Lynn Hilton notes that he is indebted to John A. Tvedtnes for pointing out that the Hebrew original of the word “consecrate,” referring to the ordination of priests in Old Testament times, literally means “to fill the hand.” Mr. Tvedtnes offers the following list of Old Testament references, with the literal translation followed by the familiar King James version (KJV) rendered in parentheses:
Exodus 28:41 fill their hand (KJV: “consecrate them”)
Exodus 28:9 thou shalt fill the hand of Aaron and the hand of his sons (KJV: "thou shalt
consecrate Aaron and his sons")
Exodus 29:33 to fill their hand to sanctify them (KJV: "to consecrate and to sanctify them:)
Exodus 32:29 fill your hand (KJV: “consecrate yourselves”)
(See also Leviticus 8:33, 16:32,21:10; Numbers 3:3; Judges 17:5,17:12; 1 Kings 13:33;
2 Chronicles 29:5; 2 Chronicles 29:31; Jeremiah 44:25; Ezekiel 43:26)
In this private communication, Mr. Tvedtnes notes that "there are some hints that the open hand is to be filled with sacrificial items (meat, etc.). See Leviticus 8:26-28 and Exodus 29:24… . He further draws this enlightening conclusion:
In the Temple, the priest evidently stood with hand in cupping shape, ready to receive something which was given to him. It was probably incense, though in the last days (see Revelation 2:17; D&C. 130:11), it will evidently be the white stone or urim and thummim, with the new name written in it."
Incense spoons, or hands in cupping shape, are seen not only in the ancient art of Palestine and Syria, but also in Yemen and Mexico. [Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton, Discovering Lehi, pp. 177-180]
2 Nephi 5:26 I, Nephi, did consecrate Jacob and Joseph that they should be priests and teachers ([Illustration] Figure A-1: Egyptian spoon, dated about 1300 BC. Figure A-2: Spoon found at Megiddo, dating to the Iron II (Israelites) Period. Figure A-3: Ancient Mexican worship of the sun. Two men offer burning incense in spoon-like censers. From Father Bernardino de Sahagun’s work, preserved in Florence, Italy. (Zelia Nuttal, “A Penitential Rite of the Ancient Mexicans,” Papers, Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Vol. 1, No. 7, 1940). Figure A-4: Pharaoh Seti I and his son Ramses II offer incense in a spoon to honor the 76 pharaohs who preceded them on the throne of Egypt. Drawing is from a carving found on a wall of the Osiris temple at Abydos, dating to the 19th Dynasty, ca. 1300 B.C., thus preceding the Exodus by only one generation, by some accounts. (After Richard Lepsius, in Zeitschrift fur Aegyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, Vol. 2, Oct.-Nov., 1864, p. 96). [Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton, Discovering Lehi, pp. 175-178]