Reference: Altar
American
A table-like structure, on which sacrifices and incense were offered, built of various materials, usually of stone, but sometimes of brass, etc. It is evident that sacrifices were offered long before the flood; but the first mention of an altar in Scripture is when Noah left the ark. Mention is made of altars reared by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. The latter was commanded to build an altar of earth, Ex 20:24. If stone was employed, it must be rough and unhewn, probably lest the practice of sculpture should lead them to violate the second commandment. It was not to be furnished with steps, De 27:2-6.
The altars in the Jewish tabernacle, and in the temple at Jerusalem, were the following: 1. The altar of burnt offerings. 2. The altar of incense. 3. The table of showbread, for which see BREAD.
1. THE ALTAR OF BURNT-OFFERINGS was a kind of coffer of shittim-wood covered with brass plates, about seven feet six inches square, and four feet six inches in height. At the four corners were four horns, or elevations. It was portable, and had rings and staves for bearing in, Ex 27-28. It was placed in the court before the tabernacle, towards the east. The furniture of the altar was of brass, and consisted of a pan, to receive the ashes that fell through the grating; shovels; basins, to contain the blood with which the altar was sprinkled; and forks, to turn and remove the pieces of flesh upon the coals. The fire was a perpetual one, kindled miraculously, and carefully cherished. Upon this altar the lamb of the daily morning and evening sacrifice was offered, and the other stated and voluntary blood-sacrifices and meat and drink-offerings. To this also certain fugitives were allowed to flee and find protection. The altar in Solomon's temple was larger, being about thirty feet square and fifteen feet high, 2Ch 4:1. It is said to have been covered with thick plates of brass and filled with stones, with an ascent on the east side. It is often called "the brazen altar."
2.THE ALTAR OF INCENSE was a small table of shittim-wood, covered with plates of gold; it was eighteen inches square, and three feet high, Ex 30; 37:25, etc. At the four corners were four horns, and all around its top was a little border or crown. On each side were two rings, into which staves might be inserted for the purpose of carrying it. It stood in the Holy place; not in the Holy of Holies, but before it, between the golden candlestick and the table of showbread, and the priests burned incense upon it every morning and evening. So Zacharias, Lu 1:9,11. See TEMPLE.
3. ALTAR AT ATHENS, inscribed "to the unknown God,"
Ac 17:23. It is certain. Both from Paul's assertion and the testimony of Greek writers, that altars to an unknown or gods existed at Athens. But the attempt to ascertain definitely whom the Athenians worshipped under this appellation must ever remain fruitless for want of sufficient data. The inscription afforded to Paul a happy occasion of proclaiming the gospel; and those who embraced it found it indeed that the Being whom they had thus ignorantly worshipped was the one only living and true God.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"You must make an earthen altar for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats, as well as your cattle. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered.
At the time you cross the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must set up large stones and cover them with plaster. Write all the words of this law on the stones after you cross to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you. read more. When you have crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you are to cover them with plaster. Build an altar of stones there to the Lord your God-you must not use any iron tool on them. Use uncut stones to build the altar of the Lord your God and offer burnt offerings to the Lord your God on it.
He made a bronze altar 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high.
it happened that he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.
An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.
Easton
(Heb. mizbe'ah, from a word meaning "to slay"), any structure of earth (Ex 20:24) or unwrought stone (Ex 20:25) on which sacrifices were offered. Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places (Ge 22:9; Eze 6:3; 2Ki 23:12; 16:4; 23:8; Ac 14:13). The word is used in Heb 13:10 for the sacrifice offered upon it--the sacrifice Christ offered.
Paul found among the many altars erected in Athens one bearing the inscription, "To the unknown God" (Ac 17:23), or rather "to an [i.e., some] unknown God." The reason for this inscription cannot now be accurately determined. It afforded the apostle the occasion of proclaiming the gospel to the "men of Athens."
The first altar we read of is that erected by Noah (Ge 8:20). Altars were erected by Abraham (Ge 12:7; 13:4; 22:9), by Isaac (Ge 26:25), by Jacob (Ge 33:20; 35:1,3), and by Moses (Ex 17:15, "Jehovah-nissi").
In the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple, two altars were erected.
(1.) The altar of burnt offering (Ex 30:28), called also the "brasen altar" (Ex 39:39) and "the table of the Lord" (Mal 1:7).
