Reference: Incense
American
A dry, aromatic gum, exuding from a tree which grows in Arabia and India. It is called also frankincense, from the freedom with which when burning it gives forth its odors. Other spices were mixed with it to make the sacred incense, the use of which for any other purpose was strictly forbidden, Ex 30:34-38. To offer incense, among the Hebrews, was an officer peculiar to the priests; for which purpose they entered into the holy apartment of the temple every morning and evening. On the great day of expiation, the high-priest burnt incense in his censer as he entered the Holy of Holies, and the smoke which arose from it prevented his looking with too much curiosity on the ark and mercy seat, Le 16:13. The Levites were not permitted to touch the censers; and Korah, Dathan, and Abiram suffered a terrible punishment for violating this prohibition. Incense was especially a symbol of prayer. While it was offered, the people prayed in the court without, and their prayers ascended with the sweet odor of the incense, until the priest returned and gave the blessing. So Christ presents his people and their prayers to God, accepted through his merits and intercession, and gives them the blessing, "Your sins are forgiven; go in peace," Ps 141:2; Lu 2:9; Re 5:8; 8:4. "Incense" sometimes signifies the sacrifices and fat of victims, as no other kind of incense was offered on the altar of burnt-offerings, Ps 66:15. For a description of the altar of incense, see ALTAR.
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And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Take to thee spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, spices and pure frankincense; they are part for part; and thou hast made it a perfume, a compound, work of a compounder, salted, pure, holy; read more. and thou hast beaten some of it small, and hast put of it before the testimony, in the tent of meeting, whither I am met with thee; most holy it is to you. 'As to the perfume which thou makest, with its proper proportion ye do not make to yourselves, holy it is to thee to Jehovah; a man who maketh any like it -- to be refreshed by it -- hath even been cut off from his people.'
and he hath put the perfume on the fire before Jehovah, and the cloud of the perfume hath covered the mercy-seat which is on the testimony, and he dieth not.
'Burnt-offerings of fatlings I offer to Thee, With perfume of rams, I prepare a bullock with he-goats.' Selah.
My prayer is prepared -- incense before Thee, The lifting up of my hands -- the evening present.
and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear.
And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, having each one harps and golden vials full of perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints,
and go up did the smoke of the perfumes to the prayers of the saints out of the hand of the messenger, before God;
Easton
a fragrant composition prepared by the "art of the apothecary." It consisted of four ingredients "beaten small" (Ex 30:34-36). That which was not thus prepared was called "strange incense" (Ex 30:9). It was offered along with every meat-offering; and besides was daily offered on the golden altar in the holy place, and on the great day of atonement was burnt by the high priest in the holy of holies (Ex 30:7-8). It was the symbol of prayer (Ps 141:1-2; Re 5:8; 8:3-4).
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'And Aaron hath made perfume on it, perfume of spices, morning by morning; in his making the lamps right he doth perfume it, and in Aaron's causing the lamps to go up between the evenings, he doth perfume it; a continual perfume before Jehovah to your generations. read more. 'Ye do not cause strange perfume to go up upon it, and burnt-offering, and present, and libation ye do not pour out on it;
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Take to thee spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, spices and pure frankincense; they are part for part; and thou hast made it a perfume, a compound, work of a compounder, salted, pure, holy; read more. and thou hast beaten some of it small, and hast put of it before the testimony, in the tent of meeting, whither I am met with thee; most holy it is to you.
A Psalm, by David. O Jehovah, I have called Thee, haste to me, Give ear to my voice when I call to Thee. My prayer is prepared -- incense before Thee, The lifting up of my hands -- the evening present.
