[Heb. qetoreth; Phoenician qtr; Ugaritic qtr; Akkadian qutrenu; all are loan words from the Egyptian qdrt; Gr. thumiama.] A mixture of fragrant substances, such as gum resins and spices, used in connection with religious worship. The incense prescribed for use in the tabernacle consisted of equal parts of stacte (possibly opobalsamum), onycha, galbanum, and frankincense, and was seasoned with salt. It was forbidden to use a mixture made according to this recipe for other purposes (Ex 30:34-38). In the Mosaic system incense was burned morning and evening upon a special altar that stood in the holy place of the sanctuary in front of the curtain that separated this apartment from the Most Holy Place (Ex 30:1-9; Lk 1:8-10 also see The Mosaic Tabernacle). At the annual Day of Atonement the high priest entered the Most Holy Place and burned incense in a censer, the smoke of which enveloped the ark (Lev 16:12, 13). Burning of incense was also connected with the religious rites of the pagans (2 Chr 34:25 ;Jer 48:35) -- Seventh-day Adventist Dictionary.