Exodus 30:7-8

30:7 Aaron is to burn sweet incense ¹  on it morning by morning; when he attends ²  to the lamps he is to burn incense. ³  30:8 When Aaron sets up the lamps around sundown he is to burn incense on it; it is to be a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations.

Exodus 37:25-29

The Making of the Altar of Incense

37:25 He made the incense altar of acacia wood. Its length was a foot and a half and its width a foot and a half – a square – and its height was three feet. Its horns were of one piece with it. ⁴  37:26 He overlaid it with pure gold – its top, ⁵  its four walls, ⁶  and its horns – and he made a surrounding border of gold for it. ⁷  37:27 He also made ⁸  two gold rings for it under its border, on its two sides, on opposite sides, ⁹  as places ¹⁰  for poles to carry it with. 37:28 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

37:29 He made the sacred anointing oil and the pure fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.

Numbers 16:40

16:40 It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of ¹¹  Aaron should approach to burn incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his company – just as the Lord had spoken by the authority ¹²  of Moses.

Numbers 16:1

The Rebellion of Korah

16:1 ¹³ Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, ¹⁴  took men ¹⁵ 

Numbers 2:28

2:28 Those numbered in his division are 41,500.

Numbers 2:1

The Arrangement of the Tribes

2:1 ¹⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron:

Numbers 6:1

The Nazirite Vow

6:1 ¹⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

Numbers 23:13

23:13 Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.”

Numbers 23:2

23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each ¹⁸  altar a bull and a ram.

Numbers 26:16

26:16 from Ozni, ¹⁹  the family of the Oznites; from Eri, ²⁰  the family of the Erites;

Numbers 26:2

26:2 “Take a census of the whole community of Israelites, from twenty years old and upward, by their clans, ²¹  everyone who can serve in the army of Israel.” ²² 

Numbers 29:11

29:11 along with one male goat for a purification offering, in addition to the purification offering for atonement and the continual burnt offering with its grain offering and their drink offerings.

Hebrews 9:6

9:6 So with these things prepared like this, the priests enter continually into the outer tent ²³  as they perform their duties.

¹ tn The text uses a cognate accusative (“incense”) with the verb “to burn” or “to make into incense/sweet smoke.” Then, the noun “sweet spices” is added in apposition to clarify the incense as sweet.

² tn The Hebrew is בְּהֵיטִיבוֹ (bÿhetivo), a Hiphil infinitive construct serving in a temporal clause. The Hebrew verb means “to make good” and so in this context “to fix” or “to dress.” This refers to cleansing and trimming the lamps.

³ sn The point of the little golden altar of incense is normally for intercessory prayer, and then at the Day of Atonement for blood applied atonement. The instructions for making it show that God wanted his people to make a place for prayer. The instructions for its use show that God expects that the requests of his people will be pleasing to him.

⁴ tn Heb “from it were its horns,” meaning that they were made from the same piece.

⁷ tn Heb “roof.”

⁸ tn Heb “its walls around.”

⁹ tn Heb “and he made for it border gold around.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he made.”

¹¹ sn Since it was a small altar, it needed only two rings, one on either side, in order to be carried. The second mention of their location clarifies that they should be on the sides, the right and the left, as one approached the altar.

¹² tn Heb “for houses.”

¹³ tn Heb “from the seed of.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “hand.”

¹⁶ sn There are three main movements in the story of ch. 16. The first is the rebellion itself (vv. 1-19). The second is the judgment (vv. 20-35). Third is the atonement for the rebels (vv. 36-50). The whole chapter is a marvelous account of a massive rebellion against the leaders that concludes with reconciliation. For further study see G. Hort, “The Death of Qorah,” ABR 7 (1959): 2-26; and J. Liver, “Korah, Dathan and Abiram,” Studies in the Bible (ScrHier 8), 189-217.

¹⁷ tc The MT reading is plural (“the sons of Reuben”); the Smr and LXX have the singular (“the son of Reuben”).

¹⁸ tn In the Hebrew text there is no object for the verb “took.” The translation presented above supplies the word “men.” However, it is possible that the MT has suffered damage here. The LXX has “and he spoke.” The Syriac and Targum have “and he was divided.” The editor of BHS suggests that perhaps the MT should be emended to “and he arose.”

¹⁹ sn For this chapter, see C. E. Douglas, “The Twelve Houses of Israel,” JTS 37 (1936): 49-56; C. C. Roach, “The Camp in the Wilderness: A Sermon on Numbers 2:2,” Int 13 (1959): 49-54; and G. St. Clair, “Israel in Camp: A Study,” JTS 8 (1907): 185-217.

²² sn This chapter can be divided into five sections: The vow is described in vv. 1-8, then the contingencies for defilement are enumerated in vv. 9-12, then there is a discussion of discharging the vows in vv. 13-20, and then a summary in v. 21; after this is the high priestly blessing (vv. 22-27). For information on the vow, see G. B. Gray, “The Nazirite,” JTS 1 (1899-1900): 201-11; Z. Weisman, “The Biblical Nazirite, Its Types and Roots,” Tarbiz 36 (1967): 207-20; and W. Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament (OTL), 1:303-6.

²⁵ tn The Hebrew text has “on the altar,” but since there were seven of each animal and seven altars, the implication is that this means on each altar.

²⁸ tc The MT of Gen 46:16 reads this as “Ezbon.”

²⁹ tc The Greek version and Smr have “Ad[d]i,” probably by confusion of letters.

³¹ tn Heb “house of their fathers.”

³² tn Heb “everyone who goes out in the army in Israel.”

³⁴ tn Grk “the first tent.”