This altar, as erected in the tabernacle, is described in Ex 27:1-8. It was a hollow square, 5 cubits in length and in breadth, and 3 cubits in height. It was made of shittim wood, and was overlaid with plates of brass. Its corners were ornamented with "horns" (Ex 29:12; Le 4:18).
In Ex 27:3 the various utensils appertaining to the altar are enumerated. They were made of brass. (Comp. 1Sa 2:13-14; Le 16:12; Nu 16:6-7.)
In Solomon's temple the altar was of larger dimensions (2Ch 4:1. Comp. 1Ki 8:22,64; 9:25), and was made wholly of brass, covering a structure of stone or earth. This altar was renewed by Asa (2Ch 15:8). It was removed by Ahaz (2Ki 16:14), and "cleansed" by Hezekiah, in the latter part of whose reign it was rebuilt. It was finally broken up and carried away by the Babylonians (Jer 52:17).
After the return from captivity it was re-erected (Ezr 3:3,6) on the same place where it had formerly stood. (Comp. 1 Macc. 4:47.) When Antiochus Epiphanes pillaged Jerusalem the altar of burnt offering was taken away.
Again the altar was erected by Herod, and remained in its place till the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans (70 A.D.).
The fire on the altar was not permitted to go out (Le 6:9).
In the Mosque of Omar, immediately underneath the great dome, which occupies the site of the old temple, there is a rough projection of the natural rock, of about 60 feet in its extreme length, and 50 in its greatest breadth, and in its highest part about 4 feet above the general pavement. This rock seems to have been left intact when Solomon's temple was built. It was in all probability the site of the altar of burnt offering. Underneath this rock is a cave, which may probably have been the granary of Araunah's threshing-floor (1Ch 21:22).
(2.) The altar of incense (Ex 30:1-10), called also "the golden altar" (Ex 39:38; Nu 4:11), stood in the holy place "before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony." On this altar sweet spices were continually burned with fire taken from the brazen altar. The morning and the evening services were commenced by the high priest offering incense on this altar. The burning of the incense was a type of prayer (Ps 141:2; Re 5:8; 8:3-4).
Illustration: Brazen and Golden Altars
This altar was a small movable table, made of acacia wood overlaid with gold (Ex 37:25-26). It was 1 cubit in length and breadth, and 2 cubits in height.
In Solomon's temple the altar was similar in size, but was made of cedar-wood (1Ki 6:20; 7:48) overlaid with gold. In Eze 41:22 it is called "the altar of wood." (Comp. Ex 30:1-6.)
In the temple built after the Exile the altar was restored. Antiochus Epiphanes took it away, but it was afterwards restored by Judas Maccabaeus (1 Macc. 1:23; 4:49). Among the trophies carried away by Titus on the destruction of Jerusalem the altar of incense is not found, nor is any mention made of it in Heb 9. It was at this altar Zacharias ministered when an angel appeared to him (Lu 1:11). It is the only altar which appears in the heavenly temple (Isa 6:6; Re 8:3-4).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
But the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your offspring." So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood.
When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood.
So he built an altar there, worshiped the Lord, and pitched his tent there. Isaac's slaves also dug a well there.
God said to Jacob, "Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to the God who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me everywhere I have gone."
And Moses built an altar and named it, "The Lord Is My Banner."
"You must make an earthen altar for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats, as well as your cattle. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered. If you make a stone altar for Me, you must not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it.
"You are to construct the altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, seven and a half feet long, and seven and a half feet wide; it must be four and a half feet high. Make horns for it on its four corners; the horns are to be of one piece. Overlay it with bronze. read more. Make its pots for removing ashes, and its shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans; make all its utensils of bronze.
Make its pots for removing ashes, and its shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans; make all its utensils of bronze. Construct a grate for it of bronze mesh, and make four bronze rings on the mesh at its four corners. read more. Set it below, under the altar's ledge, so that the mesh comes halfway up the altar. Then make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. The poles are to be inserted into the rings, so that the poles are on two sides of the altar when it is carried. Construct the altar with boards so that it is hollow. They are to make it just as it was shown to you on the mountain.
Take some of the bull's blood and apply [it] to the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out all the [rest] of the blood at the base of the altar.
