TR: qatar → thymiáō (Burn Incense / Cause to Smoke)¶

The Chain¶

Hebrew OT          LXX (Greek OT)         Greek NT
───────────        ───────────────         ────────
קָטַר (qatar)   →  θυμιάω (thymiáō)    →  θυμιάω (thymiáō)
H6999, 112x        40x as translation      1x in NT (Luk 1:9)
"cause to smoke"   of qatar                "burn incense"

OT Usage (Hebrew)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H6999	קָטַר (qatar)	112v	cause to smoke — burn sacrificial fat or incense
H7004	קְטֹרֶת (qetoreth)	60v	incense, fumigation (cognate noun)
H6988	קְטוֹרָה (qetoraw)	1v	perfume, incense (hapax — Deut 33:10)
H4729	מִקְטָר (miqtar)	1v	incense hearth/altar (hapax — Exo 30:1)

Key OT passages: - Exo 30:7–8 — Aaron burns incense morning and evening, perpetual incense before YHWH - Lev 1:9 — The priest shall burn all on the altar, a burnt sacrifice, a sweet savour - Jer 44:17 — The people vow to burn incense to the queen of heaven (condemned)

H6999-qatar.md

LXX Bridge¶

Hebrew	Greek Translation	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
qatar (H6999)	θυμιάω (G2370)	40x	7.63	Primary — verb for verb
qatar (H6999)	ἀναφέρω (G399)	25x	5.30	"offer up" — for Hiphil altar-burning
qatar (H6999)	θυμίαμα (G2368)	13x	5.38	Noun "incense" used where Hebrew has verb
qetoreth (H7004)	θυμίαμα (G2368)	see TR-qtoreth-thymiama	—	Noun → noun mapping

Reverse bridge — G2370 thymiáō translates these Hebrew words:

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	Score
qatar	H6999	40	28.34
qetoreth	H7004	9	14.95
meleketh	H4446	4	14.09
nasak	H5258	5	12.21

Qatar dominates — 40 of the LXX's uses of thymiáō render the Hebrew verb qatar.

Semantic continuity: The LXX faithfully preserves the ritual-smoking sense. θυμιάω derives from θύω/θυμός (smoke, burn) and carries the same cultic incense-burning meaning. No significant semantic shift in the bridge.

NT Usage (Greek)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G2370	θυμιάω (thymiáō)	1v	burn incense
G2368	θυμίαμα (thymiama)	6v	incense (noun — Rev 5:8, 8:3–4, 18:13; Luk 1:10–11)
G2369	θυμιαστήριον (thymiastērion)	1v	altar of incense (Heb 9:4)

Key NT passages: - Luk 1:9 — "According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense (thymiáō) when he went into the temple of the Lord." — The only NT use of the verb; Zechariah performing the incense service when Gabriel appears.

TODO(need G2370 study)

Continuity and Shifts¶

What stays the same across testaments: - The cultic incense-burning meaning carries intact from OT through LXX into Luke 1:9 - The priestly context is preserved — Zechariah serves as kohen burning incense in the temple, exactly as Aaron did in Exo 30:7–8 - The temple/altar setting remains constant

What shifts: - The word is extremely rare in the NT (1x verb, 6x noun) compared to 112x in OT — reflecting the shift from temple worship to the Christian era - The NT emphasizes incense as metaphor — Rev 5:8 identifies incense with "the prayers of the saints"; Rev 8:3–4 angel offers incense with prayers - The Hiphil sacrificial-fat-burning sense (dominant in Leviticus) has no NT parallel — the NT verb retains only the incense sense