Exodus 30:2
in Exodus 30It is to be square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns must be of one piece.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be; and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it.
KJV
A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.
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This verse in Exodus 30
Commentary
5 notes on this verseFour-square - That is, on the upper or under surface, as it showed four equal sides; but it was twice as high as it was broad, being twenty-one inches broad, and three feet six inches high. It was called, not only the altar of incense, but also the golden altar, Num 4:11. For the crown, horns, staves, etc., see on the altar of burnt-offering, Exo 27:1 (note), etc.
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 Puritans and the Awakening2 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)
A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, four square shall it be,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
This splendor was adapted to the early age of the church, but in later times, when the worship was to be more spiritual, the altar of incense is prophetically described as not of gold but of wood, and double the size of that in the tabernacle, because the church should be vastly extended (Mal 1:11).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַמָּ֨ה | ʾamah | [will be] a cubit | H520 → | 247 times |
| אָרְכּ֜וֹ | ʾareko | length its | H753 → | 95 times |
| וְאַמָּ֤ה | veamah | and [will be] a cubit | H520 → | 247 times |
| רָחְבּוֹ֙ | rachebo | breadth its | H7341 → | 101 times |
| רָב֣וּעַ | ravua' | square | H7251 → | 12 times |
| יִהְיֶ֔ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| וְאַמָּתַ֖יִם | veamatayim | and [will be] two cubits | H520 → | 247 times |
| קֹמָת֑וֹ | komato | height its | H6967 → | 45 times |
| מִמֶּ֖נּוּ | mimenu | [will be] from it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| קַרְנֹתָֽיו׃ | karnotav | horns its | H7161 → | 76 times |
אַמָּ֨ה[will be] a cubit
ʾamahH520 →247 times
אָרְכּ֜וֹlength its
ʾarekoH753 →95 times
וְאַמָּ֤הand [will be] a cubit
veamahH520 →247 times
רָחְבּוֹ֙breadth its
racheboH7341 →101 times
רָב֣וּעַsquare
ravua'H7251 →12 times
יִהְיֶ֔הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
וְאַמָּתַ֖יִםand [will be] two cubits
veamatayimH520 →247 times
קֹמָת֑וֹheight its
komatoH6967 →45 times
מִמֶּ֖נּוּ[will be] from it
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
קַרְנֹתָֽיו׃horns its
karnotavH7161 →76 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Exodus 27:2Make a horn on each of its four corners, so that the horns are of one piece, and overlay it with bronze.
it leads to
- Psalms 118:27
The LORD is God; He has made His light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
- Leviticus 4:7
The 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…
- 1 Kings 1:50
But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, got up and went to take hold of the horns of the altar.
- Exodus 29:12
Take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.
- Hebrews 6:18
Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
- Psalms 118:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.