The Hebrew noun qitor refers to smoke, vapor, or the rising smoke of burning — including the smoke of incense or sacrifice. It appears in Psalm 119:83 in the moving image of a man who feels 'like a wineskin in the smoke,' and in Psalm 148 where smoke and storm fulfill God's command.
Smoke in Hebrew symbolism often represents divine presence (Sinai, the tabernacle pillar), the ascending prayers of worship (incense), and the consuming judgment of God. The qitor of incense rising before God became a rich image of prayer (Psalm 141:2, Revelation 8:4). In Psalm 119:83, the psalmist uses the 'wineskin dried and shriveled by smoke' as a metaphor for physical suffering — yet even in this state he does not forget God's statutes. The durability of covenant faithfulness surpasses even bodily affliction.