Incense offering

 ( Jewish Sacrificial Law ) 

The incense offering ( qəṭōreṯ) in Judaism was related to perfumed offerings on the altar of incense in the time of the Tabernacle and the First Temple and Second Temple period, and was an important component of priestly liturgy in the Temple in Jerusalem.Jacob Neusner (1990). Yoma. p. 82: "It is the wood offering which makes possible the incense offering. It must follow that the wood-offering should take ... The wood-offering comes before the blood rite, and the blood rite comes before the burning of the incense."

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In the Hebrew Bible The sacred incense prescribed for use in the wilderness Tabernacle was made of costly materials that the congregation contributed. The Book of Exodus describes the recipe:

And the said unto Moses: Take unto yourself sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: And you shall make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together salted, pure and holy: And you shall beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with you: it shall be unto you most holy. And as for the perfume which you shall make, you shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto you holy for the . Whosoever shall make like unto it, to enjoy the smell thereof, shall even be cut off from his people.

The incense altar was at the end of the Holy compartment of the tabernacle, next to the curtain dividing it off from the Most Holy. According to the Books of Chronicles, there was also a similar incense altar in Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. Every morning and evening the sacred incense was burned. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, coals from the altar were taken in a censer, or fire holder, together with two handfuls of incense, into the Holy of Holies, where the incense was made to smoke before the mercy seat of the ark of the testimony.

The Book of Exodus lists four components of the incense, while the Talmud lists seven additional components from the oral Torah. The four components from the Book of Exodus are:

• stacte (נָטָף naṭaf)
• onycha (שְׁחֵלֶת sheħeleth)
• galbanum (חֶלְבְּנָה ħelbbinah)
• pure frankincense (לְבוֹנָה זַכָּה levonah zakah)

The components are still being studied and are not determined with absolute certainty. Stacte is variously described as being the extract of the transparent portion of the myrrh resin which exudes spontaneously from the tree, or a balsam from a tree such as opobalsamum or a styrax. Onycha, which in Greek means "nail", is variously described as being the operculum from a shell found in the Red Sea (which is said to resemble a fingernail), the exudation from the rock rose bush called labdanum (both petals and markings which are said to resemble a fingernail), Styrax benzoin, bdellium, or even cloves. Galbanum is generally considered to be Ferula galbaniflua. Also considered is a milder variety from the Levant or possibly even a close relative of Ferula galbaniflua called narthex or giant fennel. Pure frankincense is the resin of a tree of the boswellia species.

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In Hellenistic Judaism Josephus mentions the incense, numbering thirteen ingredients.

Paul Heger (2025). 9783110809831, Walter de Gruyter. . ISBN 9783110809831

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In rabbinic literature The rabbis of the Talmud expanded the description of the recipe for the incenses from 4 ingredients of the Hebrew Bible to 11 ingredients.Heger (1997). p. 94: "Hence it is likely that the composition which was narrated in the Talmud was based, in this case, not on a speculative tradition, but on the actual practice during the last part of the Second Temple period. The talmudic sages attempted to find support from Scripture for the actual custom." as follows:

According to the Talmud, the House of Avtinas was responsible for compounding the qetoret incense in the days of the Second Temple.

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In Christianity The New Testament makes several typological references to incense, including a Christological reference to the coals from the altar of incense taken behind the parochet on the Day of Atonement (),J. Carl Laney (1997). Answers to Tough Questions from Every Book of the Bible: A Survey of Problem Passages and Issues. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan, . "While the altar of incense stood in the Holy Place before the veil, its ritual use on the Day of Atonement was connected with the Holy of Holies. The high priest would take coals from the altar of incense to burn incense within the Holy of Holies." and a reference to the Christian prayer as incense ().James E. Smith (2006). The Pentateuch. p. 243: "Typology is the study of these foreglimpses of Christ and the Christian age. Persons, places, objects and even events can be typical of New Testament realities. ... The incense altar points to the prayers of the saints of God ()." In later Christian typology the smoke of incense in the tabernacle typically signifies offered prayer.Walter A. Elwell (2001). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. p. 49: "The smoke of incense arising and filling the tabernacle signified offered prayer". This was developed in medieval Christian art.Leslie Ross (1996). Medieval Art: A Topical Dictionary. p. 253: "TYPOLOGY The elders carry harps and golden vessels of incense which are described as containing the prayers of saints." In the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and a considerable part of the Anglican Church, and among some Lutheran churches as well, incense is still used in liturgical rites as well as in some popular devotions outside of church liturgies.

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See also

• Incense offering in rabbinic literature
• Kyphi, incense used in ancient Egypt
• Riha (Mandaeism), incense used for religious rituals
• Stacte

• Arnold Lustiger and Michael Taubes (2006). Yom Kippur Machzor: With Commentary Adapted From the Teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the Kashirer Edition, K'hal Publishing.
• Incense, Jewish Encyclopedia (1906)

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