Hebrews 9:4

χρυσοῦν ἔχουσα θυμιατήριον.… The inner tent is characterised by its furnishings, a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant. f1θυμιατήριον is rendered both in A.V. and R.V. by “censer” following the Vulgate, “aureum habens thuribulum;” Grotius “ θυμ : hic non est mensa, sed impositum mensae batillum ;” and others. In doing so the usage of the LXX is followed, for in 2 Chronicles 26:19; Ezekiel 8:11 4Ma 7:11 the only instances of its occurrence it renders מִקְטֶרֶת = censer; while “altar of incense” is rendered by θυσιαστήριον θυμιάματος, see Leviticus 4:7; 1 Chronicles 7:4-9, etc. But Philo (p. 512 A, 668, C), Josephus Ant., iii. 6, 8, and the versions of Symmachus and Theodotion in Exodus 31 use θυμιατήριον for “altar of incense”. Besides, the form of the word indicates that it could be used of anything on which incense is offered. It was, therefore, understood of the “altar” by Clement Alex. and other fathers; by Calvin, who says, “quo nomine altare suffitus vel thymiamatis potius intelligo quam thuribulum;” and by most modern scholars. As has frequently been urged it is incredible that in describing the furniture of the tabernacle there should be no mention of the altar of incense. Difficulty has been felt regarding the position here assigned to it, for in fact it stood outside the veil; and the author has been charged with error. But the change from ἐν ᾗ of Hebrews 9:2 to ἔχουσα is significant, and indicates that it was not precisely its local relations he had in view, but rather its ritual associations, “its close connection with the ministry of the Holy of Holies on the day of atonement, of which he is speaking” (Davidson). The altar was indeed so strictly connected with the Sancta Sanctorum that in the directions originally given for its construction this was brought out (Exodus 30:1-6). “Thou shalt set it before the veil (ἀπέναντι τ. καταπετάσματος) that is over the ark of the testimony,” and in Hebrews 9:10, “it is most holy (ἅγιον τῶν ἁγίων) to the Lord”. In 1 Kings 6:20 it is also said of Solomon that he made the altar of incense κατὰ πρόσωπον τοῦ δαβὶρ “in front of the oracle,” which brings it into direct connection with the ark Cf. also 1 Kings 9:25. χρυσοῦν, although made of shittim wood it was overlaid with gold and is often called “golden”. Here emphasis is laid upon its golden appearance as being worthy of its use. καὶ τὴν κιβωτὸν … “and the ark of the covenant covered all over with gold”. κιβωτός, a box or chest (in Aristoph. Wasps, 1056, wardrobe) or ark (a word still used in Scotland, where the meal-chest is known as the meal-ark). In LXX and N.T. appropriated to the chest in the Holy of Holies or to the ark in which Noah was rescued. For its construction see Exodus 25:10. περικεκ. πάντοθεν χρυσίῳ representing “inside and outside” ἔσωθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν χρυσώσεις αὐτήν of Exodus 25:11. Here called τῆς διαθήκης because in it were kept αἱ πλάκες τ. διαθήκης “the tables of the covenant” on which were written the ten commandments, the sum of the terms to which the people swore on entering the covenant. Therefore called in Exodus 31:18 πλάκες μαρτυρίου. These tables were, in LXX, first spoken of as πυξία (τὰ πυξία τὰ λίθινα, Exodus 24:12). They are called πλάκες in Exodus 31:18. Paul also uses this word in contrasting the stone tables of the Law with the σάρκιναι πλάκες of the heart. In 1 Kings 8:9 it is stated that when Solomon's Temple was dedicated these tables were the sole contents of the ark. In the tabernacle, however, as here described the ark also contained στάμνος χρυσῆ ἔχουσα τὸ μάννα “a golden jar containing manna,” as directed in Exodus 16:33-34, Moses said to Aaron λάβε στάμνον χρυσοῦν ἕνα, where it is masculine; in Aristoph. Plut. 545, feminine (see Stephanus, s.v.). Usually it was of earthenware and used for holding wine, honey, etc. τὸ μάννα in Exod. μάν is the form used; in the other books μάννα. καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος Ἀαρὼν ἡ βλαστήσασα, as related in Numbers 17:1-10, when the rods of the tribes were laid up before the Lord to determine who were the legitimate priests, ἱδοὺ ἐβλάστησεν ἡ ῥάβδος Ἀαρὼν. Chrysostom remarks that the contents of the ark were venerable and significant memorials of Israel's rebellion; the tables of the covenant for the first were broken on account of their sin; the manna reminding them of their murmuring; the rod that budded of their jealousy of Aaron.

ὑπεράνω δὲ αὐτῆς χερουβεὶν δόξης … “And over it [the ark] Cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercyseat” [“obumbrantia propitiatorium” (Vulg.)]. According to Exodus 25:18-22, the Cherubim were to be two in number, made of gold, one at each end of the ark, looking towards one another, and overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings [συσκιάζοντες ἐν ταῖς πτέρυξιν αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἱλαστηρίου]. The Cherubim seem to have symbolised, in the manner of the Assyrians and Egyptians, the creatures of God, all that is best in creation, by a combination of excellences found in no single creature. In Ezekiel 1:10 they have four faces, of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle, representing respectively intelligence, strength, steadfastness, rapidity. But cf. Davidson, p. 173 and Cheyne's art. in Encycl. Bibl. δόξῃς, the Cherubim are here called “of glory,” probably because closely attached to and, as it were, attendant upon, the place of the manifestation of the divine glory. [“Als Träger der Herrlichkeit, in welcher die göttliche Gnadengegenwart sich kund that” (Weiss).] τὸ ἱλαστήριον. In Exodus 25:17 Moses is instructed to make a golden cover [כַּפֹּרֶת] to be laid upon the lid of the ark, and this instruction the LXX renders by the words ποιήσεις ἱλαστήριον ἐπίθεμα f1χρυσίου καθαροῦ. The word ἐπίθεμα alone, without any qualifying adjective, would have been an adequate translation of כַּפֹּרֶת, for both words mean “a cover”. But ἐπίθεμα is nowhere else used in the LXX to translate כַּפֹּרֶת, which is regularly translated by ἱλαστήριον, although this word does not express the idea of a material covering. [Philo more than once remarks upon this. In De Profug., 19, in speaking of symbols, he says τῆς ἵλεω δυνάμεως τὸ ἐπίθεμα τῆς κιβωτοῦ, καλεῖ δὲ αὐτὸ ἱλαστήριον. And in Vit. Mos. iii. 68, ἧς ἐπίθεμα ὡσανεὶ πῶμα τὸ λεγόμενον ἐν ἱεραῖς βίβλοις ἱλαστήριον.] The reason of this usage is to be found in the fact that this “cover” was sprinkled with blood on the day of atonement, and came, therefore, to be associated with the covering of sin. Indeed, the Hebrew word which denotes the material covering is that which is regularly used to express the covering of sin. The original ἐπίθεμα thus became a ἱλαστήριον ἐπίθεμα and finally ἱλαστήριον. (See Deissmann, Bibelstud. p. 121 132.) περὶ ὧν … μέρος “of which we cannot now speak in detail”. ἔστιν, as commonly in classical Greek = ἔξεστι. κατὰ μέρος = one by one. Examples in Wetstein and Bleek (see especially Plato, Theaet. 157B, where it is opposed to ἄθροισμα).