the holy ointment. It was to be compounded of stacte or the best myrrh; of onycha, the original word for which occurs here only in the Bible; but it is supposed to mean the onycha (as we have translated it) an odorous shell, which was of a black colour, and yielded in incense a very sweet perfume; see Bochart, vol. 2: p. 217. (Come however conceive it to have been bdellium:)and of galbanum, which was a sweet gum, issuing from an incision in the root of a plant growing in Arabia, Syria, &c. The LXX render this, and sweet-scented galbanum with pure frankincense.An equal quantity of these spices was to be mixed with frankincense, which, tempered together (Exo 30:35.) by dissolution or melting, composed the perfume: this is the primary meaning of the original word, rendered in the margin of our Bibles salted; which it signifies in a secondary sense, as salts of all kinds are fusible. (See Parkhurst on .) Bishop Patrick has judiciously observed, that “perfumes were from all antiquity used in religious services. The Greek word for sacrifice, , is derived, according to Porphyry, from incense ; the first men making a fume, by burning parts of trees, and shrubs, and seeds, and fruits; and the sweeter the scent, the more grateful they fancied the fume was to their gods: so that though, at first, they contented themselves with simple herbs and plants; yet in aftertimes they increased them to a greater number: for that aromatic mixture, called among the Egyptians, which was burnt morning and evening on their altars, was a composition of sixteen things, which Plutarch reckons up (in his book de Isid. & Osir.); and Sophocles (in his Electr. ver. 637.) brings in Clytemnestra calling for , fumes of all sorts of seeds, to be offered to Apollo, that she might be delivered from her terrors.”
A review of the altar of incense, considered typically.
This altar was a figure of the intercession of the great High-Priest before the throne, as the altar of burnt-offering was a figure of his satisfactory oblation upon the earth. Let us first attend to the altar, and then to the incense. The merits of Jesus Christ are that incense, in which the prayers, and tears, and works of all the saints are clad, and wherein they ascend like Manoah’s angel, before the presence of JEHOVAH.The incense in the tabernacle was composed of sweet spices, which shed a rich perfume; but not so grateful to men, as the sweet-smelling sacrifice of Christ was savoury to God.That incense was burned in the sanctuary, while the people were praying without. The appearing of our High-Priest in the heavenly sanctuary with the sweet odour of his merits, by no means supersedes the prayers of saints on earth. “For these things will God be,” not only solicited by the intercession of his Son, but “inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.” Eze 36:37.That incense was continually burned before the Lord, and was a perpetual incense throughout their generations. The intercession of Jesus Christ is everlasting, because he ever liveth. Never, never shall it be discontinued.That incense was not to be counterfeited, or imitated for any other purpose. Detested be the impiety of that harlot-church, which confides in the merits of any saint, living or dead, ascribing, on whatsoever pretence, the Mediator’s glory to another. But the time approaches, when this counterfeit incense, the commodity of Babylon, shall no more be bought by the merchants of the earth.
The prayers of saints are also said to be directed as incense before the Lord, and are resembled to odours preserved in vials of gold by a New-Testament writer. Prayer is that incense, which, according to Malachi’s prediction, shall be offered to the name of the Lord in every place. Was the holy incense compounded of various sweet spices? The graces of the Holy Spirit are the precious ingredients in the effectual prayer of the righteous. Some of them were beaten very small; perhaps to intimate that brokenness of heart and contrition of spirit, which the High and Lofty One requires in the worshippers at his footstool.The fire which burnt the incense, may denote the fervency of spirit required in acceptable worship.But take heed of the sparks of your own kindling, and lift up holy hands without wrath: for the incense must not be kindled with fire from the kitchen but the altar.Was the incense burned morning and evening continually? And can we reasonably think the incense of prayer and praise should be less frequently addressed to the God who dwells in the heavens? Jesus Christ is the Altar; Jesus Christ is the Priest who stands with his golden censer: by him your incense of prayer and your incense of praise shall go up as a memorial before God, and meet with gracious acceptance. Without him even incense is an abomination to God; and the most solemn duties are a smoke in his nostrils, and a fire which burneth all the day.