And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, having each one harps and golden vials full of perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints,
and another messenger did come, and he stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given to him much perfume, that he may give it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is before the throne, and go up did the smoke of the perfumes to the prayers of the saints out of the hand of the messenger, before God;
Fausets
Ex 30:1,9,34, etc. The altar of incense was more closely connected with the holiest place than the other things in the holy place, the shewbread table and the candlestick. The incense consisted of four aromatic ingredients (representing God's perfections diffused throughout the four quarters of the world): stacte (Hebrew nataph, "a drop," the gum that drops from the storax tree, Styrax officinalis, found in Syria; the benzoin, or gum benjamin, is from Java and Sumatra; the liquid storax of commerce is from a different tree, the Liquidambar Syraciflua), onycha (Hebrew: shecheleth, probably the cap of the wing shell, strombus, abounding in the Red Sea, used for making perfumes), galbanum (a yellowish brown gum, imported from Persia, India, and Africa), and pure frankincense (the chief of the aromatic gums: Song 3:6; Mt 2:11; obtained from India through the Sabeans of S. Arabia; the tree is Boswellia thurifera, the native salai; the gum is called oliban, Arabic looban, from whence the Hebrew lebonah comes).
These were "tempered together," Hebrew "salted"; compare Le 2:13, but that was in the case of offering what was used as food, and salt is not used in compounding the incense of any other people; still God might herein designedly distinguish Israel from other peoples. Salt symbolized incorruptness; the wine of drink offerings, the blood, and the wood, were the only offerings without it. A portion beaten small was to be "put before the testimony in the tabernacle," i.e. outside the veil, before the golden altar of incense; from its relation to the ark thus it became" most holy," as was also the altar of incense (Le 27:34). This incense was to be kept exclusively for Jehovah; the penalty of making like incense for ordinary perfume was "cutting off." Incense of other ingredients ("strange," Le 27:34) was forbidden to be offered.
A store of it was constantly kept in the temple (Josephus, B. J., vi. 8, section 3). Aaron originally offered it, but in the second temple one of the lower priests was chosen by lot to offer it daily morning and evening (Lu 1:9). King Uzziah for usurping the office was smitten with leprosy (2Ch 26:16-21). The morning incense was offered when the lamps were trimmed in the holy place, before the sacrifice. Between the earlier and later evenings, after the evening sacrifice and before the drink offerings, the evening incense was Burnt (margin Ex 30:7-8; Re 8:1,3-5). A part of the temple was devoted to a family, "the house of Abtines," whose duty it was to compound the incense, according to the rabbis. One of the memunnim, or 16 prefects of the temple, had charge of the incense, that it might be always ready.
When the priest entered the holy place with the incense, the people were all put out of the temple, and from between the porch and the altar (Maimonides); Lu 1:10, "the whole multitude ... were praying without, at the time of incense," silently, which accords with Re 8:1,3. The priest avoided lengthening his stay within, lest the people outside should fear he had been struck dead for some defect in his offering (Le 16:13). This gives point to Lu 1:21, "the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple." On coming forth he pronounced the blessing (Nu 6:24-26); the Levites broke forth into sacred song, accompanied by the temple music (Mishna); compare Re 8:5. On the day of atonement the high priest, after offering the bullock for himself, took incense in his left hand and a golden shovel full of live coals from the western side of the brazen altar in his right, and went into the most holy place, his first entrance there (Le 16:12-13).
He shall take a (Hebrew the) censer (see Heb 9:4) full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil; and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercyseat that is upon the testimony, that he die not. In the second temple, where there was no ark, a stone was substituted. The truth symbolized by "incense" is the merit of Christ's obedience and atoning death. It is this, when it is by faith made the accompanying foundation of our prayers, which makes them rise up to God as a sweet and acceptable perfume. (See CENSER.) (Re 8:1-5). The incense of the golden altar of incense within the sanctuary had to be lighted from the fire of the atoning altar of burnt offering outside, otherwise the fire was "strange fire". (See ALTAR; ABIHU; NADAB.)
So Christ intercedes now in the heavenly sanctuary as He died for us outside; and the believer's prayer ascends from his inner heart to God within the heavenly veil, Because it rests on Christ's atoning sacrifice once for all offered "without the gate" (Heb 13:12). The altar of incense was connected with the altar of burnt offering by its horns being sprinkled with the blood of the sin offering on the altar of burnt offering on the day of atonement (Le 16:16,18; Ex 30:10). Incense symbolizes not merely prayer, but prayer accepted before God because of atonement: "let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense, and the lifting up (answering to the rising up of the incense smoke) of my hands as the evening sacrifice" (Ps 141:2).
