Original Word: θυμιατήριον
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: thumiatérion
Pronunciation: thoo-mee-at-ay'-ree-on
Phonetic Spelling: (thoo-mee-as-tay'-ree-on)
Definition: Censer, Incense Burner
Meaning: (ordinarily: censer, but) either the altar of incense, or the shovel, on which the high-priest poured the coals, when he entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement.

Word Origin: Derived from θυμιάω (thumiaō), meaning "to burn incense."

Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: The Hebrew equivalent for "censer" is מַקְטֶרֶת (maqteret), Strong's Hebrew #4289, which also refers to an incense burner or censer used in the tabernacle and temple worship.

Usage: The term "thumiatérion" refers to a censer or an incense burner, a vessel used for burning incense. In the context of the New Testament, it is associated with the rituals and practices of worship, particularly in the temple or tabernacle settings.

Cultural and Historical Background: In ancient Jewish worship, incense played a significant role in the sacrificial system. The burning of incense was a symbolic act representing the prayers of the people ascending to God. The censer was an essential tool in this ritual, used by priests to carry and burn incense during temple services. The use of incense and censers was deeply rooted in the religious practices of the Israelites, as outlined in the Old Testament, particularly in the books of Exodus and Leviticus.

Word Origin
from thumiaó and -térion (suff. denoting place)
Definition
altar of incense, a censer
NASB Translation
altar of incense (1).

STRONGS NT 2369: θυμιατήριον

θυμιατήριον, θυμιατηριου, τό (θυμιάω), properly, a utensil for fumigating or burning incense (cf. Winer's Grammar, 96 (91)); hence:

1. a censer: 2 Chronicles 26:19; Ezekiel 8:11; Herodotus 4, 162; Thucydides 6, 46; Diodorus 13, 3; Josephus, Antiquities 4, 2, 4; 8, 3, 8; Aelian v. h. 12, 51.

2. the altar of incense: Philo, rer. div. haer. § 46; vit. Moys. iii. § 7; Josephus, Antiquities 3, 6, 8; 3, 8, 3; b. j. 5, 5, 5; Clement of Alexandria; Origen; and so in Hebrews 9:4 ((where Tr marginal reading brackets), also 2 Tr marginal reading in brackets), where see Bleek, Lünemann, Delitzsch, Kurtz, in opposed to those ((A. V. included)) who think it means censer; (yet cf. Harnack in the Studien und Kritiken for 1876, p. 572f).

an altar of incense, a censer

From a derivative of thumiao; a place of fumigation, i.e. The alter of incense (in the Temple) -- censer.

see GREEK thumiao

θυμιατηριον θυμιατήριον thumiaterion thumiatērion thymiaterion thymiatērion thymiatḗrionInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts