Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 30:38
Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.
38. cut off from his father’s kin ] See on v. 33.
The use of incense in religious ceremonies is very widespread, and many different substances have been used for the purpose woods, barks, dried flowers, grasses, seeds, resins, gums ( Enc. Brit. ed. 9, xii. 718). On Egyptian monuments the references to incense are numerous (Wilk.-B. iii. 398 f., with illustr. of censers, bronze cups supported by long handles); large quantities of it were consumed in the temples (Erman, 300 f., with fabulous figures); and expeditions were constantly sent to the land of ‘Punt’ (Somali) to procure fragrant gums ( ibid. 505 514). Plutarch ( de Isid. et Osir. p. 383) describes the Eg. perfume called kyphi, which was used both for the toilet and as incense, consisting of sixteen ingredients (Erm. 232; Wilk.-B. iii. 398). There are also many references to incense ( urinnu; cf. Heb. e reth) in Ass. and Bab. inscriptions. The use is also often alluded to by the classical writers. See further Incense in EB.; or, most fully, Atchley, Hist. of the use of Incense in Divine worship (1909), pp. 1 77 (on the pre- and non-Christian use of it).
The origin of this use of incense is uncertain. The Oriental has a partiality for aromatic odours: he enjoys them himself; he perfumes his person, his garments, and his house with them; and he offers them to guests and rulers whom he desires to honour ( DB. ii. 468 a ; Lane, Mod. Eg. i. 175, 256: cf. Pro 7:17, Son 3:6, Psa 45:9). Men naturally believe that what is grateful to themselves is also pleasing to the deity. If, however, the use of incense originated in a primitive, or semi-primitive people, another motive may have contributed to its adoption: it may have been regarded as a means of driving away evil spirits (cf. Tob 6:7 ; Tob 8:2 f.) from the precincts of a sanctuary. Cf. Atchley, pp. 61 77. In Num 16:46 P (cf. Wis 18:21 ) an atoning efficacy is attributed to the burning of incense. And in later times incense, rising heavenwards in a cloud, came to be regarded as a spiritual symbol of prayer (Psa 141:2; Rev 8:3 f., Exo 5:8).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto,…. A man might make a perfume of the same ingredients, and of the same weight, and exactly like it, but not to burn for his own delight and pleasure; but if he made it and sold it to the congregation, as Jarchi observes, he was not guilty; but if it was for his own private use and pleasure, then he
shall even be cut off from his people; [See comments on Ex 30:33].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
REFLECTIONS
Come, my soul, look at the Jewish ordinances, and with an eye of faith behold thy Redeemer shadowed out in every one. He is indeed the golden altar, the ransom money, the true laver, or fountain for sin and for uncleanness; the sweet spices, the holy oil in the graces of his Holy Spirit; and the sum and substance of all divine ordinances. Dearest and ever-blessed Jesus! on thee may I be enabled, as the altar of offering, to bring all my oblations: in thy all-sufficient merits, and death, to rest every hope of acceptance in the well-grounded assurance, that God my Father hath found in thee a ransom, and hath said concerning my soul, Deliver him from going down into the pit. May God the Spirit anoint me with the holy oil of his manifold gifts and graces; and may Jesus, my great high Priest, in his perpetual advocacy, present me in the sweet and all-prevailing incense of his merits, that being washed in his blood, and accepted in his righteousness, I may at all times come boldly to a throne of grace, and find grace to help in every time of need.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
smell
What is condemned here is making worship a mere pleasure to the natural man, whether sensuous, as in beautiful music to please the ear, or eloquence, merely to give delight to the natural mind. (Cf) Joh 4:23; Joh 4:24.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
be cut off: Exo 30:33
Reciprocal: Gen 17:14 – cut Exo 30:32 – it is Exo 39:33 – the tent