"You are to make an altar for the burning of incense; make it of acacia wood. It must be square, 18 inches long and 18 inches wide; it must be 36 inches high. Its horns must be of one piece.
It must be square, 18 inches long and 18 inches wide; it must be 36 inches high. Its horns must be of one piece. Overlay its top, all around its sides, and its horns with pure gold; make a gold molding all around it.
Overlay its top, all around its sides, and its horns with pure gold; make a gold molding all around it. Make two gold rings for it under the molding on two of its sides; put these on opposite sides of it to be holders for the poles to carry it with.
Make two gold rings for it under the molding on two of its sides; put these on opposite sides of it to be holders for the poles to carry it with. Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.
Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. "You are to place the altar in front of the veil by the ark of the testimony-in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony-where I will meet with you.
"You are to place the altar in front of the veil by the ark of the testimony-in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony-where I will meet with you. Aaron must burn fragrant incense on it; he must burn it every morning when he tends the lamps. read more. When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn incense. There is to be an incense [offering] before the Lord throughout your generations. You must not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt or grain offering; you are not to pour a drink offering on it. "Once a year Aaron is to perform the purification rite on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he is to perform the purification rite for it once a year, with the blood of the sin offering for atonement. The altar is especially holy to the Lord."
the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand.
He made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, 18 inches long and 18 inches wide; it was 36 inches high. Its horns were of one piece. He overlaid it, its top, all around its sides, and its horns with pure gold. Then he made a gold molding all around it.
the gold altar; the anointing oil; the fragrant incense; the screen for the entrance to the tent; the bronze altar with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand;
He is to apply some of the blood to the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. He must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
"Command Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the burnt offering; the burnt offering itself must remain on the altar's hearth all night until morning, while the fire of the altar is kept burning on it.
Then he must take a firepan full of fiery coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and bring [them] inside the veil.
"They are to spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, cover it with a covering made of manatee skin, and insert its poles.
Korah, you and all your followers are to do this: take firepans, and tomorrow place fire in them and put incense on them before the Lord. Then the man the Lord chooses will be the one who is set apart. It is you Levites who have gone too far!"
or for the priests' share [of the sacrifices] from the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling and plunge it into the container or kettle or caldron or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh.
The interior of the sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high; he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the cedar altar.
Solomon also made all the equipment in the Lord's temple: the gold altar; the gold table that the bread of the Presence was placed on;
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.
On the same day, the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the Lord's temple because that was where he offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings since the bronze altar before the Lord was too small to accommodate the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings.
Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, and he burned incense with them in the Lord's presence. So he completed the temple.
He took the bronze altar that was before the Lord in front of the temple between [his] altar and the Lord's temple, and put it on the north side of [his] altar.
Then David said to Ornan, "Give me this threshing-floor plot so that I may build an altar to the Lord on it. Give it to me for the full price, so the plague on the people may be halted."
He made a bronze altar 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high.
When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of [Azariah son of] Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He renovated the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the Lord's [temple].
They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord even though they feared the surrounding peoples.
On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, even though the foundation of the Lord's temple had not [yet] been laid.
May my prayer be set before You as incense, the raising of my hands as the evening offering.
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs.
Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars for the Lord's temple and the water carts and the bronze reservoir that were in the Lord's temple, and carried all the bronze to Babylon.
You are to say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God ! This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.
The altar was made of wood, five and a quarter feet high and three and a half feet long. It had corners, and its length and sides were of wood. The man told me, "This is the table that stands before the Lord."
"By presenting defiled food on My altar." You ask: "How have we defiled You?" When you say: "The Lord's table is contemptible."
An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought oxen and garlands to the gates. He, with the crowds, intended to offer sacrifice.
For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.
We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.
When He took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Another angel, with a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne.
Another angel, with a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel's hand.
Fausets
The first of which we have mention was built by Noah after leaving the ark (Ge 8:20). The English (from the Latin) means an elevation or high place: not the site, but the erections on them which could be built or removed (1Ki 12:7; 2Ki 23:15). So the Greek bomos, and Hebrew bamath. But the proper Hebrew name mizbeach is "the sacrificing place;" Septuagint thusiasterion. Spots hallowed by divine revelations or appearances were originally the sites of altars (Ge 12:7; 13:18; 26:25; 35:1). Mostly for sacrificing; sometimes only as a memorial, as that named by Moses Jehovah Nissi, the pledge that Jehovah would war against Amalek to all generations (Ex 17:15-16), and that built by Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, "not for burnt offering, nor sacrifice, but as a witness" (Jos 22:26-27).
