מַחְתָּה
mach.tah
censer
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word מַחְתָּה (mach.tah),Strong's number H4289, is a censer, which refers to a vessel used in ancient rituals to burned incense or offering to God. The word occurs 22 times in the Bible, often in contexts related to worship, sacrifice, and purification. Its usage in the Bible suggests a tangible object used in various settings, such as the tabernacle (Exodus 35:22, 38:1), the temple (1 Kings 7:48, 2 Chronicles 4:1-8), and even in personal daily ritual (2 Kings 13:16). This frequency and versatility highlight the significance of the censer in ancient Hebrew worship practices. As a tangible object, the censer (mach.tah) represents a practical tool for creating sacred spaces, symbolizing purification, and maintaining a connection between the people and their deity. Its widespread use underscores the importance of incense and burning offerings in ancient Hebrew rituals.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
22 total occurrences across the text
The captain of the guard took away the cups, the fire pans, the basins, the pots, the lamp stands, the spoons, and the bowls; that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver.
Exodus 25:38Its snuffers and its snuff dishes shall be of pure gold.
Exodus 27:3You shall make its pots to take away its ashes; and its shovels, its basins, its meat hooks, and its fire pans. You shall make all its vessels of bronze.
Leviticus 16:12He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil.
Exodus 37:23He made its seven lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, of pure gold.
Exodus 38:3He made all the vessels of the altar: the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its vessels of bronze.
Leviticus 10:1Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered strange fire before Yahweh, which he had not commanded them.
Numbers 4:9“They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand of the light, its lamps, its snuffers, its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it.
Numbers 4:14They shall put on it all its vessels with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the meat hooks, the shovels, and the basins—all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.
Numbers 16:6Do this: have Korah and all his company take censers,
Numbers 16:17Each man take his censer and put incense on it, and each man bring before Yahweh his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each with his censer.”
Numbers 16:17Each man take his censer and put incense on it, and each man bring before Yahweh his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each with his censer.”
Numbers 16:17Each man take his censer and put incense on it, and each man bring before Yahweh his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each with his censer.”
Numbers 16:17Each man take his censer and put incense on it, and each man bring before Yahweh his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each with his censer.”
Numbers 16:18They each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron.
Numbers 16:37“Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire away from the camp; for they are holy,
Numbers 16:38even the censers of those who sinned against their own lives. Let them be beaten into plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered them before Yahweh. Therefore they are holy. They shall be a sign to the children of Israel.”
Numbers 16:39Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which those who were burned had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar,
Numbers 16:46Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from Yahweh! The plague has begun.”
1 Kings 7:50the cups, the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, of the temple, of gold.
2 Kings 25:15The captain of the guard took away the fire pans, the basins, that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver.
2 Chronicles 4:22and the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and the fire pans of pure gold. As for the entry of the house, its inner doors for the most holy place and the doors of the main hall of the temple were of gold.