At Hebrews 9:4 reference is made to an object that, along with the ark of the covenant, pertained to or was associated with the Most Holy. In Greek it is called thy·mi·a·teʹri·on. That word refers to something connected with the burning of incense. Was it the altar of incense? Some translations present the matter that way, and the use of the word by Philo and Josephus with reference to the altar of incense is cited in support. (NIV, NE, JB, RS) Of course, it is well known that the altar of incense was not actually in the Most Holy. (Ex 30:1, 6) But it was immediately outside the curtain, or “toward the innermost room,” as 1 Kings 6:22 puts it. (Compare Ex 40:3-5.) On the other hand, thy·mi·a·teʹri·on can properly be rendered “censer,” and a censer was actually taken into the Most Holy by the high priest on Atonement Day. (Le 16:12, 13) In the Greek Septuagint, the word thy·mi·a·teʹri·on is always used with reference to the censer (2Ch 26:19; Eze 8:11, LXX), though a different word is used at Leviticus 16:12 when describing events of Atonement Day. The Jewish Mishnah, however, indicates that a special golden censer came to be used on Atonement Day. (Yoma 4:4; 5:1; 7:4) So, with good reason, some translators prefer to render thy·mi·a·teʹri·on as “censer.”​—NW, CC, Dy, Yg, Da, Kx.

Additionally, fire holders were used to burn incense. (Le 10:1) Each morning and between the two evenings, the high priest made perfumed incense smoke upon the golden altar of incense.​—Ex 30:7, 8.

The 70 older men of Israel seen in Ezekiel’s vision were using censers to offer incense to idols.​—Eze 8:10, 11; see INCENSE.