The fragrancy of those ingredients perhaps referred to the merits of the Lord Jesus. Son 1:3 . And subordinately to this, it is said in scripture, that the name of believers is valuable like ointment. Ecc 7:1 .
the LORD [Jehovah] said. See note on Exo 3:7 and p. Exo 6:10.
sweet spices. Five in number. Compare App-10.
onycha = a sweet-smelling shell found on the shores of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
a like weight. Typical of the perfect proportion of all the excellencies of Christ.
frankincense
Frankincense is not to be confounded with incense (to which it was to be added), as it is often used apart from incense. We are told what composed the incense–never in Scripture what the frankincense was. All speaks of Christ–the sweet spices of those perfections which we may apprehend, the frankincense of that which God saw in Jesus ineffable.
unto thee: Exo 30:23, Exo 25:6, Exo 37:29
stacte: Heb. nataph, The Jews and others suppose it to be what was afterwards called the balm of Jericho, or Gilead.
onycha: The word shechaileth is generally allowed to denote onycha (nail-fish, from its form), as it is rendered by the LXX and Vulgate. It is the shell of the purpura, and of the whole class of murex; and serves as the basis of the principal perfumes in India.
galbanum: Chelbenah, (probably from chalay, milk or gum, and lavan, white), is the gummy, resinous juice of an umbelliferous plant, the bubon gumniferum of Linneus, growing in Syria, Persia, and Africa. It rises with a ligneous stalk from eight to ten feet, and is garnished with leaves at every joint. The top of the stalk is terminated by an umbel of yellow flowers which are succeeded by oblong channelled seeds, which have a thin membrane or wing on their border. When any part of the plant is broken, there issues out a little thin juice, of a cream colour, of a fat, tough substance, like gum ammoniac, composed of many small, shining grains, of a strong, piercing smell and a sharp, warm taste.
frankincense: Lev 2:1, Lev 2:15, Lev 5:11, Lev 24:7, 1Ch 9:29, 1Ch 9:30, Neh 13:5, Son 3:6, Mat 2:11
Reciprocal: Exo 30:7 – sweet incense Exo 31:11 – sweet incense Lev 10:1 – put incense Lev 16:12 – sweet incense Num 4:16 – the sweet Num 7:14 – incense 1Ki 10:10 – spices 1Ch 23:13 – to burn incense 2Ch 9:9 – of spices Psa 141:2 – as incense Ecc 10:1 – the ointment Isa 43:24 – no sweet
Exo 30:34. The incense which was burned upon the golden altar was prepared of sweet spices likewise, though not so rare and rich as those which the anointing oil was compounded of. This was prepared once a year, (the Jews say,) a pound for each day of the year, and three pounds over for the day of atonement. 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. Concerning both these preparations the same law is here given, that the like should not be made for any common use. Thus God would preserve in the peoples minds a reverence for his own institutions, and teach us not to profane or abuse any thing whereby God makes himself known.
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.
The incense 30:34-38
As with the anointing oil, only a certain mixture of four ingredients was acceptable as incense for burning on the incense altar. Similarly not just any prayer is acceptable to God; only prayers offered as He has instructed will be acceptable (cf. 1Jn 5:14).
"Stacte is a fragrant resin obtained from some species of cistus, or ’rockrose.’ Onycha is the horny plate that covers a species of mussel found in the lakes of India which, when burned, emits a musky odor. Galbanum is a pleasantly aromatic gum resin derived from certain umbelliferous plants. Frankincense (from the Old French for ’pure incense’), as used by the Jews, Greeks, and Romans, was a gum resin now called olibanum which was derived from certain trees of the genus boswellia found growing on the limestone of South Arabia and Somaliland. Thus, three of the four ingredients in the incense burned on the golden altar were gum resins. Gum resins are mixtures of gum and resin obtained from plants or trees by incision. Resins burn readily because they contain volatile oils." [Note: John V. Myers, "What Was ’Brimstone?’" Kronos 9:1 (Fall 1983):58.]
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
The altar itself was, first, a golden crowned altar; which signifies the glorious dignity of the royal Intercessor, who is a Priest upon his throne, and is set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.It was a square altar, equally respecting the four corners of the world; to denote how accessible he is to all the ends of the earth.It was a moveable altar, capable of being transported wherever the church of Israel went: an emblem of his perpetual presence in all places where his name is recorded, or where his people are afflicted. A jail, an isle of Patmos, a lion’s den, a fish’s belly, a fiery furnace, are all alike to him, who never leaves, never forsakes his faithful people.It was a hidden altar, to which none approached except the sons of Levi. To know Christ as their interceding Priest, is the distinguishing privilege of all the royal priesthood. These only see him by faith, whom the world seeth no more. But as the way to the golden altar of incense was to pass by the brazen altar of burnt-offering; so none can come to Jesus, as ever living to make intercession for them, who come not to him as dying once to atone for their guilt, and put away their sin by the sacrifice of himself.It was a horned altar. And what should these four horns at its four corners portend, but the strength and prevalence of his intercession, whom the Father heareth always, and who is able to save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by him, from the four winds of heaven?It was an altar stained with blood: for though no sacrifices for expiation were offered upon it, yet Aaron was commanded to tip its horns every year with the blood of the atonements. The blood of Jesus Christ the righteous is the strength of his advocacy. This blood presented for ever before the throne of God, enforces all his suits with infinitely louder cries than ever did the blood of Abel.
From the altar let us come to the incense burnt upon it. It represents both the merits of the Lord Jesus, and the prayers of all saints.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)