Exodus 30:1
in Exodus 30“You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of acacia wood shalt thou make it.
KJV
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.
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This verse in Exodus 30
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Exo 37:25-28; Exo 40:26-27. The altar of incense was to be a casing of boards of shittim wood Exo 25:5, Exo 25:18 inches square and three feet in height (taking the cubit as 18 inches), entirely covered with plates of gold. Four “horns” were to project upward at the corners like those of the altar of burnt-offering Exo 27:2. A crown or moulding of gold was to run round the top. On each of two opposite sides there was to be a gold ring through which the staves were to be put when it was moved from place to place.
This site's exposition
make an altar to burn incense upon
on Exodus 30:1-5
The golden altar is described here rather than with the table and the candlestick in chapter 25, after the priests have been consecrated in chapter 29. It carries horns like the brazen altar of Exodus 27:2 and rings and staves like the ark of Exodus 25:13, so the instrument of prayer is built to travel with the camp. Hebrews 9:4 places a golden censer with the holiest of all rather than with the holy place, and readers have long divided over whether the writer means this altar or the censer carried in on the day of atonement.
The record, by era
The Reformation1 voice
And David applies this type specially to prayer, when he says: "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense." (Psalm 131:2.) Therefore, as the other altar of which we have been hearing, was devoted to the victims for the purpose of propitiating God, so also this altar perfumed the sacrifices with the odor of its incense, that they might be acceptable to God.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The measure of the altar of incense in Ezekiel's temple is double to what it is here ( Ezek. xli. 22 ), and it is there called an altar of wood, and there is no mention of gold, to signify that the incense, in gospel times, should be spiritual, the worship plain, and the service of God enlarged, for in every place incense should be offered, Mal. i.
quarantine:near-duplicate (2026-07-29) — near-dup(78%, 2 voices)
The altar of incense in Ezekiel's temple is double to what it is here, Ezek. xli, 22, and it is there called an altar of wood, and there is no mention of gold, to signify that the incense in gospel times should be spiritual, the worship plain, and the service of God enlarged.
quarantine:near-duplicate (2026-07-29) — near-dup(78%, 2 voices)
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon, &c.--Its material was to be like that of the ark of the testimony, but its dimensions very small [Ex 25:10].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Altar to burn incense - The Samaritan omits the ten first verses of this chapter, because it inserts them after Exo 26:32 (note). Shittim wood - The same of which the preceding articles were made, because it was abundant in those parts, and because it was very durable; hence everywhere the Septuagint translation, which was made in Egypt, renders the original by ξυλον ασηπτον, incorruptible wood.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Now the altar of incense being one of the articles in the inner part of the Sanctuary, it should have been mentioned with the table and the candelabrum together with which it was placed, as indeed they are mentioned at the actual construction in the section of Vayakheil.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ | veasita | and you will make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מִזְבֵּ֖חַ | mizbeach | an altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| מִקְטַ֣ר | miktar | a place of smoke of | H4729 → | |
| קְטֹ֑רֶת | ketoret | incense | H7004 → | 60 times |
| עֲצֵ֥י | ʾatzei | wood<s> of | H6086 → | 328 times |
| שִׁטִּ֖ים | shitim | acacia | H7848 → | 28 times |
| תַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה | taaseh | you will make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֹתֽוֹ׃ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
וְעָשִׂ֥יתָand you will make
veasitaH6213 →2628 times
מִזְבֵּ֖חַan altar
mizbeachH4196 →401 times
מִקְטַ֣רa place of smoke of
miktarH4729 →
קְטֹ֑רֶתincense
ketoretH7004 →60 times
עֲצֵ֥יwood<s> of
ʾatzeiH6086 →328 times
שִׁטִּ֖יםacacia
shitimH7848 →28 times
תַּעֲשֶׂ֥הyou will make
taasehH6213 →2628 times
אֹתֽוֹ׃<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Revelation 8:3Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before…
it leads to
- Revelation 5:8
When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which…
- Revelation 8:4
And the smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, rose up before God from the hand of the angel.
- Psalms 141:2
May my prayer be set before You like incense, my uplifted hands like the evening offering.
- Luke 1:10
And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside.
- Revelation 9:13
Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God
- Revelation 5:8
Through
Leviticus 4:7The priest must then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. And he is to pour out…
it leads to
- Leviticus 8:15
Moses slaughtered the bull, took some of the blood, and applied it with his finger to all four horns of the altar, purifying the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at…
- Leviticus 8:15
Through
2 Chronicles 26:16But when Uzziah grew powerful, his arrogance led to his own destruction. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 32:25
But because his heart was proud, Hezekiah did not repay the favor shown to him. Therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
- Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
- 2 Chronicles 32:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.