In the King James Version, Hebrews 9:4 has “censer”, where your translation has “incense altar”. I am just curious as to why the difference.
Wendell S.
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Hi Wendell.
In cases such as this, where a Hebrew or Greek word is used only once in the entire Bible, translators are left to decide based on the context, what the word means. The Greek word used in Hebrews 9:4 may be translated as “censer” (based on a few non-biblical usages), but we deemed that translation to be deficient in the context of Hebrews 9, where the writer is listing the furnishings of God’s temple. It seemed unlikely to us that in a list of major pieces of temple furniture, the author would leave out the incense altar (a major piece of furniture) and mention a censer instead. That is why we chose to translate that Greek word as “incense altar”. I hope that is clear.
Thank you for the question.
Pastor John