Censer: The vessel in which incense was presented on "the golden altar" before
the Lord in the temple
(Exodus 30:1-9) The priest filled the censer with
live coal from the sacred fire on the altar of burnt-offering, and
having carried it into the sanctuary, there threw upon the burning
coals the sweet incense
(Leviticus 16:12,13) which sent up a cloud of smoke,
filling the apartment with fragrance. The censers in daily use were
of brass
(Numbers 16:39) and were designated by a different Hebrew name,
miktereth
(2 Chronicles 26:19; Ezekiel 8:11) while those used on the day of
Atonement were of gold, and were denoted by a word (mahtah) meaning
"something to take fire with;" LXX. pureion a fire-pan. Solomon
prepared for the temple censers of pure gold
(1 Kings 7:50; 2 Chronicles 4:22) The
angel in the Apocalypse is represented with a golden censer
(Revelation 8:3,5)
Paul speaks of the golden censer as belonging to the tabernacle
(Hebrews 9:4) The Greek word thumiaterion, here rendered "censer," may
more appropriately denote, as in the margin of Revised Version, "the
altar of incense." Paul does not here say that the thumiaterion was
in the holiest, for it was in the holy place, but that the holiest
had it, i.e., that it belonged to the holiest
(1 Kings 6:22) It was
intimately connected with the high priest's service in the holiest.
The manner in which the censer is to be used is described in
(Numbers 4:14; Leviticus 16:12)
