Keluaran 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.

Keluaran 30:10

30:10 Aaron is to make atonement on its horns once in the year with some of the blood of the sin offering for atonement; ⁴  once in the year ⁵  he is to make atonement on it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.” ⁶ 

Keluaran 37:25-28

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. ⁷  37:26 He overlaid it with pure gold – its top, ⁸  its four walls, ⁹  and its horns – and he made a surrounding border of gold for it. ¹⁰  37:27 He also made ¹¹  two gold rings for it under its border, on its two sides, on opposite sides, ¹²  as places ¹³  for poles to carry it with. 37:28 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

Keluaran 40:5

40:5 You are to put ¹⁴  the gold altar for incense in front of the ark of the testimony and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

[30:7]  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.

[30:7]  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.

[30:7]  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.

[30:10]  ⁴ tn The word “atonements” (plural in Hebrew) is a genitive showing the result or product of the sacrifice made.

[30:10]  ⁵ sn This ruling presupposes that the instruction for the Day of Atonement has been given, or at the very least, is to be given shortly. That is the one day of the year that all sin and all ritual impurity would be removed.

[30:10]  ⁶ sn The phrase “most holy to the Lord” means that the altar cannot be used for any other purpose than what is stated here.

[37:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “from it were its horns,” meaning that they were made from the same piece.

[37:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “roof.”

[37:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “its walls around.”

[37:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he made for it border gold around.”

[37:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he made.”

[37:27]  ¹² 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.

[37:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “for houses.”

[40:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “give” (also four additional times in vv. 6-8).