Commentaria in Exodum
Chapter Thirty. Synopsis of the Chapter
First, verse 1, the altar of incense is described. Secondly, verse 12, in the census of the people each is commanded to pay half a sicle. Thirdly, verse 18, a brazen laver is commanded to be made for the washing of the priests. Fourthly, verse 23, the composition of the ointment with which the priests and the sacred vessels are to be anointed is described. Fifthly, verse 34, the composition of the incense which was to be burnt on the altar of incense is described.
1. And thou shalt make also an altar to burn incense, of setim wood: 2. A cubit long, and another broad, that is to say, four-square, and two cubits high: horns shall come out of it. 3. And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold, as well the grate thereof, as the sides round about, and the horns. And thou shalt make to it a golden crown round about, 4. And two golden rings under the crown on either side, that the bars may be put into them, and the altar be carried. 5. And the bars themselves thou shalt make of setim wood, and shalt overlay them with gold. 6. And thou shalt set the altar over against the veil, that hangeth before the ark of the testimony, before the propitiatory wherewith the testimony is covered, where I will speak to thee. 7. And Aaron shall burn sweet-smelling incense upon it in the morning. When he shall dress the lamps he shall burn it: 8. And when he shall set them in the evening, he shall burn incense that shall be perpetual before the Lord throughout your generations. 9. You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition, nor oblation, nor victim, nor shall you pour libations. 10. And Aaron shall pray upon the horns thereof once a year, in the blood of that which was offered for sin, and shall appease upon it in your generations. It shall be most holy to the Lord. 11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12. When thou shalt take the sum of the children of Israel according to their number, every one shall give a price for their souls to the Lord, and there shall be no plague among them when they shall be reckoned. 13. And this shall every one give that passeth at the naming, half a sicle according to the standard of the temple. A sicle hath twenty obols. Half a sicle shall be offered to the Lord. 14. He that is counted in the number from twenty years old and upward, shall give the price. 15. The rich man shall not add to the half sicle, and the poor man shall diminish nothing. 16. And the money of the contribution which thou shalt receive from the children of Israel, thou shalt deliver unto the uses of the tabernacle of the testimony, that it may be a memorial of them before the Lord, and he may be merciful to their souls. 17. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 18. Thou shalt make also a brazen laver with its foot to wash in: and thou shalt set it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar. And water being put into it, 19. Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet therein, 20. When they are to go into the tabernacle of the testimony, and when they are to come to the altar, to offer on it incense to the Lord, 21. Lest they die. It shall be an everlasting law to him, and to his seed by successions. 22. And the Lord spoke to Moses,
23. Saying: Take spices, the chief and principal, of pure myrrh five hundred sicles, and of cinnamon the half, that is, two hundred and fifty sicles, of calamus in like manner two hundred and fifty, 24. And of cassia five hundred sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary, of oil of olive the measure of a hin: 25. And thou shalt make the holy oil of unction, an ointment compounded after the art of the perfumer. 26. And thou shalt anoint with it the tabernacle of the testimony, and the ark of the testament, 27. And the table with its vessels, the candlestick and the instruments thereof, the altars of incense, 28. And of holocaust, and all the furniture that belongeth to their service. 29. And thou shalt sanctify all, and they shall be most holy: he that shall touch them shall be sanctified. 30. Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and shalt sanctify them, that they may do the office of priests unto me. 31. And to the children of Israel thou shalt say: This oil of unction shall be holy unto me throughout your generations. 32. The flesh of man shall not be anointed with it, and you shall make no other of the same composition: because it is sanctified, and shall be holy to you. 33. What man soever shall compound the like, and shall give of it to a stranger, shall be cut off from his people. 34. And the Lord said to Moses: Take unto thee spices, stacte, and onycha, galbanum of sweet savour, and the clearest frankincense, all shall be of equal weight. 35. And thou shalt make incense compounded by the work of the perfumer, well tempered together, and pure, and most worthy of sanctification. 36. And when thou hast beaten all into very small powder, thou shalt set of it before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where I will appear to thee. Most holy shall this incense be unto you. 37. Such a composition you shall not make for your own uses, because it is holy to the Lord. 38. What man soever shall make the like, that he may enjoy the smell thereof, shall perish out of his people.
Verse 1. AND THOU SHALT MAKE ALSO AN ALTAR TO BURN INCENSE.—The altar of incense is here described, on which no victims were burnt, but incense only was burnt to God, not only by the high priest, but also by the lesser priests, who ordinarily discharged this office, and that daily twice, namely morning and evening, after the manner of the perpetual sacrifice. Note first: this altar was made of setim wood overlaid with gold, and was one cubit long, one cubit broad, and two cubits high. Note secondly: this altar stood in the Holy Place, in the midst between the candlestick and the table, and faced the propitiatory or oracle, which was in the Holy of Holies above the ark, supported by the two Cherubim; hence this altar is called the altar of the oracle: for it so faced the oracle that, through the opening which was above in the wall dividing the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, the smoke of the burnt spices on the altar of incense ascended and was wafted into the oracle itself, that thus by this perfume God, dwelling in the oracle, might be honoured.
Thirdly, God willed that these odours be burnt to Him, not because He is delighted by the scent of incense, since He has no sense of smell, as He has neither nostrils nor body; but because among men it is reckoned a great honour to set sweet odours before anyone or to perfume him with them: hence God, who deals with men after the human manner, willed that the same be burnt before Him for His worship. So by the custom and rite of all nations the burning of incense and of perfumes is ascribed to God; hence the poets call divine honours “the honours of incense,” and the three Magi gave Christ these three gifts, namely: “gold to the king, incense to God, and myrrh to him that is buried.” Whence we Christians also burn incense to God; hence this altar was called the altar of incense; or, as it is in Hebrew, the altar of the burning of perfume.
Fourthly, this altar had four horns, and a golden crown round about; in the middle it had a grate of network, through which the embers and ashes of the burnt spices fell down beneath the altar, and thence were taken out at their proper times.
Fifthly, this altar had four rings, through which two bars were inserted, by which it was carried and borne by the priests through the desert.
Tropologically: This altar, says Bede, signifies the life of the perfect, who are placed as it were in the neighbourhood of the oracle: because, having forsaken the lowest delights, they spend all their care on the entrance alone into the heavenly kingdom. Hence it is well that on this altar not the flesh of animals, but incense alone was burnt: because such persons have no further need to slay in themselves the sins of the flesh and the allurements of thoughts, but only offer in the sight of their Creator, through the fire of inward love, the fragrance of spiritual prayers and heavenly desires.
Hence this altar is of setim wood, because such persons ought to be singularly beautiful in virtues and incorruptible against vices; it is also square, because such persons are firm and immovable, that they may say: “Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Secondly, it is overlaid with gold, because such persons ought to shine with distinguished charity. Note the excellences and endowments of gold, according to Pliny, book XXXIII, chap. iii, namely: “wonderful origin, splendour, weight, pliancy of material (for gold is ductile into the thinnest as it were surfaces, lines and points), constancy, cleanness, medicinal virtues, marvels, value”; all which Alcazar copiously pursues, and applies one by one to charity, on the Apocalypse.