Censer

Censer sen'-ser: In the King James Version censer is used as a translation of two Hebrew words, namely, machtah, and miqTereth. The former word is generally rendered "censer," sometimes "firepan," and in three cases (Exo 25:38, Exo 37:23, Num 4:9) "snuffdish" It denoted a bowl-shaped vessel used for different purposes, namely,

(1) a censer, in which incense was burnt (Le 10:1);

(2) a firepan, made of bronze, used in connection with the altar of burnt offering (Ex 27:3);

(3) a snuffdish, i.e. a receptacle to hold pieces of burnt lamp-wick removed by the tongs or snuffers (Ex 25:38).

Probably in all these cases the same kind of vessel was meant, namely, a bowl-shaped utensil with a handle, not unlike a saucepan. The other Hebrew word (derived from the same root as the word for "incense") denoted a vessel for conveying incense (Eze 8:11, 2Ch 26:19). The Greek word thumiaterion, by which the Septuagint rendered miqTereth, is used also in Hebr 9:4, where the King James Version gives "censer," but the American Standard Revised Version is probably more correct, namely, "altar of incense" (see Commentaries under the word). Compare also Rev 8:3, Rev 8:1, where libanotos, properly the adjective of "frankincense," is translated "censer."

T. Lewis