For prayer was offered by the pious Jews at the times of the morning and evening sacrifices on the altar of burnt offering, which were accompanied with the incense on the altar of incense, thus marking that prayer rests upon propitiation By sacrifice. In Mal 1:11 there is no "shall be" in Hebrew. Probably then the ellipse is to be filled up with is as much as shall be. By the Jews' wide dispersion already some knowledge of Jehovah was being imparted to the Gentiles, and an earnest existed of the future magnifying of Jehovah's name among the Gentiles "from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same." The Gentiles already were having glimmerings of the true light, and in every nation a few were heartily trying to serve God so far as they knew. Their worship, as yet imperfect but sincere, is "pure" in comparison with your "polluted bread" (Mal 1:7,12-14; Ac 10:34-35; 17:23; Ro 2:14-15,27-29).
The incense which shall yet be offered "in every place" is prayer accepted through Christ (1Ti 2:8). This shall be consummated at Christ's appearing (Zec 14:9; Zep 3:9). The "pure offering" is the "body, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable. unto God" (Ro 12:1); the "broken and contrite heart" (Ps 51:17); "praise, the fruit of the lips"; "doing good," and imparting to the needy (Heb 13:10,15-16; 1Pe 2:5,12). In Re 5:8 it is the golden vials not the incense odors (not thumiamata but fialas, hai) which are the prayers of saints. In Re 8:3-4 the incense is distinct from, yet offered with, their prayers, the angel presenting them before God. It is not said he intercedes for us, still less that we should pray to him to do so; nay this is expressly forbidden (Re 19:10; 22:8-9).
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And thou hast made an altar for making perfume; of shittim wood thou dost make it;
'And Aaron hath made perfume on it, perfume of spices, morning by morning; in his making the lamps right he doth perfume it, and in Aaron's causing the lamps to go up between the evenings, he doth perfume it; a continual perfume before Jehovah to your generations. read more. 'Ye do not cause strange perfume to go up upon it, and burnt-offering, and present, and libation ye do not pour out on it; and Aaron hath made atonement on its horns, once in a year, by the blood of the sin-offering of atonements; once in a year doth he make atonement for it, to your generations; it is most holy to Jehovah.'
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Take to thee spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, spices and pure frankincense; they are part for part;
And every offering -- thy present -- with salt thou dost season, and thou dost not let the salt of the covenant of thy God cease from thy present; with all thine offerings thou dost bring near salt.
and hath taken the fulness of the censer of burning coals of fire from off the altar, from before Jehovah, and the fulness of his hands of thin spice-perfume, and hath brought it within the vail; and he hath put the perfume on the fire before Jehovah, and the cloud of the perfume hath covered the mercy-seat which is on the testimony, and he dieth not.
and he hath put the perfume on the fire before Jehovah, and the cloud of the perfume hath covered the mercy-seat which is on the testimony, and he dieth not.
and he hath made atonement for the sanctuary because of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins; and so he doth for the tent of meeting which is tabernacling with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.
And he hath gone out unto the altar which is before Jehovah, and hath made atonement for it; and he hath taken of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and hath put on the horns of the altar round about;
These are the commands which Jehovah hath commanded Moses for the sons of Israel, in mount Sinai.
These are the commands which Jehovah hath commanded Moses for the sons of Israel, in mount Sinai.
'Jehovah bless thee and keep thee; 'Jehovah cause His face to shine upon thee, and favour thee; read more. Jehovah lift up His countenance upon thee, and appoint for thee -- peace.
