Censer (Hastings' Dictionary)

Two Heb. words are thus rendered in our Eng. version, nijn.p and n-i^p?. The latter, from the same root as the word for incense, is ren<lered by Uie LXX in the two places where it occurs (2 Ch 26'», Ezk 8") 8v^a.T-fipLoi/. For this reason XpvaoOr Ovmar-fipLOf of He 9 has been understood since Jerome's time to mean ' golden censor ' (AV, RV). The best modern authorities, however, have decided in favour of the rendering ' golden altar of incense' (so RVm after Bleek, Del. etc.), a sense in which the word frequently occurs in Philo and Josephus (for reli'. see Thayer, NT Lex. sub voc). Elsewhere in OT the vessel used to carry the cliarcoal on which the incense was burned is termed m^n-}. In AV and RV our translators have only in certain cases given the rendering ' censer,' pre- ferring ' Firepan ' in those passages, ai>parently, where the nnn^ is mentioned among the utensils connected with the altar of burnt-oH'ering, as in Ex 27', Nu 4" RV etc. There is no reason for this distinction,one and the same utensil being intended throu''hout. The .icn? was so constructed as to be capable not merely of lifting the glowing charcoal from the altar of burnt-ollering, — so much is indicated by its ety- mology from inn to take up ' live coals ' from the hearth, — but also of containing a quantity sufficient to burn at least two handfuls of incense (Lv 16"). We may therefore think of it n-s a bowl-shaped imydement furnished with a short handle, — in otlier words, as a species of ladle. The censers of the Pent, (only in P) are of the same material as the great altar, probably bronze (Ex 27', cf. Nu \6^- ""). Those of Solomon's temple were of gold (1 K 7', • It li not correct to «ay, u In Smith'i Dfl,' I. p. .';.';2, that the vpBselB eiiunu'rat-ed (Nu 4*) aro those ot the (joIiIimi AltJir, i.t. of inrcniw.' These have b«en mentioned but not named in v.io. Utsidea, ' Ihr altar' (v.U) U Invariably in the Pent, the altar o( bumt.offering. 366 CENSUS CENTUEION 2 K 25"). A censer of silver is mentioned in con- nexion with the daily offering in Tamid v. 4, 5, Yoma iv. 4. The favourite LXX renderings are o-uofto;' (cf. Sir 50«) and euttxK-n (cf. 1 Mac l^^). It is now impossible to say in what respect, if at all, the nijn? ditVered from the n-iEfO. Delitzsch is certainly mistaken in identifying (art. ' Riiuch- erpfanne' in Riehm's HBA^) the latter with the vessel designated 13 (see Nu ?"•). EV spoon, more probably a bowl with a handle, and therefore of similar shape to rrjjnQ (hence LXX dvUKri), in any case a vessel in wliich the incense was kept (cf. the n'lBS with incense on tlie table of shewbread, Ex 25). The context in which it occurs (see above) requires us, in each case, to see in the n-ioijp a proper censer. The censer (XijSoFitfris) appears along with incense in the imagery of theApoc. (8'-°). In 5' the 'golden vials (^idXas) full of odours ' (RV more correctly ' the golden bowls full of incense ') have been suggested by the ntes or incense-holders just men- tioned. For the use of this vessel in Herod's temple see Tamid v. vi. Among the implements of the golden candlestick were its nmra, EV Bnuff dishes. These were prob- ably not trays for the snuffers as the LXX render- ing in Ex 25'"' (v-ir6Sefia) would suggest, but rather a ntensil of the same sliape as the censer, in which to receive and carry away the burnt portions of the wicks. Representations of the censers used by the ancient Egyptians are still extant. They con- sisted of a small pot or cup with a long liandle (Kitto, Encycl. Bibl. Lit. 1862, p. 461) into which little pellets of incense were projected at intervals by the priest. In early Christian times the use of censers is not mentioned ; it appears to have commenced about the 4th cent. A.D., probably for antiseptic fumiga- tion In the 8th cent., however, their use was general, and directions for their adoption were given by local synods. But symbolical meanings Became by degrees attached to the burning of incense. In many cathedrals on the Continent and in this country very valuable thuribles or censers of gold and silver (cf. Herod, iv. 162 ; Thucyd. vi. 46 ; Cic. Verr. iv. 21-24) are still to be found, some of them weighing as much as 16 lbs., and evidently not intended to be SMTing like the ordinary censer. In form modem censers vary considerably, being usually oval, but sometimes square. The ordinary form used by the Jews is of an octagonal shape. In Europe they are generally furnished with a perforated li<i, and havethreechains to the lower portion, a fourth eliain being attached to the lid, so that it can be raised when re<iuired. There is usually a small shallow pan enclosed in the censer to receive live charcoal. Tliey are now usually made of brass, as used in the Roman and Anglican services. The incense used for the censor is generally carried by an acolyte in a boat- shaped brass box, containing a spoon for sprinkling it on the censer. LiTBRATURS. — Sonneschmid, De Thymiaterio tanctissimo (Vitel. 17-23 : Deylincr, Ods. ii. 665 teg. ; Ugolini, The^aur. xi. ; wentze In ^'ov. Biblioth. Brev. v. 337 tea. ; Zeibrich, De Thur. Oerb. 176S; Roval, De Thurib. 724; Benzjager, Heb. Arch. 4441.; Schurer, U.y/> II. i. 295. A. K. S. Kennedy and E. M. Holmes.