Firepan

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Firepan 1. A pan of bronze (  Exodus 27:3 etc.), silver (Mishna, Yôma , iv. 4), or gold (  1 Kings 7:50 etc.), for removing charcoal, and probably ashes also, from the altar of burnt-offering. According to the Mishna ( loc. cit. ), the firepans or coal-pans were of various sizes, there given, and were each furnished with a long or a short handle. They seem, therefore, to have resembled ladies, or the now obsolete bed-warmers.

When used to hold live charcoal for the burning of incense the coal-pan becomes a censer ( Leviticus 10:1;   Leviticus 16:12 etc.). Hence in   Numbers 4:14 , 1Ki 7:50 ,   2 Chronicles 4:22 , RV [Note: Revised Version.] has ‘firepans’ for AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘censers,’ there being no reference in these passages to incense. The same utensil was used for removing the burnt portions of the lamp-wicks of the golden ‘candlestick’ or lamp-stand, although rendered snuff dishes (which see Tindale has rightly ‘firepans’).

2. In   Zechariah 12:6 RV [Note: Revised Version.] there is mention of ‘a pan (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] hearth) of fire’; in other words, a brasier . See Coal; House, § 7 .

A. R. S. Kennedy.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Firepan. One Of The Vessels Of The Temple Service.  Exodus 27:3;  Exodus 38:3;  2 Kings 25:15;  Jeremiah 52:19. The same word is elsewhere rendered "snuff-dish,"  Exodus 25:38;  Exodus 37:23;  Numbers 4:9, and "censer."  Leviticus 10:1;  Leviticus 16:12;  Numbers 16:6; ff.

There appear, therefore, to have been two articles so called: one, like a chafing-dish, to carry live coals for the purpose of burning incense; another, like a snuffer-dish, to be used in trimming the lamps, in order to carry the snuffers and convey away the snuff.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Exodus 27:3 1 Kings 7:50 Exodus 27:3 Exodus 38:3 Numbers 16:6 16:17 Exodus 25:38 Exodus 37:23

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Exodus 27:3 38:3 Exodus 25:38 37:23 Leviticus 10:1 16:12

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fı̄r´pan ( מחתּה , maḥtāh , "firepan," "censer," "snuffdish," from חתה , ḥāthāh , "to snatch up"): A vessel for carrying coals. Brazen firepans were part of the furnishings of the altar of burnt offerings ( Exodus 27:3;  Exodus 38:3 , and in  Numbers 4:14 , where the King James Version wrongly reads "censers," the context indicating a vessel belonging to the brazen altar).

The same word is translated "snuffdishes" in  Exodus 25:38;  Exodus 37:23;  Numbers 4:9 , where it refers to golden firepans which belonged to the golden candlestick or lamp stand, and were used to receive the burnt ends of the wicks. In  1 Kings 7:50 and   2 Chronicles 4:22 , although the King James Version reads "censers," the context points to the firepans belonging to the candlestick; as also in  2 Kings 25:15 and   Jeremiah 52:19 , translated "firepans" in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American). A similar firepan designated by the same Hebrew word but translated "censer" was used to carry the burning coals upon which the incense was thrown and burned ( Leviticus 10:1;  Leviticus 16:12;  Numbers 16:6 ,  Numbers 16:17 ). See Censer .

The firepan or censer of the Hebrews was doubtless similar to the censer of the Egyptians, pictures of which have been found. It consisted of a pan or pot for the coals, which was held by a straight or slightly curved long handle. The style of censer used in recent centuries, swung by three chains, came into use about the 12th century ad.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( מִחְתָּה , Machtah', from, חָתָה , to Take Up coals of fire, etc.; Sept. Πυρεῖον ,Vulg. Ignium Receptaculum), one of the vessels of the Temple service ( Exodus 27:3;  Exodus 38:3;  2 Kings 25:15;  Jeremiah 52:19); elsewhere rendered "snuff-dish" ( Exodus 25:38;  Exodus 37:23;  Numbers 4:9; Sept. Ἐπαρυστἡρ , Ἐπαρυστρίς , Υ͂πόθεμα , Vulg. Emunctorium) and "censer" ( Leviticus 10:1;  Leviticus 16:12;  Numbers 16:6 sq.;  2 Chronicles 4:22; Sept. Θυμιατήριον , Vulg. Thuribalum). These appear, however, not to have been two or three forms of utensils, but essentially the same kind of article, probably i. q. a' metallic- Cinder-Basin, of different sizes, for at least two uses': one, like a chafing-dish, to carry live coals for the purpose of burning incense; another, like-a snuffer-dish, used in trimming the lamps, in order to (carry the snuffers and) convey away the snuff. (See Censer).