And at his being strong his heart hath been high unto destruction, and he trespasseth against Jehovah his God, and goeth in unto the temple of Jehovah to make perfume upon the altar of perfume. And Azariah the priest goeth in after him, and with him priests of Jehovah eighty, sons of valour, read more. and they stand up against Uzziah the king, and say to him, 'Not for thee, O Uzziah, to make perfume to Jehovah, but for priests, sons of Aaron, who are sanctified to make perfume; go forth from the sanctuary, for thou hast trespassed, and it is not to thee for honour from Jehovah God.' And Uzziah is wroth, and in his hand is a censer to make perfume, and in his being wroth with the priests -- the leprosy hath risen in his forehead, before the priests, in the house of Jehovah, from beside the altar of perfume. And Azariah the head priest looketh unto him, and all the priests, and lo, he is leprous in his forehead, and they hasten him thence, and also he himself hath hastened to go out, for Jehovah hath plagued him. And Uzziah the king is a leper unto the day of his death, and inhabiteth a separate house -- a leper, for he hath been cut off from the house of Jehovah, and Jotham his son is over the house of the king, judging the people of the land.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A heart broken and bruised, O God, Thou dost not despise.
My prayer is prepared -- incense before Thee, The lifting up of my hands -- the evening present.
Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Like palm-trees of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, From every powder of the merchant?
For then do I turn unto peoples a pure lip, To call all of them by the name of Jehovah, To serve Him with one shoulder.
And Jehovah hath become king over all the land, In that day there is one Jehovah, and His name one.
Ye are bringing nigh on Mine altar polluted bread, And ye have said: 'In what have we polluted Thee?' In your saying: 'The table of Jehovah -- it is despicable,'
For, from the rising of the sun to its going in, Great is My name among nations, And in every place perfume is brought nigh to My name, and a pure present, For great is My name among nations, Said Jehovah of Hosts. And ye are polluting it in your saying, 'The table of Jehovah -- it is polluted, As to its fruit -- despicable is its food.' read more. And ye have said, 'Lo, what a weariness,' And ye have puffed at it, said Jehovah of Hosts, And ye have brought in plunder, And the lame and the sick, And ye have brought in the present! Do I accept it from your hand? said Jehovah. And cursed is a deceiver, who hath in his drove a male, And is vowing, and is sacrificing a marred thing to the Lord, For a great king am I, said Jehovah of Hosts, And My name is revered among nations!
and having come to the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and having fallen down they bowed to him, and having opened their treasures, they presented to him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh,
according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot was to make perfume, having gone into the sanctuary of the Lord, and all the multitude of the people were praying without, at the hour of the perfume.
And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and wondering at his tarrying in the sanctuary,
And Peter having opened his mouth, said, 'Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he who is fearing Him, and is working righteousness, is acceptable to Him;
for passing through and contemplating your objects of worship, I found also an erection on which had been inscribed: To God -- unknown; whom, therefore -- not knowing -- ye do worship, this One I announce to you.
For, when nations that have not a law, by nature may do the things of the law, these not having a law -- to themselves are a law; who do shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also witnessing with them, and between one another the thoughts accusing or else defending,
and the uncircumcision, by nature, fulfilling the law, shall judge thee who, through letter and circumcision, art a transgressor of law. For he is not a Jew who is so outwardly, neither is circumcision that which is outward in flesh; read more. but a Jew is he who is so inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit, not in letter, of which the praise is not of men, but of God.
I call upon you, therefore, brethren, through the compassions of God, to present your bodies a sacrifice -- living, sanctified, acceptable to God -- your intelligent service;
I wish, therefore, that men pray in every place, lifting up kind hands, apart from anger and reasoning;
having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid all round about with gold, in which is the golden pot having the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tables of the covenant,
we have an altar, of which to eat they have no authority who the tabernacle are serving,
Wherefore, also Jesus -- that he might sanctify through his own blood the people -- without the gate did suffer;
through him, then, we may offer up a sacrifice of praise always to God, that is, the fruit of lips, giving thanks to His name; and of doing good, and of fellowship, be not forgetful, for with such sacrifices God is well-pleased.
