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Exodus 30 Bible study: A perpetual incense
The golden altar before the veil needed its own atonement "once in the year" (30:10). Every man counted paid the same half shekel, rich or poor, as "a ransom for his soul" (30:12), and that silver went into the sockets of the sanctuary and the veil (38:25-27).
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“The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of the LORD, to make atonement for your souls.”
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“In Exodus 30, the rich and the poor gave the same half shekel.”
Is that in Exodus 30, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
A second altar, inside the tent
Chapter 27 gave the altar in the court, overlaid "with bronze" (27:2). This chapter adds a small one: "You shall make an altar to burn incense on" (30:1), a cubit long and a cubit wide, "and its height shall be two cubits" (30:2), with its own horns, all overlaid "with pure gold" (30:3). It stands inside, "before the veil that is by the ark of the covenant, before the mercy seat that is over the covenant, where I will meet with you" (30:6). Until now Exodus has only listed "the sweet incense" among the gifts (25:6); the altar for it first appears here.
Where it leads to Jesus
Once in the year, then once for all
Exodus 30:10leads toHebrews 9:25-26
"Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year" (30:10). Leviticus sets out an atonement "once in the year because of all their sins" (Leviticus 16:34). Hebrews says that into the second part of the tabernacle went "the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood" (Hebrews 9:7), and that Christ did not "offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own" (Hebrews 9:25). "But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26). Hebrews doesn't quote Exodus 30:10; setting this verse beside it is an interpretation.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Exodus 30
That was a taste
The rest of Exodus 30 is waiting in Favor
- Incense with the lamps, morning and evening
- The same price for every soul
- Washed, anointed, and not to be copied
- Where Hebrews places the golden altar
- Incense and prayer
- Incense that stopped a plague
- 12 questions as you read
- 10 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Exodus 30 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
כָּפַרkafarsay ka-FAR
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "cover over, atone for sin and persons by legal rites". Strong's: "figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel". Here atonement is made on the altar itself: "Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year" (30:10). And the census money is "to make atonement for your souls" (30:15, 30:16). The noun in "the sin offering of atonement" (30:10) is kippurim (H3725), the word in "the day of atonement" (Leviticus 23:27). The first time the World English Bible says "atonement" is the chapter before: "those things with which atonement was made" (29:33).
For your group
Exodus 30 Bible study questions
- 1"The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less" (30:15). Where are you tempted to think you stand higher or lower before God because of what you have?
- 2The incense went up every morning and every evening, with the lamps (30:7-8). What helps you begin and end your day with God, and what gets in the way?
- 3Every time they went in to serve, the priests stopped to wash (30:20). What would it look like for you to stop and come clean before God before you serve others?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Exodus 30 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home