Exodus 30:34
in Exodus 30The LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense—in equal measures,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight;
KJV
And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:
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This verse in Exodus 30
Commentary
9 notes on this verseTake unto thee sweet spices - The holy perfume was compounded of the following ingredients: Stacte - נטף nataph, supposed to be the same with what was afterwards called the balm of Jericho. Stacte is the gum which spontaneously flows from the tree which produces myrrh. See Clarke’s note on Exo 30:23. Onycha - שחלת shecheleth, allowed by the best critics to be the unguis odoriferans described by Rumph, which is the external crust of the shell-fish purpura or murex, and is the basis of the principal perfumes made in the East Indies.
This site's exposition
Take unto thee sweet spices
on Exodus 30:34-36
The fifth speech supplies what burns on the altar of verse 1, four ingredients in equal weight, beaten small and set before the testimony. The chapter therefore ends where it opened, and the altar built in its first verse has nothing to offer until this last speech gives it. The anointing oil is called holy and the incense is called most holy, which is the same grading the chapter applied to the furniture at verse 29.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
"You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition." Later in this book the spices from which this incense was to be composed are specified by name: stacte, and onycha, galbanum of pleasing fragrance, and the purest frankincense. It is obvious that all of …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
This was prepared once a year (the Jews say), a pound for each day of the year, and three pounds over for the day of atonement. When it was used, it was to be beaten very small: thus it pleased the Lord to bruise the Redeemer when he offered himself for a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savour.
quarantine:near-duplicate (2026-07-29) — near-dup(73%, 2 voices)
10 And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the L ORD . The orders given concerning the altar of incense are, 1.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:85%@v8-10
This was prepared once a year, (the Jews say) a pound for each day of the year, and three pound over for the day of atonement. When it was used it was to be beaten very small; thus it pleased the Lord to bruise the Redeemer, when he offered himself for a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour.
quarantine:near-duplicate (2026-07-29) — near-dup(73%, 2 voices)
And the Lord said unto Moses,.... In a continued discourse, or some time after the former, though more probably at the same time; since it concerns the incense to be offered on the altar of incense, about which directions are given in the former part of the chapter: take unto thee sweet spices: which are as follow, "stacte", "onycha", and "galbanum"; the former of these has its name from dropping; and of the same signification is the Hebrew word "Nataph", here used.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This incense was placed within the sanctuary, to be at hand when the priest required to burn on the altar. The art of compounding unguents and perfumes was well known in Egypt, where sweet-scented spices were extensively used not only in common life, but in the ritual of the temples.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Exo 37:29. The incense, like the anointing oil, consisted of four aromatic ingredients. Stacte - supposed to be either the gum of the Storax tree (Styrax officinale) found in Syria and the neighboring countries, or the gum known as Benzoin, or Gum Benjamin, which is an important ingredient in the incense now used in churches and mosques, and is the produce of another storax tree (Styrax benzoin) that grows in Java and Sumatra. Onycha - , a perfume perhaps made from the cap of the strombus, or wing-shell, which abounds in the Red Sea. Galbanum - , a gum of a yellowish brown color, in the form of either grains or masses. It is imported from India, Persia, and Africa; but the plant from which it comes is not yet certainly known. Pure frankincense - This was the most important of the aromatic gums. Like myrrh, it was regarded by itself as a precious perfume Son 3:6; Mat 2:11, and it was used unmixed with other substances in some of the rites of the law. The tree from which it is obtained is not found in Arabia, and it was most likely imported from India by the Sabaeans, like Cinnamon, Cassia, and Calamus (see Exo 30:23). The tree is now known as the Boswellia serrata, or B. thurifera, and grows abundantly in the highlands of India. The frankincense of commerce is a different substance, the resin of the spruce and of some other kinds of fir. Exo 30:35 See Exo 30:25. Tempered together - The four substances were perhaps pounded and thoroughly mixed together, and then fused into a mass. This rendering is to be preferred to that in the margin. Exo 30:36 See Exo 30:6. Exo 30:37-38 Compare Exo 30:32-33.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמֶר֩ | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֨ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֜ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| קַח־ | kach- | take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| לְךָ֣ | lekha | for <the> yourself | ||
| סַמִּ֗ים | samim | spices | H5561 → | 16 times |
| נָטָ֤ף׀ | nataf | stacte | H5198 → | |
| וּשְׁחֵ֙לֶת֙ | ushechelet | and onycha | H7827 → | |
| וְחֶלְבְּנָ֔ה | vechelbenah | and galbanum | H2464 → | |
| סַמִּ֖ים | samim | spices | H5561 → | 16 times |
| וּלְבֹנָ֣ה | ulevonah | and frankincense | H3828 → | |
| זַכָּ֑ה | zakah | pure | H2134 → | |
| בַּ֥ד | bad | a part | H905 → | 200 times |
| בְּבַ֖ד | bevad | in a part | H905 → | 200 times |
| יִהְיֶֽה׃ | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
וַיֹּאמֶר֩and he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֨הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֜הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
קַח־take
kach-H3947 →966 times
לְךָ֣for <the> yourself
lekha
סַמִּ֗יםspices
samimH5561 →16 times
נָטָ֤ף׀stacte
natafH5198 →
וּשְׁחֵ֙לֶת֙and onycha
ushecheletH7827 →
וְחֶלְבְּנָ֔הand galbanum
vechelbenahH2464 →
סַמִּ֖יםspices
samimH5561 →16 times
וּלְבֹנָ֣הand frankincense
ulevonahH3828 →
זַכָּ֑הpure
zakahH2134 →
בַּ֥דa part
badH905 →200 times
בְּבַ֖דin a part
bevadH905 →200 times
יִהְיֶֽה׃it will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 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
Exodus 25:6olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;
it leads to
- Exodus 27:20
And you are to command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.
- Exodus 27:20
Through
Song of Solomon 3:6Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from all the spices of the merchant?
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 8:5
Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? I roused you under the apple tree; there your mother conceived you; there she travailed and brought you forth.
- Revelation 12:14
But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times,…
- Song of Solomon 1:13
My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.
- Song of Solomon 8:5
Through
Exodus 30:23“Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 4:14
with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of frankincense tree, with myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.
- Ezekiel 27:19
and casks of wine from Izal for your wares. Wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane were exchanged for your merchandise.
- Ezekiel 27:22
The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your wares they exchanged gold, the finest of all spices, and precious stones.
- Song of Solomon 4:14
Through
Exodus 37:29He also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.
it leads to
- Exodus 30:23–38
“Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 30:23–38
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, On the Tabernacle 3.12, AT EXODUS 30:9; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.