Altars were to be made only of earth or else unhewn stone, on which no iron tool was used, and without steps up to them (Ex 20:24-26). Steps toward the E. on the contrary are introduced in the temple yet future (Eze 43:17), marking its distinctness from any past temple. No pomp or ornament was allowed; all was to be plain and simple; for it was the meeting place between God and the sinner, and therefore a place of shedding of blood without which there is no remission (Le 17:11; Heb 9:22), a place of fellowship with God for us only through death. The mother dust of earth, or its stones in their native state as from the hand of God, were the suitable material. The art of sinful beings would mar, rather than aid, the consecration of the common meeting ground. The earth made for man's nourishment, but now the witness of his sin and drinker in of his forfeited life, was the most suitable (see Fairbairn, Typology). The altar was at "the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation" (Ex 40:29).
In the tabernacle the altar of burnt offering was made of shittim (acacia) boards overlaid with brass, terming a square of five cubits, or eight feet. three cubits high or five feet, the hollow within being probably filled with earth or stones. A ledge (Hebrew karkob) projected on the side for the priest to stand on, to which a slope of earth gradually led up on the S. side, and outside the ledge was a network of brass. At the grainers were four horn shaped projections. to which the victim was bound (Ps 118:27), and which were touched with blood in consecrating priests (Ex 29:12), and in the sin offering (Le 4:7). The horn symbolizes might. The culmination's of the altar, being hornlike, imply the mighty salvation and security which Jehovah engages to the believing worshippers approaching Him in His own appointed way. Hence it was the asylum or place of refuge (1Ki 1:50; Ex 21:14).
So the Antitype, Christ (Isa 27:5; 25:4). To grasp the altar horns in faith was to lay hold of Jehovah's strength. In Solomon's temple the altar square was entirely of brass, and was 20 cubits, or from 30 to 35 feet, and the height 10 cubits. In Mal 1:7,12, it is called "the table of the Lord." In Herod's temple the altar was 50 cubits long, and 50 broad, and 15 high; a pipe from the S.W. grainer conveyed away the blood to the brook Kedron. Except in emergencies (as Jg 6:24; 1Sa 7:9-10; 2Sa 24:18,25; 1Ki 8:64; 18:31-32) only the one altar was sanctioned (Le 17:8-9; De 12:13-14), to mark the unity and ubiquity of God, as contrasted with the many altars of the manifold idols and local deities of pagandom. Every true Israelite, wherever he might be, realized his share in the common daily sacrifices at the one altar in Zion, whence Jehovah ruled to the ends of the earth.
Christ is the antitype, the one altar or meeting place between God and man, the one only atonement for sinners, the one sacrifice, and the one priest (Ac 4:12; Heb 13:10). Christ's Godhead, on which He offered His manhood, "sanctifieth the gift" (Mt 23:19), and prevents the sacrifice being consumed by God's fiery judicial wrath against man's sin. To those Judaizers who object that Christians have no altar or sacrificial meats, Paul says, "we have" (the emphasis in Greek is on have; there is no we) emphatically, but it is a spiritual altar and sacrifice. So Heb 4:14-15; 8:1; 9:1; 10:1,19-21. The interpretation which makes "altar" the Lord's table is opposed to the scope of the Epistle to the Heb., which contrasts the outward sanctuary with the unseen spiritual sanctuary.
Romanisers fall under the condemnation of Ho 8:11. The Epistle to the Hebrew reasons, servile adherents to visible altar meats are excluded from our Christian spiritual altar and meats: "For He, the true Altar, from whom we derive spiritual meats, realized the sin offering type" (of which none of the meat was eaten, but all was burnt: Le 6:30) "by suffering without the gate: teaching that we must go forth after Him from the Jewish high priest's camp of legal ceremonialism and meats, which stood only until the gospel times of reformation" (Heb 9:10-11). The temple and holy city were the Jewish people's camp in their solemn feasts.
