Exodus 30

Archaeologists have uncovered many “horned altars” in Israel and Palestinian Territories. Bible writers never explained why altars were built with the corners turned up like animal horns. On large altars, where animals were sacrificed, horns may have been a tribute to the livestock sacrificed there. One more common guess is that the horns gave priests something to which they could tie the dead animal. This could help keep the sacrificed animal from rolling off the fire before it was burned. Psalm 118:27 seems to add credibility to that theory: “Go ahead and tie the festival sacrifice to the four corners of the altar.” In this case, however, horns may simply have been a reflection of the main sacrificial altar

The high priest did this once a year on the Day of Atonement, usually in September or October. Jewish people today call it Yom Kippur. This is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, a day of nationwide repentance for sins committed during the past year.

It’s unknown why a census would warrant a plague. But that’s exactly what happened when King David took a census (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21). Some scholars guess that it has to do with pride and with counting an army to see how strong the people are. Given that God has been the one doing all the heavy lifting during the Exodus, it might seem insulting for the people of Israel to count the men who could fight in the militia or an army, when God was doing the fighting for them. Others suggest the fee might have been an attempt to turn attention away from warfare and toward worship. Money gathered from counting soldiers in an army ended up going to support the worship center. That would be a bit like taking some money from a nation’s defense budget and redirecting it to places of worship.

Shekels came in different kinds of metal and different weights. It’s unclear what kind of shekel the writer was describing, or how much it weighed. There was a heavy shekel that weighed about 11.5 grams or .4 ounces. This was sometimes called the King’s Shekel or the Royal Shekel. Some scholars say this was also the weight used in the Israelite worship center and later in the Jerusalem Temple. The lighter shekel weighed about 9.5 grams or .33 ounces. Some scholars say this was probably the shekel accepted at the worship center.

Myrrh and frankincense (Exodus 30:34) were two of the most exotic and expensive fragrances available. They were made from sap of small trees and shrubs growing in what are now Saudi Arabia, northern Africa, and India. People would grind up the dried sap and put it in perfumes. They also burned it as a woody fragrance, and a sweet-smelling incense. They burned the incense in religious services. They also burned incense in homes as air fresheners in the days before soap and deodorants.

Uncertain what stacte or onycha were. Possibly from some tree sap or juices pressed from flowers or other plants.

Sap from the stem of a flowering plant native to northern Iran: Ferula gummosa.