Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Leviticus 16:12

in Leviticus 16

Then he must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and take them inside the veil.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Jehovah, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil:

KJV

And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:

⋯

This verse in Leviticus 16

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
It is important, in reference to the meaning of the day of atonement, to observe the order of the rites as they are described in these verses. Lev 16:12 A censer - See Exo 25:38 note. The altar before the Lord - i. e. the altar of burnt-offering on which the fire was always burning. Lev 16:14 The high priest must have come out from the most holy place to fetch the blood, leaving the censer smoking within, and then have entered again within the veil.

This site's exposition

presents the bull for his sin offering

on Leviticus 16:11-13

The cloud of the incense is to cover the mercy seat, and the stated purpose is that he die not. That purpose is stated for the second time in thirteen verses.

This site's exposition

two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense

Albert Barnes identifies the altar before the LORD as the altar of burnt offering, where the fire was always burning. The measure of incense is two handfuls. Barnes adds that the high priest then came out to fetch the blood for verse 14, leaving the censer smoking within.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

27 And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

And he shall take a censer,....

How the passage was read

On Leviticus 16:1-34

On Leviticus 16:1-34

The day Israel still fasts

This chapter founds the Day of Atonement, in Hebrew Yom Kippur, the most solemn day of the Jewish year: the one day the high priest entered the innermost room of the sanctuary with blood for the nation's sins. With no Temple standing since AD 70, the day is kept now as a full fast: roughly 25 hours with no food or drink, most of it spent in synagogue prayer, many wearing white.

The Mishnah (the first code of Jewish oral law, about AD 200) defines the day's five abstentions: eating and drinking, washing, anointing, leather shoes, and marital relations (Yoma 8:1). It also carries a saying worth any reader's time: the day atones for sins between a person and God, “but for sins between a person and his fellow, the Day of Atonement does not atone until he has appeased his fellow” (Yoma 8:9). Reconciliation with people is homework done before the day.

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Sources: Mishnah Yoma 8:1 (the five abstentions) · Mishnah Yoma 8:9 (appease your fellow first) · The Day of Atonement (this site's study)

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְלָקַ֣חand he will take

    velakachH3947 →966 times

  • מְלֹֽא־<the> fullness of

    melo'-H4393 →38 times

  • הַ֠מַּחְתָּה<the> censer

    hamachtahH4289 →

  • גַּֽחֲלֵי־coals of

    gachalei-H1513 →

  • אֵ֞שׁfire

    ʾeshH784 →378 times

  • מֵעַ֤לfrom on

    mealH5921 →5755 times

  • הַמִּזְבֵּ֙חַ֙the altar

    hamizbeachH4196 →401 times

  • מִלִּפְנֵ֣יfrom to before

    milifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וּמְלֹ֣אand [the] fullness of

    umelo'H4393 →38 times

  • חָפְנָ֔יוhands his

    chafenavH2651 →

  • קְטֹ֥רֶתincense of

    ketoretH7004 →60 times

  • סַמִּ֖יםperfume<s>

    samimH5561 →

  • דַּקָּ֑הfine

    dakahH1851 →14 times

  • וְהֵבִ֖יאand he will bring [them]

    vehevi'H935 →2568 times

  • מִבֵּ֥יתfrom inside

    mibeitH1004 →2046 times

  • לַפָּרֹֽכֶת׃to the curtain

    laparokhetH6532 →25 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

14 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Leviticus 10:1Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.11 worksExodus 30:34–38The LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense—in equal measures,7 worksRevelation 8:3–4Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.6 worksHebrews 9:4containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.6 worksNumbers 16:46Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.”5 worksIsaiah 6:6–7Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.4 works
The other 8 cross-references, with their words ▾
Exodus 31:11in addition to the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them according to all that I have commanded you.”4 worksNumbers 16:18So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.4 worksRevelation 8:5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; and there were peals of thunder, and rumblings, and flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.4 worksHebrews 9:14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!3 works1 John 1:7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.2 worksExodus 37:29He also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.2 works1 Kings 7:50the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and censers; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the Most Holy Place) as well as for the doors of the main hall of the temple.2 worksExodus 27:3Make all its utensils of bronze—its pots for removing ashes, its shovels, its sprinkling bowls, its meat forks, and its firepans.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Leviticus 10:1

    Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 26:61

      but Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD.

    • Deuteronomy 12:32

      See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.

    • Numbers 16:46

      Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the…

    • Exodus 24:1

      Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.

    • Exodus 6:23

      And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

  • Through

    Numbers 16:46

    Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the…

    it leads to

    • Numbers 8:19

      And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to perform the service for the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting and to make atonement…

    • 1 Chronicles 27:24

      Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the men but did not finish. For because of this census wrath came upon Israel, and the number was not entered in the Book of the Chronicles…

    • Leviticus 10:6

      Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become disheveled and do not tear your garments, or else you will die, and the LORD will be…

Where this verse is studied

About Leviticus

The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.
The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.
Leviticus: the study guide →Read Leviticus 16 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Leviticus 16 →