Wyjścia 30:9 Komentarz: Rashi, Chizkuni, Ramban & Tur HaArokh

לא תעלו עליו YE SHALL NOT OFFER ON IT — on it, i. e. on this altar, but you may offer on the copper altar (cf. Menachot 50b),

קטרת זרה, “alien incense;” any incense which is not paid for by the congregation as a whole, even if paid for out of the High Priest’s personal funds, was prohibited. This was one of the sins committed by Nadav and Avihu, Aaron’s sons, each of whom had taken his own personal pan and offered incense paid for out of their own pockets. This is (one of the reasons) why they were so harshly punished. An alternate explanation: “alien incense,” is any incense that does not exactly correspond to the instructions given in the Torah concerning of which spices and how much of each it was to consist.

YE SHALL NOT BRING UP ‘KTORETH ZARAH’ (STRANGE INCENSE) THEREON — “any incense brought as a freewill offering; for all [offerings of incense] are ‘strange’ to [this altar] except this one [prescribed here].” This is Rashi’s language. But Onkelos rendered ktoreth zarah: ktoreth busmin nuchra’in (“the burning of aromatics which are of strange components,”) and he did not translate it nuchritha “strange incense” [as Rashi interpreted it]. By this translation Onkelos wanted to explain that the sense of the verse is that he should not offer an incense of any other components except those prescribed as He commanded.²⁴⁷This is identical with Ibn Ezra’s interpretation of the verse. Ramban, however, called attention to Onkelos’ text because it required an explanation as mentioned. Similarly, if one were to add to the prescribed composition any other components one would transgress this negative commandment.
Ki Thisa

קטרת זרה STRANGE INCENSE — any incense brought as a freewill offering; all of them (all offerings of incense) are “strange” to it (to the altar) except this prescribed here.