Malachi 1:11

1:11 For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,” ¹  says the Lord who rules over all.

Luke 1:9-10

1:9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, ²  to enter ³  the holy place ⁴  of the Lord and burn incense. 1:10 Now ⁵  the whole crowd ⁶  of people were praying outside at the hour of the incense offering. ⁷ 

Revelation 8:3

8:3 Another ⁸  angel holding ⁹  a golden censer ¹⁰  came and was stationed ¹¹  at the altar. A ¹²  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.

¹ sn My name will be great among the nations. In what is clearly a strongly ironic shift of thought, the Lord contrasts the unbelief and virtual paganism of the postexilic community with the conversion and obedience of the nations that will one day worship the God of Israel.

² tn Grk “according to the custom of the priesthood it fell to him by lot.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation to make it clear that the prepositional phrase κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τῆς ἱερατείας (kata to eqo" th" Jierateia", “according to the custom of the priesthood”) modifies the phrase “it fell to him by lot” rather than the preceding clause.

³ tn This is an aorist participle and is temporally related to the offering of incense, not to when the lot fell.

⁴ tn Or “temple.” Such sacrifices, which included the burning of incense, would have occurred in the holy place according to the Mishnah (m. Tamid 1.2; 3.1; 5-7). A priest would have given this sacrifice, which was offered for the nation, once in one’s career. It would be offered either at 9 a.m. or 3 p.m., since it was made twice a day.

⁵ tn Grk “And,” but “now” better represents the somewhat parenthetical nature of this statement in the flow of the narrative.

⁶ tn Grk “all the multitude.” While “assembly” is sometimes used here to translate πλῆθος (plhqo"), that term usually implies in English a specific or particular group of people. However, this was simply a large group gathered outside, which was not unusual, especially for the afternoon offering.

⁷ tn The “hour of the incense offering” is another way to refer to the time of sacrifice.

⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁹ tn Grk “having.”

¹⁰ sn A golden censer was a bowl in which incense was burned. The imagery suggests the OT role of the priest.

¹¹ 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.

¹² 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.