Exodus 27:1
in Exodus 27“You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And thou shalt make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.
KJV
And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.
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This verse in Exodus 27
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd thou shall make an altar of shittim wood,.... This is a different altar from that made of earth before the tabernacle was built, Exo 20:24 and from the altar of incense, Exo 30:1 this was to offer burnt offerings on, and was placed at the door of the tabernacle, in the court of the people, where they brought their sacrifices to the priests to offer for them: it stood in the open air, as it was proper it should, that the smoke or the sacrifices might ascend up and scatter.
This site's exposition
make an altar of shittim wood
on Exodus 27:1-2
Exodus 40:6 places this altar before the door of the tent, so it is the first object anyone entering the court comes to. Its overlay is brass where everything inside the tent is gold, which carries on the grading of chapter 26, where the metal grows plainer the further out a thing sits. The horns are worked out of the same piece rather than fastened on, blood goes on them at Exodus 29:12, and Adonijah and then Joab later catch hold of them for their lives at 1 Kings 1:50 and 1 Kings 2:28.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
There were two altars in the temple, which expressed the two covenants in the church. The first, the altar of burnt offerings, which was plated with bronze and was situated in front of the doors of the temple, was for the offering up of victims …
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Thou shalt make an altar - מזבח mizbeach, from זבח zabach, to slay: Septuagint, θυσιαστηριον, from θυσιαζω, to sacrifice or from θυω to kill, etc. See Clarke’s note on Gen 8:20. Four square - As this altar was five cubits long and five broad, and the cubit is reckoned to be twenty-one inches, hence it must have been eight feet nine inches square, and about five feet three inches in height, the amount of three cubits, taken at the same ratio.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
(Compare Exo 38:1-7.) The great altar which stood in the court immediately in front of the tabernacle was commonly called the altar of burnt-offering, because on it were burnt the whole burnt-offerings, and all those parts of the other animal sacrifices which were offered to the Lord. It was also called the brazen altar, because it was covered with bronze, in distinction from the golden altar or altar of incense Exo 39:38-39; Exo 40:5-
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Any shape whose length is the same size as its width is called a square. The latter is a true.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ | veasita | and you will make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ | hamizbeach | the altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| עֲצֵ֣י | ʾatzei | wood<s> of | H6086 → | 328 times |
| שִׁטִּ֑ים | shitim | acacia | H7848 → | 28 times |
| חָמֵשׁ֩ | chamesh | five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| אַמּ֨וֹת | ʾamot | cubits | H520 → | 247 times |
| אֹ֜רֶךְ | ʾorekh | length | H753 → | 95 times |
| וְחָמֵ֧שׁ | vechamesh | and five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| אַמּ֣וֹת | ʾamot | cubits | H520 → | 247 times |
| רֹ֗חַב | rochav | breadth | H7341 → | 101 times |
| רָב֤וּעַ | ravua' | square | H7251 → | 12 times |
| יִהְיֶה֙ | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ | hamizbeach | the altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| וְשָׁלֹ֥שׁ | veshalosh | and [will be] three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| אַמּ֖וֹת | ʾamot | cubits | H520 → | 247 times |
| קֹמָתֽוֹ׃ | komato | height its | H6967 → | 45 times |
וְעָשִׂ֥יתָand you will make
veasitaH6213 →2628 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַthe altar
hamizbeachH4196 →401 times
עֲצֵ֣יwood<s> of
ʾatzeiH6086 →328 times
שִׁטִּ֑יםacacia
shitimH7848 →28 times
חָמֵשׁ֩five
chameshH2568 →343 times
אַמּ֨וֹתcubits
ʾamotH520 →247 times
אֹ֜רֶךְlength
ʾorekhH753 →95 times
וְחָמֵ֧שׁand five
vechameshH2568 →343 times
אַמּ֣וֹתcubits
ʾamotH520 →247 times
רֹ֗חַבbreadth
rochavH7341 →101 times
רָב֤וּעַsquare
ravua'H7251 →12 times
יִהְיֶה֙it will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַthe altar
hamizbeachH4196 →401 times
וְשָׁלֹ֥שׁand [will be] three
veshaloshH7969 →432 times
אַמּ֖וֹתcubits
ʾamotH520 →247 times
קֹמָתֽוֹ׃height its
komatoH6967 →45 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Hebrews 13:10We have an altar from which those who serve at the tabernacle have no right to eat.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 5:7–8
Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
- 1 Corinthians 10:20
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.
- 1 Corinthians 9:13
Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings?
- 1 Corinthians 5:7–8
Through
Exodus 40:29He placed the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the LORD had commanded…
it leads to
- Exodus 40:6
Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.
- Exodus 40:6
Through
Exodus 40:10Anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it shall be most holy.
it leads to
- Exodus 29:36–37
Sacrifice a bull as a sin offering each day for atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.
- Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…
- Luke 1:35
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
- Leviticus 8:11
He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them.
- Exodus 29:36–37
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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On this verse
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 2.19; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.