Exodus 30:24

cassia--from the same species of tree as the cinnamon--some think the outer bark of that tree. All these together would amount to one hundred twenty pounds, troy weight.

hin--a word of Egyptian origin, equal to ten pints. Being mixed with the olive oil--no doubt of the purest kind--this composition probably remained always in a liquid state, and the strictest prohibition issued against using it for any other purpose than anointing the tabernacle and its furniture.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(24) Cassia.—In the original, kiddâh not kĕtsiôth. Which is the exact equivalent of the Greek and Latin cassia. According to the best Hebrew authorities, however, cassia is intended by both words, which are derived from roots signifying “to split,” or “to peel off.” Cassia is the inner bark of a tree called by botanists cinnamomum cassia, which is a native of India, Java, and the Malay peninsula. It has nearly the same flavour as cinnamon, but is more pungent, and of a coarser texture. The word kiddâh occurs in Scripture only here and in Eze_27:19.

An hin.—See Note on Exo_29:40.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. cassia] Eze_27:19†: Heb. ḳiddâh, prob. the same as the κιττώ, spoken of by Diosc. (i. 12) as one species of κασία; Vulg. cassia. The word in Psa_45:8† is different (ḳeẓî‘ôth, things scraped off, i.e. scraped or powdered bark); but doubtless denotes either the same or a kindred substance. The κασία, cassia of the ancients (Theophr. ix. 5; Plin. xii. 19) is probably the same as the modern ‘cassia,’ viz. the inner bark, peeled off and dried in the sun, of a species of cinnamon tree, found in S. India and Malacca, which yields an inferior kind of cinnamon (see further EB. s.v.). Costus (RVm.; also written above the text in one MS. of LXX., Graec. Ven., and Saad.) is another oriental aromatic plant (Costus Arabicus, L.), used in the preparation of unguents: Hor. Carm. iii. 1, 44; Plin. xii. Exodus 12, 25, xiii. 1, 2). All these foreign aromatic substances would come by trade-routes from the distant East, whether over-land by way of Babylon, or by sea, round Arabia (see G. A. Smith, Trade and Commerce in EB. §§ 30, 40, 56, 58, 63, 71).

the shekel of the sanctuary] or the sacred shekel: see on v. 13.

an hin] prob. 1 1/3 gallon: see on Exo_29:40.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And of cassia five hundred shekels,.... Or two hundred and fifty ounces:

after the shekel of the sanctuary; according to the standard weight kept there. This "cassia" was not the "cassia solutiva", which is of a purgative nature, and now in use in physic, but the "cassia odorata", or the sweet smelling "cassia": which, Pancirollus (s) says, some take to be the nard, out of which a most sweet oil is pressed; and Servius (t) says, that cassia is an herb of a most sweet smell. Pliny (u) speaks of it along with cinnamon; and Galen says, when cinnamon was wanting, it was usual to put in its stead a double quantity of cassia (w); Leo Africanus speaks of trees in Africa bearing cassia, and which chiefly grew in Egypt (x):

and of oil olive an hin; containing twelve logs: according to Godwin (y), it was of our measure three quarts; but, as Bishop Cumberland has more exactly calculated it, it held a wine gallon, a quart, and a little more: this was the purest and best of oil, and most fit and proper to be a part of this holy anointing oil.

(s) Ut supra, (Rer. Memorab. sive Deperd. par. 1.) tit. 11. p. 30. (t) In Virgil. Bucol. Eclog. 2. (u) Ut supra, (Nat. Hist. l. 12.) c. 19. (w) Apud Dalechamp in Plin. ib. (x) Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 752. (y) Moses & Aaron, l. 6. c. 9.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Cassia, not the common sort, which would spoil the perfumes, but the essence of iris, (Hebrew, kode) mentioned in the Septuagint; Ezechiel xxvii. 19; Josephus; &c. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Not the common kind of cassia, which we use in purging, but another kind of it, there being seven several kinds of it, as the learned note.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Cassia. The modern cassia is the inner bark of a tree distinct from the cinnamon tree, known to botanists as Cinnamo-mum cassia, which is a native of India, Java, and the Malay peninsula. In taste and scent, it "bears a strong resemblance to cinnamon, but is more pungent and of coarser texture" (Cook). It is uncertain, however, if this is the spice here indicated. The Hebrew word used is kiddah, not ketsioth; (as in Psa_45:8) and it is very doubtful whether the two are identical On the shekel of the sanctuary. see the comment on ver. 13; and on the kin, see Exo_29:40.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

וקדה AND OF CASSIA [FIVE HUNDRED SHEKEL] — קדה is the name of a root of a certain herb. In the language of our Sages it is called קציעה (cf. Onkelos).

הין ONE HIN — twelve logs. The Sages in Israel are of different opinions as to the purpose of the oil. R. Meir said: in it the roots were boiled. Whereupon R. Jehuda said to him: Surely it (the quantity of oil) was not sufficient even to smear the roots with it, but they were steeped in water so that, being saturated with it, they should not absorb the oil; the oil was then poured upon them and they were left thus until it (the oil) absorbed their scent and then they skimmed the oil off the roots (Horayot 11b; Keritot 5a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.