Bible Review

See Heinrich Graetz, History of the Jews from Ancient Times to the Present (11 vols.; Leipzig, 1853–76).

It was an English ecclesiastic, Humphrey Prideaux, who at the beginning of the 18th century first created the term and concept of “intertestamental” Judaism. See H. Prideaux, The Old and the New Testament Connected in the History of the Jews and Neighboring Nations (2 vols.; London, 1716–18).

The Septuagint, however, seemed to find difficulty in translating the unique word miqtar, and thus reads: “You shall make an altar of incense” (that is, mizbah qetoret in the construct state).

Deuteronomy, in which this worship is mentioned (4:19, 17:3), is also dated by scholarly consensus to that period. See also 2 Kings 17:16, 23:5; Jeremiah 19:13, et al. (passages of Deuteronomistic redaction).

See Wolfram von Soden, Akkadisches Handworterbuch, p. 430a; Chicago Assyrian Dictionary 8, pp. 110b–111a.

For the meaning of the verb qtr in the piel conjugation, see my Temples and Temple-Service, pp. 233–234.

On the components of the ancient Israelite diet, in which fruit was scanty and usually cooked before consumption, see my remarks in Encyclopedia Miqra’it 4, pp. 543–553 (in Hebrew). There I also pointed out that in biblical times, simple folk, as opposed to the royal circle, were exceedingly modest in consuming meat (pp. 548–553). In fact, they ate meat only during high festivities and pilgrim feasts.

Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin, 43a.

Compare Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, 1.81.

See Gitin, “Incense Altars from Ekron,” p. 60. It should be emphasized that we speak here of the conditions that prevailed in the pre-Hellenistic period. When the standard of living rose, incense became more accessible. In the Hellenistic period, meat consumption also became more widespread.