Hebrews 9:4

Having a golden censer (crusoun ecousa qumiathrion). The present active participle ecousa (feminine singular) agrees with skhnh (the Holy of Holies). It is not certain whether qumiathrion here means censer or altar of incense. In the LXX ( 2 Chronicles 26:19 ; Exodus 8:11 ; IV Macc. 7:11) it means censer and apparently so in the inscriptions and papyri. But in Philo and Josephus it means altar of incense for which the LXX has qusiasthrion tou qumiato ( Exodus 30:1-10 ). Apparently the altar of incense was in the Holy Place, though in Exodus 30:1-10 it is left quite vague. B puts it in verse Hebrews 9:2 . So we leave the discrepancy unsettled. At any rate the altar of incense was used for the Holy of Holies ("its ritual associations," Dods). The ark of the covenant (thn kibwton th diaqhkh). A box or chest four feet long, two and a half broad and high ( Exodus 25:10 ). The Scotch have a "meal-ark." Wherein (en h). In the ark. There were three treasures in the ark of the covenant (a pot of manna, Aaron's rod, the tables of the covenant). For the pot of manna (golden added in the LXX) see Exodus 16:32-34 . For Aaron's rod that budded (h blasthsasa, first aorist active participle of blastanw) see Numbers 17:1-11 . For the tables of the covenant see Exodus 25:16 ; Exodus 31:18 ; Deuteronomy 9:9 ; Deuteronomy 10:5 . Not definitely clear about these items in the ark, but on front, except that 1 Kings 8:9 states that it did contain the tables of the covenant. For plake (tables) see 2 Corinthians 3:3 (only other N.T. example).