The Incense
Exodus 30:34-38
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Exo.30.34 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- משה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- קח: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- סמים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- נטף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושחלת: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וחלבנה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- סמים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ולבנה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- זכה: ADJ,f,sg
- בד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בבד: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Exodus 30:1-10 (structural): Immediate context: instructions for the altar of incense and its continual burning — v.34 provides the actual formula for the incense used on that altar.
- Exodus 30:7-8 (structural): Prescribes Aaron’s duty to burn incense morning and evening on the altar of incense — this verse gives the liturgical use for the mixture named in v.34.
- Exodus 30:22-33 (thematic): Gives the recipe for the holy anointing oil and stresses its sacred, exclusive use — parallels v.34’s formulation of a consecrated aromatic blend and the theme of holiness of sacred scents.
- Leviticus 16:12-13 (thematic): Describes the priest placing incense on coals in the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement — illustrates another cultic function of incense and its role in mediating presence and purification.
- Revelation 8:3-4 (allusion): An angel offers incense with the prayers of the saints before God — New Testament reworking of temple-incense imagery, linking the OT cultic incense (its composition and use) with heavenly worship and prayer.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the LORD said to Moses: Take for yourself spices: stacte, and onycha, and galbanum—spices—together with pure frankincense; in equal parts it shall be.
- And the LORD said to Moses: Take for yourself spices—stacte and onycha and galbanum—spices—and pure frankincense; of each there shall be an equal part.
Exo.30.35 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ועשית: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- קטרת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- רקח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מעשה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רוקח: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- ממלח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- טהור: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- קדש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Exodus 30:34-38 (verbal): Immediate context — the full recipe for the sacred incense and the prohibition on making it for personal use; repeats the same language about a perfumer's work and holiness.
- Leviticus 2:13 (verbal): Cultic requirement that every grain offering be seasoned with salt ('you shall season all your offerings... with salt') — verbal and cultic parallel to the 'salt' and holy character of the incense.
- Numbers 16:46-48 (thematic): Aaron takes a censer with incense among the people to avert the plague — shows priestly use of incense for atonement/appeasement, linking the sacred function of incense in worship.
- Psalm 141:2 (thematic): 'Let my prayer be counted as incense before you' — explicitly equates incense with prayer and worship, a theological parallel to the sanctified use of incense.
- Revelation 8:3-4 (allusion): An angel offers incense with the prayers of the saints before God — a New Testament typological echo of temple incense serving as the symbol/vehicle of prayer.
Alternative generated candidates
- And you shall make of it incense, a compound, the work of a perfumer; seasoned with salt, pure, holy.
- And you shall make of it incense, a blended compound, the work of a perfumer; seasoned with salt, pure, holy.
Exo.30.36 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ושחקת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- ממנה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- הדק: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ונתתה: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- ממנה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- לפני: PREP
- העדת: NOUN,f,sg,def
- באהל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מועד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- אועד: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- שמה: ADV
- קדש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- קדשים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תהיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,f,sg
- לכם: PREP,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Exod.30:34-35 (verbal): Immediate context: commands for making the sacred incense from specific spices and declares it a holy perfume — directly connected to the instruction to place a handful before the testimony.
- Exod.30:37-38 (thematic): Continues the chapter’s concern with the sanctity and exclusivity of the holy incense and warns against making similar perfumes — reinforces the holiness of what is set before the testimony.
- Lev.16:12-13 (structural): On the Day of Atonement the high priest takes a censer and two handfuls of incense and brings them inside the veil before the mercy seat — parallels the ritual act of placing incense before the testimony in the sanctuary.
- Ps.141:2 (thematic): Uses the image of incense as a metaphor for offerings/prayer before God (“let my prayer be counted as incense”) echoing the idea of incense presented before God’s presence.
- Rev.8:3-4 (allusion): Vision of an angel offering incense with the prayers of the saints before God’s throne — a New Testament/eschatological echo of incense presented before God’s testimony/seat.
Alternative generated candidates
- And you shall beat some of it very fine, and you shall put some of it before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I meet with you; it shall be most holy to you.
- And you shall grind some of it very fine, and you shall set some of it before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I meet with you there; most holy it shall be to you.
Exo.30.37 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והקטרת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- אשר: PRON,rel
- תעשה: VERB,qal,imf,2,m,sg
- במתכנתה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,prn3f
- לא: PART_NEG
- תעשו: VERB,qal,impv,2,pl
- לכם: PREP,2,m,pl
- קדש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- תהיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,f,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Exodus 30:34-36 (verbal): Immediate context giving the incense formula and reiterating that the incense is holy and not to be made for personal use (closely parallels wording and intent).
- Exodus 30:38 (verbal): Prescribes the penalty for making incense like the sacred mixture for private use — reinforces the prohibition of Exodus 30:37 with a legal consequence.
- Leviticus 16:12-13 (thematic): Describes the priestly use of incense on the Day of Atonement, illustrating that incense use was reserved for sacerdotal/ cultic service, not lay manufacture or use.
- Leviticus 10:1-2 (thematic): The account of Nadab and Abihu offering 'strange fire' underscores the prohibition against unauthorized or private offerings in the sanctuary sphere, thematically related to forbidding private manufacture of sacred incense.
- Deuteronomy 12:29-32 (thematic): Warnings against adopting foreign cultic practices and adding unauthorized rituals resonate with Exodus 30:37’s prohibition on producing sacred incense for private, non-sanctioned use.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the incense that you make, according to its formula, you shall not make for yourselves; it shall be holy to you—for the LORD.
- And the incense that you make—according to its formula you shall not make any for yourselves; holy to the LORD it shall be for you.
Exo.30.38 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- יעשה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- כמוה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- להריח: VERB,hif,inf
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- ונכרת: CONJ+VERB,nip,perf,3,m,sg
- מעמיו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Exod.30:37 (verbal): Immediate parallel: the neighboring verse explicitly prohibits making any other incense for personal use — same prohibition and cultic restriction framed in different words.
- Exod.30:31–33 (structural): Connected legal material about the sacred anointing oil and incense; verse 33 contains the identical warning that anyone who makes a like substance shall be cut off, showing the common cultic principle and formula of prohibition.
- Lev.10:1–2 (thematic): Nadab and Abihu offer 'unauthorized/strange fire' before the LORD and are killed — a narrative example of severe sanction for improper cultic actions, echoing the prohibition and punitive idiom of being removed for illicit worship.
- Lev.16:12–13 (structural): Regulation that only prescribed personnel/procedures may burn incense on the sacred altar (the high priest on the Day of Atonement), reinforcing the theme that incense and its use are tightly controlled by divine command.
- 2 Chr.26:16–21 (thematic): King Uzziah unlawfully burns incense in the sanctuary and is struck with leprosy — a later historical episode that parallels Exodus’s prohibition by showing real-world consequences for unauthorized priestly activity.
Alternative generated candidates
- Any man who makes like it, to smell it, shall be cut off from his people.
- Any man who makes like it, to smell it, shall be cut off from his people.
And the LORD said to Moses: Take for yourself spices: stacte and onycha and galbanum—spices—with pure frankincense; of each there shall be an equal part. And you shall make of it incense, a blend, the work of a perfumer; seasoned with salt, pure, holy. And you shall beat some of it very fine, and you shall set some of it before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you there; it shall be most holy to you. And the incense that you shall make—according to its formula you shall not make for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the LORD.
Any man who makes like it, to smell it, shall be cut off from his people.