Incense offering

Part of a series of articles on
Priesthood in Judaism
Kohen · Recognition of priestly descent Priestly covenant
Roles Priestly blessing · Redemption of the firstborn son Tzaraath (skin disease and mildew) The Torah instruction of the Kohanim Sacrifice · Incense offering Beth din shel Kohanim Mitzvah to kohanim to sound silver trumpets
High Priests Aaron · Eleazar · Phinehas  · Eli · Ahimelech · Abiathar (First Temple)  · Zadok · Shallum · Hilkiah · Jehoiada (Second Temple) Joshua the High Priest Simeon the Just Elazar Ben Charsum Yishmael Ben Elisha Yehoshua ben Gamla Pinchus Ben Shmuel
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Model of the Golden Altar

The Incense offering (Hebrew: קְטֹרֶת‎ qetoreth) in Judaism was related to perfumed offerings on the altar of incense in the time of the Tabernacle and the First and Second Temple period, and was an important component of priestly liturgy in the Temple in Jerusalem.

In the Hebrew Bible

The sacred incense prescribed for use in the wilderness Tabernacle was made of costly materials that the congregation contributed (Exodus 25:1, 2, 6; 35:4, 5, 8, 27-29). The Book of Exodus describes the recipe:

And the LORD 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 LORD. Whosoever shall make like unto it, to enjoy the smell thereof, shall even be cut off from his people.-Exodus 30:34-38; 37:29.

At the end of the Holy compartment of the tabernacle, next to the curtain dividing it off from the Most Holy, was located the incense altar. (Exodus 30:1; 37:25; 40:5, 26, 27) According to the Books of Chronicles, there was also a similar incense altar in Solomon's temple in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 28:18 and 2 Chronicles 2:4). Every morning and evening the sacred incense was burned. (Ex 30:7, 8; 2Ch 13:11) 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. (Leviticus 16:12, 13.)

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 nataf)
• onycha (שְׁחֵלֶת shekheleth)
• galbanum (חֶלְבְּנָה khelbanah)
• pure frankincense (לְבוֹנָה זָךְ levonah zach)

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 are 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.

In the Talmud

The rabbis of the Talmud described the composition of the incense as follows:

The Rabbis taught: How is the incense mixture formulated? Three hundred and sixty eight mina were in it: three hundred sixty five corresponding to the days of the solar year - a mina for each day, half in the morning and half in the afternoon, and three extra mina, from which the Kohen Gadol would bring both his handfuls [into the Holy of Holies] on Yom Kippur. He would return them to the mortar on the day preceding Yom Kippur, and grind them very thoroughly so that they would be exceptionally fine. Eleven kinds of spices were in it, as follows: (1) stacte, (2) onycha, (3) galbanum, (4) frankincense - each weighing seventy mina [and each comprising 19.02% of the total weight]; (5) myrrh, (6) cassia, (7) spikenard, (8) saffron, each weighing sixteen mina [and each comprising 4.35% of the total weight]; (9) costus - twelve mina [comprising 3.26% of the total weight]; (10) aromatic bark - three [comprising 0.82% of the total weight]; and (11) cinnamon - nine [comprising 2.45% of the total weight]; [Additionally] Carshina lye, nine kab; Cyprus wine, three se'ah and three kab - if he has no Cyprus wine, he brings old white wine; Sodom salt, a quarter-kab; and a minute amount of maaleh ashan. Rabbi Nathan of Babylon says: Also a minute amount of Jordan amber. If he added honey, he invalidated it; if he [deliberately] omitted one of the spices, he was liable to the death penalty. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel says: The stacte is nothing more than the sap that drips from the branches of the balsam tree. Why was Carshina lye brought? To refine the onycha, that it be pleasant. Why was Cyprus wine brought? To steep the onycha, that it be pungent; while urine (מי רגליים - mei raglaiim) was more suited for this, nevertheless, one did not bring urine into the Temple, out of respect.

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

References

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