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Éxodo 30

VBL · Chapter 30/40

1“Haz un altar de madera de acacia para quemar incienso.

2Será cuadrado, medirá un codo por codo, de dos codos de alto, con cuernos en sus esquinas que son todos de una sola pieza con el altar.

3Cubre su parte superior, su lado y sus cuernos con oro puro, y hace un adorno de oro para rodearlo.

4Hagan dos anillos de oro para el altar y pónganlos debajo de la moldura, dos a ambos lados, para sostener las varas para llevarlo.

5Haz las varas de madera de acacia y cúbrelas con oro.

6Pon el altar delante del velo que cuelga delante del Arca del Testimonio y la tapa de expiación que está sobre el Testimonio donde me reuniré con ustedes.

7“Aarón debe quemar incienso fragante en el altar cada mañana cuando cuida las lámparas.

8Cuando enciendas las lámparas por la noche, se debe quemar incienso de nuevo para que hay incienso siempre en la presencia del Señor por las generaciones futuras.

9No ofrezcas en este altar ningún incienso no aprobado, ni ningún holocausto ni ofrenda de grano, y no derrames sobre él ninguna libación.

10“Una vez al año, Aarón debe realizar el ritual de expiación poniendo en los cuernos del altar la sangre de la ofrenda por el pecado para la expiación. Este ritual anual de expiación debe ser llevado a cabo por las generaciones futuras. Este es el altar sagrado del Señor”.

11El Señor le dijo a Moisés:

12“Cuando hagas un censo de los israelitas, cada hombre debe pagarle al Señor el rescate por su vida cuando sea contado. Así no sufrirán la plaga cuando sean contados.

13Cada uno que pase a esos condados debe dar medio siclo, (usando el estandarte del siclo del santuario, que pesa veinte geras). Este medio siclo es una ofrenda al Señor.

14Esta ofrenda al Señor se exige a todos los que tengan veinte años o más.

15Cuando ofrezcan esta ofrenda como rescatepor sus vidas, los ricos no deben dar más de medio siclo y los pobres no deben dar menos.

16Tomen este dinero pagado por los israelitas y úsenlo para los gastos de los servicios del Tabernáculo de Reunión. Servirá como recordatorio para que los israelitas hagan expiación por sus vidas en presencia del Señor”.

17Y el Señor le dijo a Moisés:

18“Haz una palangana de bronce con un soporte de bronce para lavar. Colócalo entre el Tabernáculo de Reunión y el altar, y pon agua en él.

19Aarón y sus hijos la usarán para lavarse las manos y los pies.

20Cada vez que entren en el Tabernáculo de Reunión, se lavarán con agua para no morir. Cuando se acerquen al altar para presentar los holocaustos al Señor,

21también deben lavarse para no morir. Este requisito debe ser observado por ellos y sus descendientes por todas las generaciones”.

22Entonces el Señor le dijo a Moisés:

23“Toma las especias de mejor calidad: 500 siclos de mirra líquida, 250 siclos de canela de olor dulce, 250 siclos de caña aromática,

24500 siclos de casia, (pesos usando el estándar del siclo del santuario), y un hin de aceite de oliva.

25Mezcla todo esto en el aceite de la unción sagrada, una mezcla aromática como el producto de un experto perfumista. Úsalo como aceite de la unción sagrada.

26Úsalo para ungir el Tabernáculo de Reunión, el Arca del Testimonio,

27la mesa y todo su equipo, el candelabro y su equipo, el altar de incienso,

28el altar de los holocaustos y todos sus utensilios, y la vasija más su soporte.

29Dedícalos para que sean especialmente santos. Todo lo que los toque será sagrado.

30“Unjan a Aarón y a sus hijos también y dedíquenlos para que sirvan como sacerdotes para mí.

31Diles a los israelitas: ‘Este será mi aceite santo de unción para todas las generaciones futuras.

32No lo usen en la gente común y no hagan nada parecido usando la misma fórmula. Es santo, y debes tratarlo como si fuera santo.

33Cualquiera que mezcle aceite de unción como éste, o lo ponga sobre alguien que no sea un sacerdote, será expulsado de su pueblo’”.

34El Señor le dijo a Moisés: “Toma cantidades iguales de estas especias aromáticas: resina de bálsamo, perfume, gálbano e incienso puro.

35Añade un poco de sal y haz incienso puro y santo mezclado como el producto de un experto perfumista.

36Muele un poco en polvo y colóquelo delante del Arca del Testimonio en el Terbenáculo de Reunión, donde me reuniré contigo. Será especialmente sagrado para ti.

37Nopreparen ningún incienso como éste usando la misma fórmula. Deben considerar este incienso como sagrado para el Señor.

38Cualquiera que se haga un incienso como este para su propio deleite será expulsado de su pueblo”.

📖 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. Éxodo 30:1Besides the altar of sacrifice outside, the tabernacle had a second, smaller altar, meant specifically for burning incense inside the sanctuary.
  2. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 30:5The incense altar’s poles were also acacia wood overlaid with gold, keeping the material standard of the other portable pieces.
  6. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 30:9Forbids using this particular altar for any other kind of offering, incense different from what was prescribed, animal sacrifices, or wine libations.
  10. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 30:11Introduces a new subject in the conversation between God and Moses: the rules for a census, detailed in the following verses.
  12. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 30:17Introduces another subject in the sequence of instructions: building a basin for ritual washing, detailed in the next verse.
  18. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 30:22Introduces yet another subject in the sequence: the exact formula for the special anointing oil, detailed in the following verses.
  23. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 30:24Completes the list of ingredients with cassia and olive oil, forming the liquid base into which the spices would be mixed.
  25. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 30:27The anointing also extended to the table of bread, the lampstand, and the altar of incense, consecrating every piece inside the sanctuary.
  28. Éxodo 30:28Completes the list of anointed objects with the altar of sacrifice outside and the basin for ritual washing.
  29. Éxodo 30:29Once anointed, these objects would become so holy that anything coming into contact with them would also come to be considered holy.
  30. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 30:35The incense had to be prepared by a specialist, blended, seasoned, and kept pure, following a demanding quality standard.
  36. Éxodo 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. Éxodo 30:37Repeats the prohibition already made regarding the anointing oil: this specific incense formula could not be reproduced for personal or ordinary use.
  38. Éxodo 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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