Page 57 - Vines Expositary Dictionary

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44:21. Another noun,
%
also means “incense.” This word’s only appearance is in
Deut. 33:10.
+
refers to “smoke; vapor.” This word does not refer to the smoke of an
offering, but to other kinds of smoke or vapor. The reference in Ps. 148:8 (“vapor”) is
one of its four biblical occurrences.
"$%
means “the kindling of incense.” The word is
used only once, and that is in Mal. 1:11: “… And in every place incense shall boffered
unto my name.…”
" %
means “censer; incense.” The word occurs twice.
" %
represents a
“censer”—a utensil in which coals are carried—in 2 Chron. 26:19. The word refers to
“incense” in Ezek. 8:11.
" %
refers to “incense altar.” The word occurs once (2
Chron. 26:19).
" %
means a “place of sacrificial smoke; altar.” The word appears once
(Exod. 30:1).
TO BURY
A. Verb.
%
(
, 6912), “to bury.” This verb is found in most Semitic languages
including Ugaritic, Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Phoenician, and post-biblical Aramaic.
Biblical Hebrew attests it about 130 times and in all periods.
This root is used almost exclusively of human beings. (The only exception is Jer.
22:19; see below.) This verb generally represents the act of placing a dead body into a
grave or tomb. In its first biblical appearance,
%
bears this meaning. God told
Abraham, “And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old
age” (Gen. 15:15).
A proper burial was a sign of special kindness and divine blessing. As such, it was an
obligation of the responsible survivors. Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah so that
he might bury his dead. David thanked the men of Jabesh-gilead for their daring
reclamation of the bodies of Saul and Jonathan (1 Sam. 31:11- 13), and for properly
“burying” them. He said, “Blessed be ye of the Lord, that ye have showed this kindness
unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him” (2 Sam. 2:5). Later, David took the
bones of Saul and Jonathan and buried them in their family tomb (2 Sam. 21:14); here the
verb means both “bury” and “rebury.” A proper burial was not only a kindness; it was a
necessity. If the land were to be clean before God, all bodies had to be “buried” before
nightfall: “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise
bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled,
which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance” (Deut. 21:23). Thus, if a body
was not buried, divine approval was withdrawn.
Not to be “buried” was a sign of divine disapproval, both on the surviving kinsmen
and on the nation. Ahijah the prophet told Jeroboam’s wife, “And all Israel shall mourn
for him [Jeroboam’s son], and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the
grave” (1 Kings 14:13). As for the rest of his family, they would be eaten by dogs and
birds of prey (v. 11; cf. Jer. 8:2). Jeremiah prophesied that Jehoiakim would “be buried
with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jer.
22:19).