The brass utensils for the altar (Ex 27:3) were pans, to receive the ashes and fat; shovels, for removing the ashes; basins, for the blood; flesh hooks, with three prongs, to take flesh out of the cauldron (1Sa 2:13-14); firepans, or censers, for taking coals off the altar, or for burning incense (Le 16:12; Nu 16:6-7; Ex 25:38); the same Hebrew maktoth means snuff dishes, as "tongs" means snuffers for the candlesticks. Asa "renewed" the altar, i.e. reconsecrated it, after it had been polluted by idolatries (2Ch 20:8). (See AHAZ (see) removed it to the N. side of the new altar which Urijah the priest had made after the pattern which Ahaz had seen at Damascus (2Ki 16:14). Hezekiah had it "cleansed" (2Ch 29:12-18) of all the uncleanness brought into it in Ahaz' reign. Manasseh, on his repentance, repaired it (2Ch 33:16). Rabbis pretended it stood on the spot where man was created. In Zerubbabel's temple the altar was built before the temple foundations were laid (Ezr 3:2).
After its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes, Judas Maccabaeus built a new altar of unhewn stones. A perpetual fire kept on it symbolized the perpetuity of Jehovah's religion; for, sacrifice being the center of the Old Testament worship, to extinguish it would have been to extinguish the religion. The perpetual fire of the Persian religion was different, for this was not sacrificial, but a symbol of God, or of the notion that, fire was a primary element. The original fire of the tabernacle "came out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat" (Le 9:24). The rabbis say, It couched upon the altar like a lion, bright as the sun, the flame solid and pure, consuming things wet and dry alike, without smoke. The divine fire on the altar; the shekinah cloud, representing the divine habitation with them, which was given to the king and the high priest with the oil of unction; the spirit of prophecy; the Urim and Thummim whereby the high priest miraculously learned God's will; and the ark of the covenant, whence God gave His answers in a clear voice, were the five things of the old temple wanting in the second temple.
Heated stones (Hebrew) were laid upon the altar, by which the incense was kindled (Isa 6:6). The golden altar of incense (distinguished from the brazen altar of burnt offering), of acacia wood (in Solomon's temple cedar) underneath, two cubits high, one square. Once a year, on the great day of atonement, the high priest sprinkled upon its horns the blood of the sin offering (Ex 30:6-10; Le 16:18-19). Morning and evening incense was burnt on it with fire taken from the altar of burnt offering. It had a border round the top, and two golden rings at the sides for the staves to bear it with. It was "before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat;" between the candlestick and the shewbread table. In Heb 9:4, KJV, "censer," not "altar of incense," is right; for the latter was in the outer not the inner holy place.
The inner, or holiest, place "had the golden censer" belonging to its yearly atonement service, not kept in it. The altar of incense also was close by the second veil, directly before the ark (1Ki 6:22), "by (Hebrew b
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
But the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your offspring." So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
But the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your offspring." So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
So Abram moved his tent and went to live beside the oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord.
So Abram moved his tent and went to live beside the oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord.
So he built an altar there, worshiped the Lord, and pitched his tent there. Isaac's slaves also dug a well there.
So he built an altar there, worshiped the Lord, and pitched his tent there. Isaac's slaves also dug a well there.
God said to Jacob, "Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
God said to Jacob, "Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
And Moses built an altar and named it, "The Lord Is My Banner."
And Moses built an altar and named it, "The Lord Is My Banner." He said, "Indeed, [my] hand is [lifted up] toward the Lord's throne. The Lord will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation."
He said, "Indeed, [my] hand is [lifted up] toward the Lord's throne. The Lord will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation."
"You must make an earthen altar for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats, as well as your cattle. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered.
"You must make an earthen altar for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats, as well as your cattle. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered. If you make a stone altar for Me, you must not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it.
If you make a stone altar for Me, you must not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it. You must not go up to My altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.
You must not go up to My altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.
If a person willfully acts against his neighbor to murder him by scheming, you must take him from My altar to be put to death.
If a person willfully acts against his neighbor to murder him by scheming, you must take him from My altar to be put to death.
Make its pots for removing ashes, and its shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans; make all its utensils of bronze.
Make its pots for removing ashes, and its shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans; make all its utensils of bronze.
Take some of the bull's blood and apply [it] to the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out all the [rest] of the blood at the base of the altar.
Take some of the bull's blood and apply [it] to the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out all the [rest] of the blood at the base of the altar.