And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, having each one harps and golden vials full of perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints,
And when he openeth the seventh seal, there came silence in the heaven about half-an-hour,
And when he openeth the seventh seal, there came silence in the heaven about half-an-hour,
And when he openeth the seventh seal, there came silence in the heaven about half-an-hour, and I saw the seven messengers who before God have stood, and there were given to them seven trumpets, read more. and another messenger did come, and he stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given to him much perfume, that he may give it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is before the throne,
and another messenger did come, and he stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given to him much perfume, that he may give it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is before the throne,
and another messenger did come, and he stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given to him much perfume, that he may give it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is before the throne,
and another messenger did come, and he stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given to him much perfume, that he may give it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is before the throne, and go up did the smoke of the perfumes to the prayers of the saints out of the hand of the messenger, before God;
and go up did the smoke of the perfumes to the prayers of the saints out of the hand of the messenger, before God;
and go up did the smoke of the perfumes to the prayers of the saints out of the hand of the messenger, before God; and the messenger took the censer, and did fill it out of the fire of the altar, and did cast it to the earth, and there came voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
and the messenger took the censer, and did fill it out of the fire of the altar, and did cast it to the earth, and there came voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
and the messenger took the censer, and did fill it out of the fire of the altar, and did cast it to the earth, and there came voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
and I fell before his feet, to bow before him, and he saith to me, 'See -- not! fellow servant of thee am I, and of thy brethren, those having the testimony of Jesus; bow before God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of the prophecy.'
And I, John, am he who is seeing these things and hearing, and when I heard and beheld, I fell down to bow before the feet of the messenger who is shewing me these things; and he saith to me, 'See -- not; for fellow-servant of thee am I, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of those keeping the words of this scroll; before God bow.'
Hastings
(1) leb
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And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Take to thee spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, spices and pure frankincense; they are part for part;
'And when a person bringeth near an offering, a present to Jehovah, of flour is his offering, and he hath poured on it oil, and hath put on it frankincense; and he hath brought it in unto the sons of Aaron, the priests, and he hath taken from thence the fulness of his hand of its flour and of its oil, besides all its frankincense, and the priest hath made perfume with its memorial on the altar, a fire-offering of sweet fragrance to Jehovah;
and thou hast put on it oil, and laid on it frankincense, it is a present; and the priest hath made perfume with its memorial from its beaten out corn, and from its oil, besides all its frankincense -- a fire-offering to Jehovah.
and one hath lifted up of it with his hand from the flour of the present, and from its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the present, and hath made perfume on the altar, sweet fragrance -- its memorial to Jehovah.
And the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, take each his censer, and put in them fire, and put on it perfume, and bring near before Jehovah strange fire, which He hath not commanded them;
and thou hast put on the rank pure frankincense, and it hath been to the bread for a memorial, a fire-offering to Jehovah. On each sabbath-day he arrangeth it before Jehovah continually, from the sons of Israel -- a covenant age-during; read more. and it hath been to Aaron, and to his sons, and they have eaten it in the holy place, for it is most holy to him, from the fire-offerings of Jehovah -- a statute age-during.'
'Burnt-offerings of fatlings I offer to Thee, With perfume of rams, I prepare a bullock with he-goats.' Selah.
My prayer is prepared -- incense before Thee, The lifting up of my hands -- the evening present.
Add not to bring in a vain present, Incense -- an abomination it is to Me, New moon, and sabbath, calling of convocation! Rendure not iniquity -- and a restraint!
and seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel -- and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst -- are standing before them, and each his censer in his hand, and the abundance of the cloud of perfume is going up.
And it came to pass, in his acting as priest, in the order of his course before God, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot was to make perfume, having gone into the sanctuary of the Lord, read more. and all the multitude of the people were praying without, at the hour of the perfume.
and all the multitude of the people were praying without, at the hour of the perfume.
And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, having each one harps and golden vials full of perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints,
and another messenger did come, and he stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given to him much perfume, that he may give it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is before the throne,
and cinnamon, and odours, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep, and of horses, and of chariots, and of bodies and souls of men.
