Deuteronomy 27:5 BSB

Deuteronomy 27:5

Moreover, you are to build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You must not use any iron tool on them.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And there shalt thou build an altar unto Jehovah thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt lift up no iron tool upon them.

KJV

And there shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them.

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Commentary

3 voices

Gregory of Nazianzus

ORATION 18.10 (390)

It was once counted a glory for the altar that no axe had been lifted upon it, no stonecutter's tool seen or heard. The higher meaning was that whatever was consecrated to God should be natural and free from artifice.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

And there shall thou build an altar to the Lord thy God,.... On the same mountain, though not of the same stones. Jarchi's note is,"after that (the setting up of the plastered stones) thou shalt bring from thence (from Jordan) others, and build of them an altar on Mount Ebal;''but Josephus (t) places this altar not on Mount Ebal, but between that and Gerizim.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Christ, our altar, is a stone cut out of the mountain without hands ( Dan. ii. 34, 35 ), and therefore refused by the builders, as having no form or comeliness, but accepted of God the Father, and made the head of the corner.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

11 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וּבָנִ֤יתָ	u.va.Ni.ta	and you will build	H1129 →
שָּׁם֙	sham	there	H8033 →
מִזְבֵּ֔חַ	miz.Be.ach	an altar	H4196 →
לַיהוָ֖ה	la.Yah.weh	to Yahweh	H3068 →
אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ	'e.lo.Hei.kha	God your	H430 →
מִזְבַּ֣ח	miz.Bach	an altar of	H4196 →
אֲבָנִ֔ים	'a.va.Nim	stones	H68 →
לֹא־	lo'-	not	H3808 →
תָנִ֥יף	ta.Nif	you will wield	H5130 →
עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם	'a.lei.Hem	on them	H5921 →
בַּרְזֶֽל׃	bar.Zel	iron	H1270 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk7

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Exodus 20:25
Now if you make an altar of stones for Me, you must not build it with stones shaped by tools; for if you use a chisel on it, you will defile it.
leads to
- Joshua 8:31
  just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of uncut stones on…
- Deuteronomy 27:5–6
  Moreover, you are to build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You must not use any iron tool on them.
Through
Exodus 24:4
And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve…
leads to
- Deuteronomy 31:9
  So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
- Genesis 28:18
  Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it,
- Revelation 21:14
  The wall of the city had twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
- Galatians 2:9
  And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles, and…
- Joshua 4:8–9
  Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the LORD had told Joshua; and…

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About Deuteronomy

Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read chapter 27 →The featured study →

Continue: Deuteronomy 27 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Deuteronomy

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Deuteronomy