"You are to place the altar in front of the veil by the ark of the testimony-in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony-where I will meet with you.
"You are to place the altar in front of the veil by the ark of the testimony-in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony-where I will meet with you. Aaron must burn fragrant incense on it; he must burn it every morning when he tends the lamps.
Aaron must burn fragrant incense on it; he must burn it every morning when he tends the lamps. When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn incense. There is to be an incense [offering] before the Lord throughout your generations.
When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn incense. There is to be an incense [offering] before the Lord throughout your generations. You must not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt or grain offering; you are not to pour a drink offering on it.
You must not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt or grain offering; you are not to pour a drink offering on it. "Once a year Aaron is to perform the purification rite on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he is to perform the purification rite for it once a year, with the blood of the sin offering for atonement. The altar is especially holy to the Lord."
"Once a year Aaron is to perform the purification rite on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he is to perform the purification rite for it once a year, with the blood of the sin offering for atonement. The altar is especially holy to the Lord."
Then he placed the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered the burnt offering and the grain offering on it, just as the Lord had commanded him.
Then he placed the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered the burnt offering and the grain offering on it, just as the Lord had commanded him.
The priest must apply some of the blood to the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. He must pour out the rest of the bull's blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
The priest must apply some of the blood to the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. He must pour out the rest of the bull's blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
But no sin offering may be eaten if its blood has been brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place; it must be burned up.
But no sin offering may be eaten if its blood has been brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place; it must be burned up.
Fire came out from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell facedown [on the ground].
Fire came out from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell facedown [on the ground].
Then he must take a firepan full of fiery coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and bring [them] inside the veil.
Then he must take a firepan full of fiery coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and bring [them] inside the veil.
Then he will go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull's blood and some of the goat's blood and put [it] on the horns on all sides of the altar.
Then he will go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull's blood and some of the goat's blood and put [it] on the horns on all sides of the altar. He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse and set it apart from the Israelites' impurities.
He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse and set it apart from the Israelites' impurities.
"Say to them: Anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who live among them who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice
"Say to them: Anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who live among them who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice but does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord, that person must be cut off from his people.
but does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord, that person must be cut off from his people.
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.
Korah, you and all your followers are to do this: take firepans, and tomorrow place fire in them and put incense on them before the Lord. Then the man the Lord chooses will be the one who is set apart. It is you Levites who have gone too far!"
place fire in them and put incense on them before the Lord. Then the man the Lord chooses will be the one who is set apart. It is you Levites who have gone too far!"
Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in all the [sacred] places you see.
Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in all the [sacred] places you see. You must offer your burnt offerings only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you.
You must offer your burnt offerings only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you.
"Therefore we said: Let us take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offering or sacrifice.
"Therefore we said: Let us take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offering or sacrifice. Instead, it is to be a witness between us and you, and between the generations after us, so that we may carry out the worship of the Lord in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings. Then in the future, your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, 'You have no share in the Lord!'
Instead, it is to be a witness between us and you, and between the generations after us, so that we may carry out the worship of the Lord in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings. Then in the future, your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, 'You have no share in the Lord!'
So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it Yahweh Shalom. It is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites until today.
So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it Yahweh Shalom. It is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites until today.
or for the priests' share [of the sacrifices] from the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling
or for the priests' share [of the sacrifices] from the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling and plunge it into the container or kettle or caldron or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh.
and plunge it into the container or kettle or caldron or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh.
Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, so he got up and went to take hold of the horns of the altar.
Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, so he got up and went to take hold of the horns of the altar.
So he added the gold overlay to the entire temple until everything was completely finished, including the entire altar that belongs in the inner sanctuary.
So he added the gold overlay to the entire temple until everything was completely finished, including the entire altar that belongs in the inner sanctuary.
They replied, "Today if you will be a servant to these people and serve them, and if you respond to them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever."
They replied, "Today if you will be a servant to these people and serve them, and if you respond to them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever."
He took the bronze altar that was before the Lord in front of the temple between [his] altar and the Lord's temple, and put it on the north side of [his] altar.
He took the bronze altar that was before the Lord in front of the temple between [his] altar and the Lord's temple, and put it on the north side of [his] altar.