Morish
Precise instructions were given as to how the sweet incense was to be made that was burnt in the tabernacle. It was a compound of sweet spices: stacte, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense, an equal weight of each. It was to be compounded after the art of the apothecary, tempered together (or salted, marg.), pure, and holy. No one was to make any like it for their private use: anyone who did so was to be cut off from God's people. Ex 30:34-38. This incense was to be burnt on the golden altar morning and evening: "a perpetual incense before the Lord." Ex 30:7-8. It expressed the fragrance of the perfections of Christ's person for God's delight. It also characterised the worship of the priestly company of those in the light, as Christians are.
The incense was also to be put on burning coals in a censer and carried by the high priest into the most holy place on the Day of Atonement, that the cloud of incense might cover the mercy seat that was upon the testimony, 'that he die not.' It typified the personal perfection of Him who carried in the blood of atonement. Le 16:12-13. We find that while the high places remained, incense was burnt there as well as sacrifices offered. 1Ki 22:43, etc. The burning of incense to Baal and other false gods is also often spoken of. Jer 1:16; 7:9, etc. Satan has his incense and perfume, and makes it a delight to his willing devotees.
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'And Aaron hath made perfume on it, perfume of spices, morning by morning; in his making the lamps right he doth perfume it, and in Aaron's causing the lamps to go up between the evenings, he doth perfume it; a continual perfume before Jehovah to your generations.
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Take to thee spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, spices and pure frankincense; they are part for part; and thou hast made it a perfume, a compound, work of a compounder, salted, pure, holy; read more. and thou hast beaten some of it small, and hast put of it before the testimony, in the tent of meeting, whither I am met with thee; most holy it is to you. 'As to the perfume which thou makest, with its proper proportion ye do not make to yourselves, holy it is to thee to Jehovah; a man who maketh any like it -- to be refreshed by it -- hath even been cut off from his people.'
and hath taken the fulness of the censer of burning coals of fire from off the altar, from before Jehovah, and the fulness of his hands of thin spice-perfume, and hath brought it within the vail; and he hath put the perfume on the fire before Jehovah, and the cloud of the perfume hath covered the mercy-seat which is on the testimony, and he dieth not.
And he walketh in all the way of Asa his father, he hath not turned aside from it, to do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah; only the high places have not turned aside, yet are the people sacrificing and making perfume in high places.
And I have spoken My judgments with them concerning all their evil, in that they have forsaken Me, and make perfume to other gods, and bow themselves to the works of their own hands.
Stealing, murdering, and committing adultery, And swearing to falsehood, and giving perfume to Baal, And going after other gods whom ye knew not.
Smith
from the Latin "to burn," "a mixture of gums or spices and the like, used for the purpose of producing a perfume when burned;" or the perfume itself of the spices, etc., burned in worship. The incense employed in the service of the tabernacle walls compounded of the perfumes stacte, onycha, galbanum and pure frankincense. All incense which was not made of these ingredients was forbidden to be offered.
Aaron, as high priest, was originally appointed to offer incense each morning and evening. The times of offering incense were specified in the instructions first given to Moses.
When the priest entered the holy place with the incense, all the people were removed from the temple, and from between the porch and the altar. Cf.
Lu 1:10
Profound silence was observed among the congregation who were praying without, cf.
and at a signal from the perfect the priest cast the incense on the fire and, bowing reverently toward the holy of holies, retired slowly backward. The offering of incense has formed part of the religious ceremonies of most ancient nations. It was an element in the idolatrous worship of the Israelites.
2Ch 34:25; Jer 11:12,17; 48:35
It would seem to be symbolical, not of itself, but of that which makes acceptable, the intercession of Christ. In
the incense is of as something distinct from offered with the prayers of, all the saints cf.
Lu 1:10
and in Reve 6:8 it is the golden vials, and not the odors or incense, which are said to be the prayers of saints.
