Sweet Incense

Sweet incense is named in the inventory of materials Israel is to bring for the construction of the tabernacle. The phrase identifies the aromatic compound burned on the golden altar — distinguished by its made-of-spices character from the oil and other contributions gathered alongside it.

Among the Tabernacle Materials

The instructions for what the people are to offer set sweet incense in a short list with the lamp oil and the anointing oil: "oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense" (Ex 25:6). The same spices that scent the anointing oil are gathered for the incense, and the two stand side by side in the catalog of holy things the camp is asked to supply.

For the larger pattern of incense in the worship of the tabernacle and temple — its preparation, its altar, and its daily and yearly use — see Incense.