^30:1¹ “You are to make an altar for burning incense;² you are to make it of³ acacia wood.⁴^30:2Its length is to be a foot and a half⁵ and its width a foot and a half; it will be square. Its height is to be three feet,⁶ with its horns of one piece with it.⁷^30:3You are to overlay it with pure gold—its top,⁸ its four walls,⁹ and its horns—and make a surrounding border of gold for it.¹⁰^30:4You are to make two gold rings for it under its border, on its two flanks; you are to make them on its two sides.¹¹ The rings¹² will be places¹³ for poles to carry it with. ^30:5You are to make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

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Footnotes

1 Why this section has been held until now is a mystery. One would have expected to find it with the instructions for the other furnishings. The widespread contemporary view that it was composed later does not answer the question, it merely moves the issue to the work of an editor rather than the author. N. M. Sarna notes concerning the items in chapter 30 that “all the materials for these final items were anticipated in the list of invited donations in 25:3–6” and that they were not needed for installing Aaron and his sons (Exodus [], ). Verses 1–10 can be divided into three sections: the instructions for building the incense altar (1–5), its placement (6), and its proper use (7–10).
2 The expression is מִזְבֵּחַ מִקְטַר קְטֹרֶת (mizbeakh miqtar qétoret), either “an altar, namely an altar of incense,” or “an altar, [for] burning incense.” The second noun is “altar of incense,” although some suggest it is an active noun meaning “burning.” If the former, then it is in apposition to the word for “altar” (which is not in construct). The last noun is “incense” or “sweet smoke.” It either qualifies the “altar of incense” or serves as the object of the active noun. B. Jacob says that in order to designate that this altar be used only for incense, the Torah prepared the second word for this passage alone. It specifies the kind of altar this is (Exodus, 828).
3 This is an adverbial accusative explaining the material used in building the altar.
4 See M. Haran, “The Uses of Incense in Ancient Israel Ritual,” 10 (1960): 113–15; N. Glueck, “Incense Altars,” Translating and Understanding the Old Testament, 325–29.
5 Heb “a cubit.”
6 Heb “two cubits.”
7 Heb “its horns from it.”
8 Heb “roof.”
9 Heb “its walls around.”
10 Heb “and make for it border gold around.” The verb is a consecutive perfect. See Exod 25:11, where the ark also has such a molding.
11 Since it was a small altar, it needed only two rings, one on either side, in order to be carried. The second clause clarifies that the rings should be on the sides, the right and the left, as you approach the altar.
12 Heb “And it”; this refers to the rings collectively in their placement on the box, and so the word “rings” has been used to clarify the referent for the modern reader.
13 Heb “for houses.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. A cubit shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And you shall make a molding of gold around it. And you shall make two golden rings for it. Under its molding on two opposite sides of it you shall make them, and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense. It is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high—its horns of one piece with it. Overlay the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it. Make two gold rings for the altar below the molding—two on each of the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it. Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“You are to make an altar for the burning of incense; make it of acacia wood. It must be square, eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide; it must be thirty-six inches high. Its horns must be of one piece with it. Overlay its top, all around its sides, and its horns with pure gold; make a gold molding all around it. Make two gold rings for it under the molding on two of its sides; put these on opposite sides of it to be holders for the poles to carry it with. Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Then make another altar of acacia wood for burning incense. Make it 18 inches square and 36 inches high, with horns at the corners carved from the same piece of wood as the altar itself. Overlay the top, sides, and horns of the altar with pure gold, and run a gold molding around the entire altar. Make two gold rings, and attach them on opposite sides of the altar below the gold molding to hold the carrying poles. Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“And you will make an altar for burning incense; you will make it of acacia wood, a cubit its length and a cubit its width—it will be square—and two cubits its height, its horns of one piece with it. And you will overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around and its horns, and you will make for it a gold molding all around. And you will make two gold rings for it; under its molding on two opposite sides you will make them as holders for poles to carry it with them. You will make the poles of acacia wood, and you will overlay them with gold.

KJV 1900King James Version

And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. 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. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

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