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'And Aaron hath made perfume on it, perfume of spices, morning by morning; in his making the lamps right he doth perfume it, and in Aaron's causing the lamps to go up between the evenings, he doth perfume it; a continual perfume before Jehovah to your generations. read more. 'Ye do not cause strange perfume to go up upon it, and burnt-offering, and present, and libation ye do not pour out on it;
because that they have forsaken Me, and make perfume to other gods, so as to provoke Me with all the works of their hands, and poured out is My fury upon this place, and it is not quenched.
And the cities of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem have gone, And they have cried unto the gods, To whom they are making perfume, And they give no deliverance at all to them, In the time of their vexation.
And Jehovah of Hosts, who is planting thee, Hath spoken evil concerning thee, For the evil of the house of Israel, and of the house of Judah, That they have done to themselves, To provoke Me to anger, to make perfume to Baal.
And I have caused to cease to Moab, An affirmation of Jehovah, Him who is offering in a high place, And him who is making perfume to his god.
and all the multitude of the people were praying without, at the hour of the perfume.
and all the multitude of the people were praying without, at the hour of the perfume.
And when he openeth the seventh seal, there came silence in the heaven about half-an-hour,
and another messenger did come, and he stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given to him much perfume, that he may give it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is before the throne, and go up did the smoke of the perfumes to the prayers of the saints out of the hand of the messenger, before God;
Watsons
INCENSE. Thus; so called by the dealers of drugs in Egypt from thur, or thor, the name of a harbour in the north bay of the Red Sea, near Mount Sinai; thereby distinguishing it from the gum arabic, which is brought from Suez, another port in the Red Sea, not far from Cairo. It differs also in being more pellucid and white. It burns with a bright and strong flame, not easily extinguished. It was used in the temple service as an emblem of prayer, Ps 141:2; Re 8:3-4. Authors give it, or the best sort of it, the epithets white, pure, pellucid; and so it may have some connection with a word, derived from the same root, signifying unstained, clear, and so applied to moral whiteness and purity, Ps 51:7; Da 12:10. This gum is said to distil from incisions made in the tree during the heat of summer. What the form of the tree is which yields it, we do not certainly know. Pliny one while says, it is like a pear tree, another, that it is like a mastic tree; then, that it is like the laurel; and, in fine, that it is a kind of turpentine tree. It has been said to grow only in the country of the Sabeans, a people in Arabia Felix; and Theophrastus and Pliny affirm that it is found in Arabia. Dioscorides, however, mentions an Indian as well as an Arabian frankincense. At the present day it is brought from the East Indies, but not of so good a quality as that from Arabia. The "sweet incense," mentioned Ex 30:7, and elsewhere, was a compound of several drugs, agreeably to the direction in the thirty-fourth verse. To offer incense was an office peculiar to the priests. They went twice a day into the holy place; namely, morning and evening, to burn incense there. Upon the great, day of expiation, the high priest took incense, or perfume, pounded and ready for being put into the censer, and threw it upon the fire the moment he went into the sanctuary. One reason of this was, that so the smoke which rose from the censer might prevent his looking with too much curiosity on the ark and mercy-seat. God threatened him with death upon failing to perform this ceremony, Le 16:13. Generally incense is to be considered as an emblem of the "prayers of the saints," and is so used by the sacred writers.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
'And Aaron hath made perfume on it, perfume of spices, morning by morning; in his making the lamps right he doth perfume it,
and he hath put the perfume on the fire before Jehovah, and the cloud of the perfume hath covered the mercy-seat which is on the testimony, and he dieth not.
Thou cleansest me with hyssop and I am clean, Washest me, and than snow I am whiter.
My prayer is prepared -- incense before Thee, The lifting up of my hands -- the evening present.
Purify themselves, yea, make themselves white, yea, refined are many: and the wicked have done wickedly, and none of the wicked understand, and those acting wisely do understand;
and another messenger did come, and he stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given to him much perfume, that he may give it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is before the throne, and go up did the smoke of the perfumes to the prayers of the saints out of the hand of the messenger, before God;