H7004 — קְטֹרֶת (qeṭoreth)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H7004
Original: קְטֹרֶת
Transliteration: qeṭoreth
Pronunciation: ket-o-reth
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: H6999 קָטַר (qâṭar) — to burn incense, to make smoke
Occurrences: 58 unique verses (72 tokens) in OT
Books: 10 (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 1 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Ezekiel)
First Occurrence: Exo 25:6 — "Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H6999 קָטַר (to fumigate/make smoke); a fumigation — (sweet) incense, perfume.

The word denotes the act-product of smoking/fumigating: the aromatic compound burned on the altar or used as perfume. KJV renders it almost exclusively as "incense" (with modifiers "sweet incense" when paired with H5561 סַם), and rarely as "perfume" in non-cultic contexts.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
incense	27	46.6%
of incense	19	32.8%
the incense	5	8.6%
on incense	2	3.4%
a perfume	1	1.7%
and perfume	1	1.7%
mine incense	1	1.7%
and mine incense	1	1.7%
the perfume	1	1.7%
for the incense	1	1.7%
of the incense	1	1.7%

Overwhelmingly translated as "incense" (~90% of occurrences). The handful of "perfume" translations occur in non-cultic or poetic contexts (Prov 27:9; Exo 30:35, 37).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Numbers	21	1.6
Exodus	18	1.5
2 Chronicles	5	0.6
Leviticus	4	0.5
Ezekiel	3	0.2
1 Chronicles	2	0.2
Psalms	2	0.1
1 Samuel	1	0.1
Isaiah	1	0.1
Proverbs	1	0.1

Concentration is entirely in Pentateuchal/temple-legislation books (Exodus + Numbers = 39 of 58 uses). Chronicles appearances track the temple worship revival under Hezekiah/Solomon. Prophetic appearances (Isaiah, Ezekiel) are exclusively negative — incense as condemnation. Psalms, Proverbs, and 1 Samuel are single occurrences.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Sanctuary Design and Ingredients¶

Specifications for the incense altar and the compound formula. - Exo 30:1 — "thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it" - Exo 30:35 — "thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure" - Exo 37:25 — "he made the incense altar of shittim wood: the length of it was a cubit" - Exo 37:29 — "he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices"

2. Daily Priestly Service Before the LORD¶

Burning incense morning and evening as part of the tamid (continual) service. - Exo 30:7–8 — "Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning... a perpetual incense before the LORD" - 2Chr 13:11 — "they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense" - Lev 16:12–13 — Aaron brings incense into the most holy place on Day of Atonement to cover the mercy seat

3. Tabernacle/Temple Inventory¶

Incense listed among the sacred furnishings and supply items. - Exo 25:6 — "spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense" - Exo 35:15 — "the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense" - Exo 39:38 — "the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense" - 1Chr 28:18 — "for the altar of incense refined gold by weight"

4. Numbers Census Offerings¶

Each tribal leader presents a golden spoon of incense as part of the tabernacle dedication offering. - Num 7:14 — "One spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense" - Num 7:86 — "The golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece"

5. Unauthorized Incense / Judgment¶

Incense used outside divinely sanctioned bounds brings divine judgment. - Num 16:7 — Korah's company: "put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD" - Num 16:35 — "fire from the LORD consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense" - 2Chr 26:19 — Uzziah "had a censer in his hand to burn incense... while he was wroth with the priests" - Lev 10:1 — Nadab and Abihu offer "strange fire" with incense, not commanded

6. Prophetic Condemnation¶

Incense offered to idols or as empty external ritual divorced from obedience. - Isa 1:13 — "incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies" - Ezek 8:11 — "seventy men of the ancients of Israel... every man his censer in his hand; a thick cloud of incense went up" - Ezek 16:18 — "thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them" - Ezek 23:41 — "thou hast set mine incense and mine oil" on the idol table

7. Perfume (Non-Cultic)¶

One occurrence uses qeṭoreth in a domestic, non-liturgical sense. - Prov 27:9 — "Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbêach)	H4196	15x (26%)	"altar of incense" (מִזְבַּח הַקְּטֹרֶת)
סַם (çam)	H5561	14x (24%)	"sweet incense" (קְטֹרֶת סַמִּים)
קָטַר (qâṭar)	H6999	11x (19%)	"[he] burned incense" — noun + root verb together
שֶׁמֶן (shemen)	H8081	11x (19%)	paired with anointing oil in supply lists
קֹדֶשׁ (qôdesh)	H6944	8x (14%)	"holy incense" / sanctuary context
מִשְׁחָה (mishchâh)	H4888	8x (14%)	"anointing oil and sweet incense" — standard pairing
יְהֹוָה (Yahweh)	H3068	17x (29%)	"before the LORD" — incense burned in divine presence
פָּנִים (pânîym)	H6440	17x (29%)	"before the face of the LORD" — positional phrase
כַּף (kaph)	H3709	14x (24%)	"spoon (kaph) full of incense" — Numbers census offerings
מָלֵא (mâlêʼ)	H4392	13x (22%)	"full of incense" — census spoon descriptions
עֶשֶׂר (ʻeser)	H6235	13x (22%)	"ten shekels... of incense" — census offering weight
אֵשׁ (ʼêsh)	H784	7x (12%)	fire placed in censer with incense

Word Family / Cognates¶

H6999 קָטַר (qâṭar) — root verb: to burn incense, to make smoke/fumigation (112 verses)
H6988 קְטוֹרָה (qᵉṭôwrâh) — perfume/incense (hapax; same root, different form)
H7002 קִטֵּר (qiṭṭêr) — perfume/incense (hapax; intensified form of root)

Synonyms¶

No direct synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H7004.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H7004.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
לְבוֹנָה (lᵉbôwnâh)	H3828	both → "incense"	lᵉbôwnâh is specifically frankincense (a single resin, named for its whiteness); qeṭoreth is the compound incense blend (spice mixture) or any aromatic fumigation
קָטַר (qâṭar)	H6999	both → "incense"	qâṭar is the verb (to burn/offer incense); qeṭoreth is the noun product being burned
θυμίαμα (thymíama)	G2368	both → "incense"	thymíama is the Greek equivalent used in NT/LXX; functionally equivalent but different testament
קְטוֹרָה (qᵉṭôwrâh)	H6988	both → "incense"	hapax; synonymous with qeṭoreth but distinct lexeme (root cognate)

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[001002010012] Smoke — search_relationships.py places qeṭoreth in the smoke/fumigation field, matching its core sense as burned aromatic smoke.
[001002010014] Spices — the same tool also groups it with spice/aromatic vocabulary, fitting the compounded incense-mixture side of the word.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
θυμίαμα (thymíama) G2368	52	8.39 (33.32)	Primary; direct lexical equivalent
θυμιάω (thymiáō) G2370	9	6.49 (14.95)	Verbal form "to fumigate" — when qeṭoreth is object of burning
θυσιαστήριον (thysiastḗrion) G2379	13	4.13 (10.90)	"Altar" — appears when LXX renders "incense altar" as a unit
πλήρης (plḗrēs) G4134	14	5.91 (16.00)	"Full of" — co-occurrence pattern from "spoon full of incense" in Num 7

The dominant LXX equivalent is θυμίαμα (52 co-occurrences, score 33.32) — see TR-qtoreth-thymiama.md.