Exodus 20:25
in Exodus 20Now 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And if thou make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
KJV
And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
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This verse in Exodus 20
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThou shalt not build it of hewn stone - Because they were now in a wandering state, and had as yet no fixed residence; and therefore no time should be wasted to rear costly altars, which could not be transported with them, and which they must soon leave.
This site's exposition
thou shalt not build it of hewn stone
on Exodus 20:25-26
A stone altar is allowed and a tool taken to the stone pollutes it, so the one thing that would turn it into a work of craftsmanship is what disqualifies it. Deuteronomy 27:5 and 27:6 repeat the rule, and Joshua 8:31 reports it kept on mount Ebal with whole stones over which no man lifted up any iron. Steps are forbidden for the sake of modesty, and Exodus 28:42 meets the same concern for the priests with linen breeches, which is why Jewish tradition describes the later temple altar as reached by a ramp.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
This rule being prescribed before the establishment of the ceremonial law, which appointed altars much more costly, intimates that, after the period of that law, plainness should be accepted as the best ornament of the external services of religion, and that gospel-worship should not be performed with external pomp and gaiety.
And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone,....
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| מִזְבַּ֤ח | mizbach | an altar of | H4196 → | 401 times |
| אֲבָנִים֙ | ʾavanim | stones | H68 → | 273 times |
| תַּֽעֲשֶׂה־ | taaseh- | you will make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לִּ֔י | li | for <the> me | ||
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִבְנֶ֥ה | tivneh | you must build | H1129 → | 376 times |
| אֶתְהֶ֖ן | ʾethen | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| גָּזִ֑ית | gazit | hewn [stone] | H1496 → | |
| כִּ֧י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| חַרְבְּךָ֛ | charbekha | tool your | H2719 → | 413 times |
| הֵנַ֥פְתָּ | henafta | you have wielded | H5130 → | 37 times |
| עָלֶ֖יהָ | ʾaleiha | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וַתְּחַֽלְלֶֽהָ׃ | vatechaleha | and you have profaned it | H2490 → |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
מִזְבַּ֤חan altar of
mizbachH4196 →401 times
אֲבָנִים֙stones
ʾavanimH68 →273 times
תַּֽעֲשֶׂה־you will make
taaseh-H6213 →2628 times
לִּ֔יfor <the> me
li
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִבְנֶ֥הyou must build
tivnehH1129 →376 times
אֶתְהֶ֖ן<obj.> them
ʾethenH853 →10935 times
גָּזִ֑יתhewn [stone]
gazitH1496 →
כִּ֧יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
חַרְבְּךָ֛tool your
charbekhaH2719 →413 times
הֵנַ֥פְתָּyou have wielded
henaftaH5130 →37 times
עָלֶ֖יהָon it
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
וַתְּחַֽלְלֶֽהָ׃and you have profaned it
vatechalehaH2490 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joshua 8:31just 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…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 27:5–7
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.
- Exodus 20:24–25
You are to make for Me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats and cattle. In every place where I cause My name…
- Exodus 24:5
Then he sent out some young men of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD.
- 1 Kings 18:31–32
And Elijah took twelve stones, one for each tribe of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come and said, “Israel shall be your name.”
- Joshua 1:8
This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper…
- Deuteronomy 27:5–7
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.