"... The high priest took both fire and spices and mixed them together to produce a cloud of smoke. But when did he do this - before or after he entered the Holy of Holies? Saadiah, who fought against the views of the ancient Sadducees and the Karaites of his own day, sects that insisted that only the literal meaning of the Torah text determined what was proper behavior and not the rabbinical interpretations, emphasized that the coals and incense were both brought into the Holy of Holies and then mixed together to produce the smoke. The Sadducees and Karaites believed that the incense was burned outside of the Sanctuary and that the smoke was produced before the priest entered the Holy of Holies. Scholars attribute the Sadducean and Karaite view to their belief in an anthropomorphic God who dwelt in the Holy of Holies and explained that these sects wanted the smoke screen to preclude the priest from gazing at God. Although our targumist also fought against the anthropomorphic view of the deity, he made no change here in his translation. Some rabbis also had an anthropomorphic view of God ..."