2. MoseKapitel 30

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You shall make an altar for burning incense; make it of acacia wood.

It shall be a cubit long and a cubit wide—square—and two cubits high, its horns of one piece with it.

Overlay it with pure gold—its top, its sides all around, and its horns—and make a gold molding around it.

Make two gold rings for it beneath the molding, on its two opposite sides, to hold the poles used to carry it.

Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

Place it in front of the curtain that hangs before the ark of the testimony—before the mercy seat that is over the testimony—where I will meet with you.

Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; every morning, when he tends the lamps, he shall burn it.

And when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it again—a regular offering of incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

You shall not offer on it unauthorized incense, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall pour no drink offering on it.

Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement he shall make atonement for it once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD.

The LORD said to Moses:

"When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one shall pay the LORD a ransom for his life when they are counted, so that no plague will come upon them as they are counted.

This is what everyone included in the census shall give: half a shekel, by the sanctuary shekel—the shekel is twenty gerahs—half a shekel as an offering to the LORD.

Everyone included in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the LORD's offering.

The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel when you give the LORD's offering to make atonement for your lives.

Take the atonement money from the Israelites and devote it to the service of the tent of meeting. It shall be a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD, making atonement for your lives."

The LORD said to Moses:

"Make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. Set it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.

Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet with water from it.

When they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they do not die; likewise when they approach the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the LORD.

They shall wash their hands and feet so that they do not die. This shall be a lasting statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations."

The LORD said to Moses:

"Take the finest spices: five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much—two hundred fifty—of fragrant cinnamon, two hundred fifty of fragrant cane,

and five hundred of cassia, by the sanctuary shekel, along with a hin of olive oil.

Make of these a holy anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil.

With it anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony,

the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense,

the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand.

Consecrate them, and they will be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy.

Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve me as priests.

Say to the Israelites: 'This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations.

It must not be poured on anyone's body, and you shall make nothing like it with the same formula. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you.

Whoever blends anything like it, or puts any of it on an outsider, shall be cut off from his people.'"

The LORD said to Moses, "Take fragrant spices—stacte, onycha, and galbanum—these spices with pure frankincense, in equal amounts.

Make of them an incense blended as by a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.

Grind some of it fine and place it before the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.

As for the incense you make, do not make any for yourselves with the same formula; it shall be holy to you, reserved for the LORD.

Whoever makes anything like it to enjoy its fragrance shall be cut off from his people."

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Zusammenfassung2

Kapitel 30

Main Theme: God gives instructions regarding holy objects and mixtures for use in the tabernacle.

Content: God commands Moses to make an altar of acacia wood overlaid with gold, where Aaron is to burn incense morning and evening and perform an annual atonement. At a census, every Israelite over 20 years old must pay half a shekel as a ransom. A bronze basin is to be made for the priests' ritual cleansing. God provides recipes for holy anointing oil and incense mixture reserved for the sanctuary—misuse results in being cut off from the people.

Key Words/Images:

The Altar of Incense: A gold-overlaid altar placed before the veil, where incense is burned as a daily service to the Lord.
Half a Shekel: A ransom payment that all Israelites must give equally, regardless of wealth, for atonement and the maintenance of the sanctuary.
The Bronze Basin: A vessel for washing hands and feet before priestly service, required on pain of death.
Anointing Oil: Holy oil used to consecrate the tabernacle, its furnishings, and the priests.

Historischer Kontext

Historical and Cultural Context for Exodus 30

Events and Customs

The chapter describes several ritual practices with parallels in the ancient Near East. Incense offering was widespread in temples throughout the ancient Near East. The Hebrew word qeṭoret (קְטֹרֶת) refers to incense that rises up and is associated with prayer and God's presence. The burning of incense morning and evening (vv. 7–8) reflected common practice for daily temple rituals at sunrise and sunset.

Ritual washing in the bronze basin (vv. 17–21) reflects a widespread understanding in antiquity that purity was necessary to approach the divine. Egyptian priests washed themselves several times each day, and similar cleansing rituals are documented in Mesopotamian cults. The half-shekel as ransom (vv. 12–16) represents an early form of "cultic tax" also known from other ancient societies, where a census was considered potentially dangerous without divine protection.

Key Terms

Sheqel haqqodesh (שֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ) – "sanctuary shekel" – was a standardized unit of weight used in cultic contexts. One shekel corresponded to approximately 11.4 grams of silver, making the half-shekel about 5.7 grams. Twenty gera made up one shekel (v. 13). This specification was necessary because units of weight varied between different trading regions.

Kofer (כֹּפֶר) in verse 12 means "ransom" or "atonement price" and is related to kippur (atonement). The concept implies that a human life has value that must be "covered" before God. The fact that both rich and poor paid the same amount (v. 15) emphasized equality before God – an unusual idea in a time of strict social hierarchies.

Ingredients and Materials

The ingredients in the anointing oil and incense (vv. 23–25, 34) are well documented in archaeological and botanical studies. Mor-deror (מָר־דְּרוֹר) is liquid myrrh from Commiphora trees in South Arabia and East Africa. Qinnamon (קִנָּמוֹן) is traditionally identified as cinnamon, possibly imported via trade networks through Arabia, although its exact identification remains debated. Qiddah (קִדָּה) is likely cassia, a cinnamon-like spice. These exotic ingredients testify to extensive trade networks during the Bronze Age.

Incense ingredients include nataph (balsam resin), sheḥelet (possibly onyx-shell or a plant resin), ḥelbenah (galbanum, a resin from the Ferula plant), and levonah (pure frankincense from Boswellia trees). Archaeological finds of incense altars from ancient Israel show residues of similar mixtures, and trade connections for frankincense from South Arabia are documented in Assyrian sources.

Personen2

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Schlüsselwörter7

Incense — A mixture of aromatic substances burned as an offering to God, symbolizing prayer and devotion.
Anointing oil — A special oil used to anoint or consecrate people and objects in the temple, representing God's presence and blessing.
Atonement — An act to make amends for sins and mistakes, restoring the relationship between God and humanity.
The treasury — A tax or gift given to the temple to support the priests and maintain its services.
The Ark — A special chest that contained the Ark of the Covenant, where God's presence was said to rest. The Ark symbolized God's covenant with the people of Israel.
Priest — A person who performs religious ceremonies and functions on behalf of the people, serving as a mediator between God and humanity.
Holy — Something set apart for God and his service, distinct from what is common or profane.