Firepan

fir'-pan (machtah, "firepan," "censer," "snuffdish," from chathah, "to snatch up"):

A vessel for carrying coals. Brazen firepans were part of the furnishings of the altar of burnt offerings (Exod 27:3; Exod 38:3, and in Num 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 Exod 25:38; Exod 37:23; Num 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 Kgs 7:50 and 2 Chr 4:22, although the King James Version reads "censers," the context points to the firepans belonging to the candlestick; as also in 2 Kgs 25:15 and Jer 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 (Lev 10:1; Lev 16:12; Num 16:6; Num 16:17 ff).

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.

George Rice Hovey