Exodus 30:23-29

30:23 “Take ¹  choice spices: ²  twelve and a half pounds ³  of free-flowing myrrh, ⁴  half that – about six and a quarter pounds – of sweet-smelling cinnamon, six and a quarter pounds of sweet-smelling cane, 30:24 and twelve and a half pounds of cassia, all weighed ⁵  according to the sanctuary shekel, and four quarts ⁶  of olive oil. 30:25 You are to make this ⁷  into ⁸  a sacred anointing oil, a perfumed compound, ⁹  the work of a perfumer. It will be sacred anointing oil.

30:26 “With it you are to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, 30:27 the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense, 30:28 the altar for the burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its base. 30:29 So you are to sanctify them, ¹⁰  and they will be most holy; ¹¹  anything that touches them will be holy. ¹² 

Exodus 40:9-11

40:9 And take ¹³  the anointing oil, and anoint ¹⁴  the tabernacle and all that is in it, and sanctify ¹⁵  it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. 40:10 Then you are to anoint the altar for the burnt offering with ¹⁶  all its utensils; you are to sanctify the altar, and it will be the most holy altar. 40:11 You must also anoint the large basin and its pedestal, and you are to sanctify it. ¹⁷ 

[30:23]  ¹ tn The construction uses the imperative “take,” but before it is the independent pronoun to add emphasis to it. After the imperative is the ethical dative (lit. “to you”) to stress the task to Moses as a personal responsibility: “and you, take to yourself.”

[30:23]  ² tn Heb “spices head.” This must mean the chief spices, or perhaps the top spice, meaning fine spices or choice spices. See Song 4:14; Ezek 27:22.

[30:23]  ³ tn Or “500 shekels.” Verse 24 specifies that the sanctuary shekel was the unit for weighing the spices. The total of 1500 shekels for the four spices is estimated at between 77 and 100 pounds, or 17 to 22 kilograms, depending on how much a shekel weighed (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:576).

[30:23]  ⁴ sn Myrrh is an aromatic substance that flows from the bark of certain trees in Arabia and Africa and then hardens. “The hardened globules of the gum appear also to have been ground into a powder that would have been easy to store and would have been poured from a container” (J. Durham, Exodus [WBC], 3:406).

[30:24]  ⁵ tn The words “all weighed” are added for clarity in English.

[30:24]  ⁶ tn Or “a hin.” A hin of oil is estimated at around one gallon (J. Durham, Exodus [WBC], 3:406).

[30:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “it.”

[30:25]  ⁸ tn The word “oil” is an adverbial accusative, indicating the product that results from the verb (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, §52).

[30:25]  ⁹ tn The somewhat rare words rendered “a perfumed compound” are both associated with a verbal root having to do with mixing spices and other ingredients to make fragrant ointments. They are used with the next phrase, “the work of a perfumer,” to describe the finished oil as a special mixture of aromatic spices and one requiring the knowledge and skills of an experienced maker.

[30:29]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; in this verse it is summarizing or explaining what the anointing has accomplished. This is the effect of the anointing (see Exod 29:36).

[30:29]  ¹¹ tn This is the superlative genitive again, Heb “holy of holies.”

[30:29]  ¹² tn See Exod 29:37; as before, this could refer to anything or anyone touching the sanctified items.

[40:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “you will take” (perfect with vav, ו).

[40:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and you will anoint” (perfect with vav, ו).

[40:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and you will sanctify” (perfect with vav, ו).

[40:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and.”

[40:11]  ¹⁷ sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 480) notes that the items inside the tent did not need to be enumerated since they were already holy, but items in the courtyard needed special attention. People needed to know that items outside the tent were just as holy.