Acts 10:4

10:4 Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Cornelius ¹  replied, ²  “What is it, Lord?” The angel ³  said to him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity ⁴  have gone up as a memorial ⁵  before God.

Leviticus 2:2

2:2 Then he must bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and the priest ⁶  must scoop out from there a handful of its choice wheat flour and some of its olive oil in addition to all of its frankincense, and the priest must offer its memorial portion ⁷  up in smoke on the altar – it is ⁸  a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Leviticus 2:9

2:9 Then the priest must take up ⁹  from the grain offering its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar – it is ¹⁰  a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Leviticus 5:12

5:12 He must bring it to the priest and the priest must scoop out from it a handful as its memorial portion ¹¹  and offer it up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts of the Lord – it is a sin offering.

Philippians 4:18

4:18 For I have received everything, and I have plenty. I have all I need because I received from Epaphroditus what you sent – a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, very pleasing to God.

Hebrews 6:10

6:10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints.

Revelation 5:8

5:8 and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground ¹²  before the Lamb. Each ¹³  of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints). ¹⁴ 

Revelation 8:3-4

8:3 Another ¹⁵  angel holding ¹⁶  a golden censer ¹⁷  came and was stationed ¹⁸  at the altar. A ¹⁹  large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne. 8:4 The ²⁰  smoke coming from the incense, ²¹  along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.

¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Cornelius) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Grk “said,” but in response to the angel’s address, “replied” is better English style.

³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Or “your gifts to the needy.”

⁵ sn The language used in the expression gone up as a memorial before God parallels what one would say of acceptable sacrifices (Ps 141:2; Sir 35:6; 50:16).

⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. The syntax is strange here and might suggest that it was the offerer who scooped out a handful of the grain offering for the memorial portion (G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 66), but based on v. 9 below it should be understood that it was the priest who performed this act (see, e.g., NRSV “After taking from it a handful of the choice flour and oil…the priest shall…”; see also J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:177, 181 and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 30).

⁷ sn The “memorial portion” (אַזְכָרָה, ’azkharah) was the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (see the previous clause), as opposed to the remainder, which was normally consumed by the priests (v. 3; see the full regulations in Lev 6:14-23[7-16]). It was probably intended to call to mind (i.e., memorialize) before the Lord the reason for the presentation of the particular offering (see the remarks in R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:335-39).

⁸ tn The words “it is” have been supplied. See the notes on Lev 1:9 and 2:3. There is no text critical problem here, but the syntax suggests the same translation.

¹¹ tn The Hebrew verb הֵרִים (herim, “to take up”; cf. NAB “lift”) is commonly used for setting aside portions of an offering (see, e.g., Lev 4:8-10 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 4:335-36). A number of English versions employ the more normal English idiom “take out” here (e.g., NIV, NCV); cf. NRSV “remove.”

¹² tn The words “it is” (הוּא, hu’) both here and in vv. 10 and 16 are not in the MT, but are assumed. (cf. vv. 2b and 3b and the notes there).

¹⁶ sn The “memorial portion” (אַזְכָּרָה, ’azkkarah) was the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (Lev 2:2), as opposed to the remainder, which was normally consumed by the priests (Lev 2:3; see the full regulations in Lev 6:14-23 [6:7-16 HT]). It was probably intended to call to mind (i.e., memorialize) before the Lord the reason for the presentation of the particular offering (see the remarks in R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:335-39).

²¹ tn Grk “fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

²² tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

²³ sn This interpretive comment by the author forms a parenthesis in the narrative.

²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

²⁷ tn Grk “having.”

²⁸ sn A golden censer was a bowl in which incense was burned. The imagery suggests the OT role of the priest.

²⁹ tn The verb “to station” was used to translate ἑστάθη (Jestaqh) because it connotes the idea of purposeful arrangement in English, which seems to be the idea in the Greek.

³⁰ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

³² tn The expression τῶν θυμιαμάτων (twn qumiamatwn) is taken as a “genitive of producer,” i.e., the noun in the genitive produces the head noun.