Exodus 30:1
New International Version
“Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense.

New Living Translation
“Then make another altar of acacia wood for burning incense.

English Standard Version
“You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.

Berean Standard Bible
“You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense.

King James Bible
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.

New King James Version
“You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood.

New American Standard Bible
“Now you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.

NASB 1995
“Moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.

NASB 1977
“Moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.

Legacy Standard Bible
“Moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.

Amplified Bible
“You shall make an altar upon which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.

Christian Standard Bible
“You are to make an altar for the burning of incense; make it of acacia wood.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You are to make an altar for the burning of incense; make it of acacia wood.

American Standard Version
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of acacia wood shalt thou make it.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And make an altar of incense offering; you shall make it of the wood of the box tree.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And thou shalt make the altar of incense of incorruptible wood.

Contemporary English Version
Build an altar of acacia wood where you can burn incense.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt make also an altar to burn incense, of setim wood.

English Revised Version
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of acacia wood shalt thou make it.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
[The LORD continued,] "Build an altar out of acacia wood for burning incense.

Good News Translation
"Make an altar out of acacia wood, for burning incense.

International Standard Version
"You are to make an altar for burning incense. You are to make it of acacia wood.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon; of acacia-wood shalt thou make it.

Literal Standard Version
“And you have made an altar [for] making incense; you make it of shittim wood;

Majority Standard Bible
“You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense.

New American Bible
For burning incense you shall make an altar of acacia wood,

NET Bible
"You are to make an altar for burning incense; you are to make it of acacia wood.

New Revised Standard Version
You shall make an altar on which to offer incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.

New Heart English Bible
"You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood.

Webster's Bible Translation
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.

World English Bible
“You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood.

Young's Literal Translation
And thou hast made an altar for making perfume; of shittim wood thou dost make it;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Altar of Incense
1“You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense. 2It is to be square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns must be of one piece.…

Cross References
Hebrews 9:4
containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

Revelation 8:3
Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.

Exodus 30:2
It is to be square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns must be of one piece.

Exodus 35:15
the altar of incense with its poles; the anointing oil and fragrant incense; the curtain for the doorway at the entrance to the tabernacle;

Exodus 37:25
He made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns were of one piece.

Numbers 3:31
Their duties were the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used with them, and the curtain--all the service for these items.

1 Kings 6:22
So he overlaid with gold the whole interior of the temple, until everything was completely finished. He also overlaid with gold the entire altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.


Treasury of Scripture

And you shall make an altar to burn incense on: of shittim wood shall you make it.

Exodus 30:32
Upon 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.

Exodus 30:26
And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony,

Exodus 30:7,8,10
And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it…

to burn incense.

Exodus 4:11
And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

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Acacia Acacia-Wood Altar Burn Burning Hard Incense Making Moreover Perfume Shittim Wood
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Acacia Acacia-Wood Altar Burn Burning Hard Incense Making Moreover Perfume Shittim Wood
Exodus 30
1. The altar of incense
11. The ransom of souls
17. The bronze basin
22. The holy anointing oil
34. The composition of the incense














XXX.

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE.

(1) Thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon.--Why the directions concerning the altar of incense were delayed until this place, instead of being given when the rest of the furniture of the holy place was described (Exodus 25), it is impossible to say. But there is certainly no reason to suspect a dislocation of the text. The mode in which Aaron is spoken of in Exodus 30:7-10 implies a previous mention of his consecration to the high priesthood.

That incense would be among the offerings which God would require to be offered to Him had appeared already in Exodus 25:6. Its preciousness, its fragrance, and its seeming to mount in cloud after cloud to heaven, gave it a natural place in the symbolism of worship, and led to its employment in the religious rites of a variety of nations. Egyptian priests continually appear on the monuments with censers in their hands, in which presumably incense is being offered, and the inscriptions mention that it was imported from Arabia, and used largely in the festivals of Ammon (Records of the Past, vol. x., pp. 14-19). Herodotus tells us that the Babylonians consumed annually a thousand talents' weight of it at the feast of Belus (i. 183). The employment of it by the Greeks and Romans in their sacrifices is well known. Here again, as so often in the Mosaical dispensation. God sanctioned in His worship an innocent rite, which natural reason had pointed out to man as fitting and appropriate, not regarding its employment in false religions as debarring it from adoption into the true.

Of shittim wood shalt thou make it.--Of the same main material as "the brazen altar" (Exodus 27:1), but covered differently.

Verses 1-10. - THE ALTAR OF INCENSE. This chapter has the appearance of being one in which accidental omissions are supplied. The natural place for a description of the altar of incense - part of the furniture of the holy place (ver. 6) - would seem to have been Exodus 25:10-40, where we have the descriptions of the ark, the mercy-seat, the table of shew-bread, and the candlestick; the natural place for "the ransom of souls," the earlier part of the same chapter (ver. 3), where the silver is required which was to be collected in this way; the natural place for an account of the bronze laver, ch. 27, where the bronze altar, near which it stood, is described; the natural place for the composition of the holy oil, ch. 29, where its use is commanded (vers. 7, 21); and the natural place for a description of the perfume the same as for the altar on which it was to be offered. Whether Moses made the omissions in writing his record, and afterwards supplied them in the present chapter, or whether Divine wisdom saw fit to give the directions in the order in which we now have them, cannot be determined. Hitherto certainly no sufficient reason has been shown for the existing order, which hence appears accidental. The altar of incense was to be in many respects similar to the altar of burnt-offering, but of smaller size and richer material. Both were to be "four-square," and both of shittim wood cased with metal; but the former was to be taller, the latter shorter, than it was broad; and while the latter was to be cased with bronze, the former was to have a covering of gold. The place for the altar of incense was the main chamber of the tabernacle, a little in front of the veil; and its purpose was, as the name implied, the offering of incense to almighty God. This was to be done by the officiating priest, twice a day, morning and evening, and in practice was performed before the morning, and after the evening sacrifice. Verse 1 - An altar to burn incense upon. The offering of incense was an element in the religious worship of most ancient nations. In Egypt frankincense was especially used in the festivals of the god Ammon (Records of the Past, vol. 10. pp. 18, 19);. and on one occasion an Egyptian sovereign sent a naval expedition to Arabia for the express purpose of bringing frankincense and frankincense trees to Egypt, in connection with the Ammon feasts (Brugsch, History of Egypt, vol. 1. pp. 305-311). The Babylonians burnt a thousand talents' weight of frankincense every year at the great festival of Bal (Herod. 1:183). The Greeks and Romans offered frankincense, as a rule, with every offering; and in the early ages of Christianity it was made the test of a Christian whether he would do this or no. What exactly the religious notion was which underlay these acts, or whether it was the same everywhere, may be questioned. In the Mosaic religion, however, there can be little doubt that, in the main, incense symbolised prayer. (See Psalm 141:2; Luke 1:10.) Of shittim wood. Compare above, Exodus 27:1.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You are also to make
וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ (wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

an altar
מִזְבֵּ֖חַ (miz·bê·aḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4196: An altar

of acacia
שִׁטִּ֖ים (šiṭ·ṭîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 7848: Acacia (a tree and a wood)

wood
עֲצֵ֥י (‘ă·ṣê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 6086: Tree, trees, wood

for the burning
מִקְטַ֣ר (miq·ṭar)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4729: Something to fume, on, a hearth place

of incense.
קְטֹ֑רֶת (qə·ṭō·reṯ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 7004: Smoke, odor of (burning) sacrifice, incense


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OT Law: Exodus 30:1 You shall make an altar to burn (Exo. Ex)
Exodus 29:46
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