katar · offer up in smoke

What it means

katar (קָטַר) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “offer up in smoke”.

Burn an offering or incense on the altar so that it rises as smoke. Also said of burning incense to other gods.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To send up the sacrifice as smoke on the altar.
2. To offer fragrant smoke to YHWH or other gods.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

To offer up in smoke: to burn an offering or incense on the altar. BDB: to smoke, to turn into fragrance by fire, especially as an act of worship. From the same root comes קְטֹרֶת, “incense” (H7004).

• Burning parts of the sacrifice on the altar Leviticus 1:9Leviticus 3:5
• Burning incense on the altar of incense Exodus 30:7
• Burning incense at the high places 1 Kings 3:32 Kings 23:5
• Burning incense to other gods Jeremiah 44:17

Historical and cultural background

Exodus orders Aaron to offer fragrant incense every morning, “when he tends the lamps”, and at twilight, when he lights them (Exodus 30:7-8).

How we translate it

“Offer up in smoke” 26 times, “offered up in smoke” 13, “offer it up in smoke” 10…; “burn incense” 19, “burned incense” 16, “burning incense” 10. This edition's glossary sets הִקְטִיר = “offer up in smoke” in the rites of the altar. The Hebrew verb does not name what is burned; where the context is incense, especially at the high places and before other gods, the translation says “burn incense”, and at times supplies the word as an addition (“to burn {incense}”, 2 Kings 23:5).

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• offer up in smoke ×26
• burn incense ×19
• burned incense ×16
• offered up in smoke ×13
• burning incense ×10
• offer it up in smoke ×10
• burn ×4
• offer them up in smoke ×4
• offered them up in smoke ×3
• offer up ×2
• others ×9

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Exodus×8
• Leviticus×33
• Numbers×3
• 1 Samuel×4
• 1 Kings×7
• 2 Kings×13
• 1 Chronicles×2
• 2 Chronicles×16
• Song of Songs×1
• Isaiah×2
• Jeremiah×21
• Hosea×3
• Amos×1
• Habakkuk×1
• Malachi×1

• Exodus 29:13

  You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, the lobe on the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar.

• Exodus 29:18

  You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to YHWH, a pleasing aroma, a fire offering to YHWH it is.

• Exodus 29:25

  Then you shall take them from their hands and offer them up in smoke on the altar, on top of the burnt offering, as a pleasing aroma before YHWH; it is a fire offering to YHWH.

• Exodus 30:7

  Aaron shall offer up in smoke on it fragrant incense; every morning, when he tends the lamps, he shall offer it up in smoke,

• Exodus 30:8

  and when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall offer it up in smoke, a continual incense before YHWH throughout your generations.

• Exodus 30:20

  When they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to offer up in smoke a fire offering to YHWH,

• Exodus 40:27

  and he offered up in smoke on it fragrant incense, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

• Leviticus 1:9

  Its entrails and its legs he shall wash in water, and the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, a fire offering, a pleasing aroma to YHWH.

• Leviticus 1:13

  The entrails and the legs he shall wash in water, and the priest shall present all of it and offer it up in smoke on the altar; it is a burnt offering, a fire offering, a pleasing aroma to YHWH.

• Leviticus 1:15

  The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off its head, and offer it up in smoke on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out on the wall of the altar.

• Leviticus 1:17

  He shall tear it open by its wings —he shall not divide it— and the priest shall offer up in smoke it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire; it is a burnt offering, a fire offering, a pleasing aroma to YHWH.

• Leviticus 2:2

  He shall bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and he shall take from there his full handful of its fine flour and of its oil, with all its frankincense, and the priest shall offer up in smoke its memorial portion on the altar, a fire offering, a pleasing aroma to YHWH.

• Leviticus 2:9

  The priest shall take up from the grain offering its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar, a fire offering, a pleasing aroma to YHWH.

• Leviticus 2:11

  No grain offering that you present to YHWH shall be made leavened, for any leaven and any honey— you shall not offer up in smoke any of it as a fire offering to YHWH.

• Leviticus 2:16

  The priest shall offer up in smoke its memorial portion, part of its crushed grain and of its oil, with all its frankincense, a fire offering to YHWH.

• Leviticus 3:5

  The sons of Aaron shall offer up in smoke it on the altar on top of the burnt offering that is on the wood that is on the fire, a fire offering, a pleasing aroma to YHWH.

• Leviticus 3:11

  The priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar; it is food of a fire offering to YHWH.

• Leviticus 3:16

  The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar; it is food of a fire offering for a pleasing aroma. All fat belongs to YHWH.

• Leviticus 4:10

  just as it is taken off from the ox of the sacrifice of peace; and the priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering.

• Leviticus 4:19

  All its fat he shall take off from it and offer it up in smoke on the altar.

• Leviticus 4:26

  All its fat he shall offer up in smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace. So the priest shall make expiation for him for his sin, and he will be forgiven.

• Leviticus 4:31

  All its fat he shall remove, just as the fat is removed from the sacrifice of peace, and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar for a pleasing aroma to YHWH. So the priest shall make expiation for him, and he will be forgiven.

• Leviticus 4:35

  All its fat he shall remove, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace, and the priest shall offer up in smoke them on the altar, on top of the fire offerings of YHWH. So the priest shall make expiation for him for his sin that he has committed, and he will be forgiven.

• Leviticus 5:12

  He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take from it his full handful as its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar, on top of the fire offerings of YHWH; it is a sin offering.

• Leviticus 6:12

  The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, arrange the burnt offering on it, and offer up in smoke on it the fat of the peace offerings.

• Leviticus 6:15

  He shall take up from it in his handful some of the fine flour of the grain offering and of its oil, and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and offer it up in smoke on the altar as a pleasing aroma, its memorial portion to YHWH.

• Leviticus 6:22

  The anointed priest in his place from among his sons shall prepare it; it is a statute forever: to YHWH it shall be wholly offered up in smoke.

• Leviticus 7:5

  The priest shall offer up in smoke them on the altar as a fire offering to YHWH; it is a guilt offering.

• Leviticus 7:31

  The priest shall offer up in smoke the fat on the altar, but the breast shall belong to Aaron and to his sons.

• Leviticus 8:16

  He took all the fat that was on the entrails, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and Moses offered it up in smoke on the altar.

• Leviticus 8:20

  The ram he cut into its pieces, and Moses offered up in smoke the head, the pieces, and the suet.

• Leviticus 8:21

  The entrails and the legs he washed in water, and Moses offered up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it was a burnt offering for a pleasing aroma, it was a fire offering to YHWH, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

• Leviticus 8:28

  Moses took them from their palms and offered them up in smoke on the altar on top of the burnt offering; they were an ordination offering for a pleasing aroma; it was a fire offering to YHWH.

• Leviticus 9:10

  The fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver from the sin offering he offered up in smoke on the altar, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

• Leviticus 9:13

  The burnt offering they handed to him in its pieces, with the head, and he offered them up in smoke on the altar.

• Leviticus 9:14

  He washed the entrails and the legs and offered them up in smoke on top of the burnt offering on the altar.

• Leviticus 9:17

  He presented the grain offering, filled his palm from it, and offered it up in smoke on the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning.

• Leviticus 9:20

  they put the fat portions on the breasts, and he offered up in smoke the fat portions on the altar.

• Leviticus 16:25

  And the fat of the sin offering he shall offer up in smoke on the altar.

• Leviticus 17:6

  And the priest shall splash the blood on the altar of YHWH at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and offer up in smoke the fat for a pleasing aroma to YHWH.

And 76 more times.