Exodus 28:36

28:36 “You are to make a plate ¹  of pure gold and engrave on it the way a seal is engraved: ²  “Holiness to the Lord.” ³ 

Exodus 29:31

29:31 “You are to take the ram of the consecration and cook ⁴  its meat in a holy place. ⁵ 

Exodus 30:29

30:29 So you are to sanctify them, ⁶  and they will be most holy; ⁷  anything that touches them will be holy. ⁸ 

Exodus 30:31

30:31 And you are to tell the Israelites: ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil throughout your generations.

Exodus 30:35

30:35 and make it into an incense, ⁹  a perfume, ¹⁰  the work of a perfumer. It is to be finely ground, ¹¹  and pure and sacred.

Exodus 30:37

30:37 And the incense that you are to make, you must not make for yourselves using the same recipe; it is to be most holy to you, belonging to the Lord.

Exodus 37:29

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

[28:36]  ¹ tn The word צִּיץ (tsits) seems to mean “a shining thing” and so here a plate of metal. It originally meant “flower,” but they could not write on a flower. So it must have the sense of something worn openly, visible, and shining. The Rabbinic tradition says it was two fingers wide and stretched from ear to ear, but this is an attempt to give details that the Law does not give (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 818).

[28:36]  ² tn Heb “the engravings of a seal”; this phrase is an adverbial accusative of manner.

[28:36]  ³ sn The engraving was a perpetual reminder of the holiness that was due the Lord (Heb “Yahweh”), that all the clothing, the furnishings, and the activities were to come under that description. This corresponded to the symbolism for the whole nation of binding the law between the eyes. It was to be a perpetual reminder of commitment.

[29:31]  ⁴ tn Or “boil” (see Lev 8:31).

[29:31]  ⁵ sn The “holy place” must be in the courtyard of the sanctuary. Lev 8:31 says it is to be cooked at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Here it says it will be eaten there as well. This, then, becomes a communion sacrifice, a peace offering which was a shared meal. Eating a communal meal in a holy place was meant to signify that the worshipers and the priests were at peace with God.

[30:29]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn This is the superlative genitive again, Heb “holy of holies.”

[30:29]  ⁹ tn See Exod 29:37; as before, this could refer to anything or anyone touching the sanctified items.

[30:35]  ¹⁰ tn This is an accusative of result or product.

[30:35]  ¹¹ tn The word is in apposition to “incense,” further defining the kind of incense that is to be made.

[30:35]  ¹² tn The word מְמֻלָּח (mÿmullakh), a passive participle, is usually taken to mean “salted.” Since there is no meaning like that for the Pual form, the word probably should be taken as “mixed,” as in Rashi and Tg. Onq. Seasoning with salt would work if it were food, but since it is not food, if it means “salted” it would be a symbol of what was sound and whole for the covenant. Some have thought that it would have helped the incense burn quickly with more smoke.