Exo 30:1 [Samaritan Pentateuch]
ועשית מזבח מקטיר קטרת עצי שטים תעשה אתו
Exo 30:1 [Masoretic Text]
וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ מִזְבֵּ֖חַ מִקְטַ֣ר קְטֹ֑רֶת עֲצֵ֥י שִׁטִּ֖ים תַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה אֹתֹֽו׃
And you shall make an altar of incense; of acacia wood you shall make it.
Morphology
- וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ (ve’asita) – Root: עשה (ʿ-s-h); Form: Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2ms; Translation: “And you shall make”; Notes: Refers to the command to construct the altar.
- מִזְבֵּ֖חַ (mizbe’ah) – Root: מזבח (m-z-b-ḥ); Form: Noun, masculine singular; Translation: “An altar”; Notes: Refers to the altar being specifically for incense.
- מִקְטַ֣ר (miqtar) – Root: קטר (q-ṭ-r); Form: Noun, masculine singular construct; Translation: “Of incense”; Notes: Indicates the altar’s purpose, for burning incense.
- קְטֹ֑רֶת (qetoret) – Root: קטר (q-ṭ-r); Form: Noun, feminine singular; Translation: “Incense”; Notes: Refers to the aromatic substance burned on the altar.
- עֲצֵ֥י (atse) – Root: עץ (ʿ-ṣ); Form: Noun, masculine plural construct; Translation: “Of wood”; Notes: Specifies the material used to construct the altar.
- שִׁטִּ֖ים (shittim) – Root: שטה (sh-ṭ-h); Form: Noun, masculine plural; Translation: “Acacia”; Notes: Refers to the type of wood used for making the altar.
- תַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה (ta’aseh) – Root: עשה (ʿ-s-h); Form: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2ms; Translation: “You shall make”; Notes: Reiterates the command to construct the altar.
- אֹתֹֽו (oto) – Root: את (ʾ-t); Form: Pronoun, masculine singular; Translation: “It”; Notes: Refers to the altar of incense being constructed.
Textual Commentary On Exodus 30:1
In the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP), the passage describing the Altar of Incense (which corresponds to Exodus 30:1–10 in the Masoretic Text) is placed directly after Exodus 26:35 rather than in Exodus 30. (Note: In modern verse numbering, this insertion falls after Exodus 26:35, though some older scholarship or cross-references designate structural chapters differently).
The structural context of this placement and why biblical scholars argue that the placement in the Samaritan Pentateuch, or an ancient text-type like it, likely reflects the original, logical structure of the tabernacle narrative can be broken down as follows:
1. The Context: Why the Text Moves
In the Masoretic Text (MT) (the traditional Hebrew text behind most standard Protestant and Jewish Bibles):
- Exodus 25–27 contains the instructions for the major sanctuary furnishings: the Ark of the Covenant, the Table of Showbread, the Golden Lampstand, the Tabernacle curtains/structure, and the Bronze Altar in the courtyard.
- The Altar of Incense is strangely missing from this list. It only appears much later in Exodus 30:1–10, placed after instructions for the priestly garments (Exodus 28) and the consecration of priests (Exodus 29).
In the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP):
- The instructions for the Altar of Incense (Exodus 30:1–10) are inserted directly into Exodus 26:35.
- Exodus 26:35 describes the interior layout of the Holy Place inside the tent: where to place the Table of Showbread and the Golden Lampstand. The SP immediately follows this by providing the blueprints and instructions for the Altar of Incense.
2. Why Scholars Believe the SP Placement is Original (or More Logical)
Biblical scholars, text critics, and literary analysts highlight several reasons why inserting the Altar of Incense alongside the other inner sanctuary furnishings makes sense:
A. Spatial and Logical Unity
In the physical tabernacle layout, three items sat together inside the Holy Place: the Table of Showbread, the Lampstand, and the Altar of Incense right before the veil.
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- In the Samaritan Pentateuch, God commands the construction of all three inner-sanctuary objects together in one coherent block (Exodus 25–26).
- In the Masoretic Text, God orders the Ark, Table, Lampstand, and outer Bronze Altar, describes the priesthood, and then suddenly “remembers” to mention the Altar of Incense in Exodus 30. Text critics argue it makes far more literary sense for the author to describe all the Holy Place furniture together in one passage.
B. Parallel Construction Narrative in Exodus 37–40
When the Bible shifts from the instructions to the actual building/fabrication of the tabernacle later in Exodus, the execution order matches the Samaritan sequence:
- In Exodus 37:25–29, Bezalel builds the Altar of Incense right alongside the Ark, the Table, and the Lampstand.
- In Exodus 40:26, when Moses sets up the sanctuary, he places the Golden Altar of Incense inside the tent before the veil at the exact same time as the other interior furnishings.
The Samaritan text aligns the command block (Exodus 25–26) with the construction block (Exodus 37–40), whereas the Masoretic Text presents an asymmetrical command sequence.
C. Editorial “Scribal Displacement” in the Masoretic Tradition
Many textual scholars theorize that in the manuscript tradition behind the MT, a scribe accidentally omitted the passage describing the Altar of Incense during copy work (a common ancient scribal mistake called parablepsis or homoioteleuton).
- Upon realizing the mistake, the scribe added the missing 10 verses at the end of the main tabernacle instruction section (Exodus 30) as a supplement or appendix.
- The Samaritan Pentateuch (and pre-Samaritan traditions preserved in some Dead Sea Scrolls) preserves the original, un-displaced placement where the passage was integrated with the rest of the Holy Place furniture.
The placement of Exodus 30:1–10 after Exodus 26:35 in the Samaritan Pentateuch presents a geographically cohesive and narratively consistent layout. Rather than treating the primary incense altar as an afterthought following the ordination of priests (as in the Masoretic Text), the SP groups all items inside the Holy Place together, creating a seamless blueprint for the tabernacle.
