Luke 1:10
pAnd the whole multitude of the people were qpraying *without at the time of incense.
And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
καὶ πᾶν τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ λαοῦ ἦν προσευχόμενον ἔξω τῇ ὥρᾳ τοῦ θυμιάματος.
Textual key: no entry
p:
Exodus 30:7 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.
Leviticus 16:17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.
q:
Psalms 141:1 Lord, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.
Revelation 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Revelation 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.
*:
without-outside.
We are told, that the order of the Jewish daily service was this: twice in the day the priests whose course it was to minister, or such of them whose lot it was, went into the holy place to burn incense, according to the law, Exo 30:7. When they went in, a bell rung, to give notice that it was the hour of prayer. There were constantly there,
1. The rest of the priests of the same course.
2. The Levites.
3. Their stationary men, who represented the whole congregation, and laid their hands upon the beast slain.
4. So many more of the people as would voluntarily come; and it was very ordinary for many to go.
Thus we read, Act 3:1, of Peter and John going into the temple at the hour of prayer. These made the multitude, of whom it is said, that while the priest was burning incense they were without, not without the temple, but in the court of Israel, without the holy place, in which the priests were burning incense, praying; so they used to do privately by themselves. There is a text in Ecclesiasticus, Ecc 1:15, which (though it be not canonical Scripture) is as credible as any other civil history, and will much help to make the readers understand the order of the Jewish service, and what this text saith.