They have lived in the land and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name and have said,
They have lived in the land and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name and have said,
Then the Levites stood up: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohathites; Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah from the Gershonites;
Then the Levites stood up: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohathites; Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah from the Gershonites; Shimri and Jeuel from the Elizaphanites; Zechariah and Mattaniah from the Asaphites;
Shimri and Jeuel from the Elizaphanites; Zechariah and Mattaniah from the Asaphites; Jehiel and Shimei from the Hemanites; Shemaiah and Uzziel from the Jeduthunites.
Jehiel and Shimei from the Hemanites; Shemaiah and Uzziel from the Jeduthunites. They gathered their brothers together, consecrated themselves, and went according to the king's command by the words of the Lord to cleanse the Lord's temple.
They gathered their brothers together, consecrated themselves, and went according to the king's command by the words of the Lord to cleanse the Lord's temple. The priests went to the entrance of the Lord's temple to cleanse it. They took all the detestable things they found in the Lord's sanctuary to the courtyard of the Lord's temple. Then the Levites received them and took them outside to the Kidron Valley.
The priests went to the entrance of the Lord's temple to cleanse it. They took all the detestable things they found in the Lord's sanctuary to the courtyard of the Lord's temple. Then the Levites received them and took them outside to the Kidron Valley. They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord's [temple]. They consecrated the Lord's temple for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord's [temple]. They consecrated the Lord's temple for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said, "We have cleansed the whole temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the rows [of the bread of the Presence] and all its utensils.
Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said, "We have cleansed the whole temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the rows [of the bread of the Presence] and all its utensils.
He built the altar of the Lord and offered fellowship and thank offerings on it. Then he told Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.
He built the altar of the Lord and offered fellowship and thank offerings on it. Then he told Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.
Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel's God in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel's God in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
The Lord is God and has given us light. Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
The Lord is God and has given us light. Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
May my prayer be set before You as incense, the raising of my hands as the evening offering.
May my prayer be set before You as incense, the raising of my hands as the evening offering.
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs.
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs.
For You have been a stronghold for the poor, a stronghold for the humble person in his distress, a refuge from the rain, a shade from the heat. When the breath of the violent is like rain [against] a wall,
For You have been a stronghold for the poor, a stronghold for the humble person in his distress, a refuge from the rain, a shade from the heat. When the breath of the violent is like rain [against] a wall,
Or let it take hold of My strength; let it make peace with Me- make peace with Me.
Or let it take hold of My strength; let it make peace with Me- make peace with Me.
The altar hearth is seven feet [high], and four horns project upward from the hearth.
The altar hearth is seven feet [high], and four horns project upward from the hearth.
The ledge is 24 and a half feet long by 24 and a half feet wide, with four equal sides. The rim all around it is 10 and a half inches, and its gutter is 21 inches all around it. The altar's steps face east."
The ledge is 24 and a half feet long by 24 and a half feet wide, with four equal sides. The rim all around it is 10 and a half inches, and its gutter is 21 inches all around it. The altar's steps face east."
When Ephraim multiplied his altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.
When Ephraim multiplied his altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.
"By presenting defiled food on My altar." You ask: "How have we defiled You?" When you say: "The Lord's table is contemptible."
"By presenting defiled food on My altar." You ask: "How have we defiled You?" When you say: "The Lord's table is contemptible."
But you are profaning itwhen you say: "The Lord's table is defiled, and its product, its food, is contemptible."
But you are profaning itwhen you say: "The Lord's table is defiled, and its product, its food, is contemptible."
Blind people! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
Blind people! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved."
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved."
Then Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect.
Then Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect.
Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens-Jesus the Son of God-let us hold fast to the confession.
Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens-Jesus the Son of God-let us hold fast to the confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.
Now the main point of what is being said is this: we have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
Now the main point of what is being said is this: we have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
Now the first [covenant] also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary.
Now the first [covenant] also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary.
It contained the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which there was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
It contained the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which there was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
They are physical regulations and only deal with food, drink, and various washings imposed until the time of restoration.
They are physical regulations and only deal with food, drink, and various washings imposed until the time of restoration. Now the Messiah has appeared, high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation),
Now the Messiah has appeared, high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation),
According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Since the law has [only] a shadow of the good things to come, and not the actual form of those realities, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year.
Since the law has [only] a shadow of the good things to come, and not the actual form of those realities, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year.
Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus,
Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He has inaugurated for us, through the curtain (that is, His flesh);
by the new and living way that He has inaugurated for us, through the curtain (that is, His flesh); and since we have a great high priest over the house of God,
Don't be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by foods, since those involved in them have not benefited.
Don't be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by foods, since those involved in them have not benefited. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.
We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.
We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.
We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.
Therefore, through Him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His name.
Therefore, through Him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His name. Don't neglect to do good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.
Don't neglect to do good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of God's word and the testimony they had.
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of God's word and the testimony they had.
Another angel, with a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne.
Another angel, with a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel's hand.
Hastings
1. The original purpose of an altar was to serve as a means by which the blood of an animal offered in sacrifice might be brought into contact with, or otherwise transferred to, the deity of the worshipper. For this purpose in the earliest period a single stone sufficed. Either the blood was poured over this stone, which was regarded as the temporary abode of the deity, or the stone was anointed with part, and the rest poured out at its base. The introduction of fire to consume the flesh in whole or in part belongs to a later stage in the history of sacrifice (wh. see). But even when this stage had long been reached, necessity might compel a temporary reversion to the earlier modus operandi, as we learn from Saul's procedure in 1Sa 14:33 f. From the altar of a single 'great stone' (1Sa 6:14) the transition was easy to an altar built of unhewn stones (Ex 20:25; De 27:5 f. RV), which continued to he the normal type of Hebrew altar to the end (see 1Ma 4:41; Josephus BJ V. v. 6).
2. Another type of pre-historic altar, to which much less attention has been paid, had its origin in the primitive conception of sacrifice as the food of the gods. As such it was appropriately presented on a table. Now the nearest analogy to the disc of leather spread on the ground, which was and is the table of the Semitic nomad, was the smooth face of the native rock, such as that on which Manoah spread his offering (Jg 13:19 f., cf. Jg 6:20 f.). The well-known rock-surfaces, in Palestine and elsewhere, with their mysterious cup-marks
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"You must make an earthen altar for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats, as well as your cattle. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered.
"You must make an earthen altar for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats, as well as your cattle. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered. If you make a stone altar for Me, you must not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it. read more. You must not go up to My altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.
But if he didn't intend any harm, and yet God caused it to happen by his hand, I will appoint a place for you where he may flee.
Make them linen undergarments to cover [their] naked bodies; they must extend from the waist to the thighs.
Take some of the bull's blood and apply [it] to the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out all the [rest] of the blood at the base of the altar.
The priest must apply some of the blood to the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. He must pour out the rest of the bull's blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
"Be careful to follow these statutes and ordinances in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days you live on the earth.
Build an altar of stones there to the Lord your God-you must not use any iron tool on them.
The Angel of God said to him, "Take the meat with the unleavened bread, put it on this stone, and pour the broth [on it]." And he did so.
Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord, and He did a wonderful thing while Manoah and his wife were watching.
The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.
Some reported to Saul: "Look, the troops are sinning against the Lord by eating [meat] with the blood [still in it.]" Saul said, "You have been unfaithful. Roll a large stone over here at once."
Gad came to David that day and said to him, "Go up and set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."
It was reported to Solomon: "Look, Adonijah fears King Solomon, and he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, 'Let King Solomon first swear to me that he will not kill his servant with the sword.' "
The news reached Joab. Since he had supported Adonijah but not Absalom, Joab fled to the Lord's tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar.
The interior of the sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high; he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the cedar altar.
Solomon also made all the equipment in the Lord's temple: the gold altar; the gold table that the bread of the Presence was placed on;
King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. When he saw the altar that was in Damascus, King Ahaz sent a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction to Uriah the priest.
Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the high places in the cities of Judah and in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, moon, constellations, and the whole heavenly host.
The king tore down the altars that were on the roof-Ahaz's upper chamber that the kings of Judah had made-and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the Lord's temple. Then he smashed them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.
The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will become impure like that place Topheth-all the houses on whose rooftops they have burned incense to the whole heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods."
Morish
A structure on which to offer sacrifices to God: imitated by the heathen in honour of their false gods. The first altar we read of was built by Noah on leaving the ark, on which he offered burnt offerings of every clean beast and clean fowl. Ge 8:20. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob also built altars to the Lord: these would have been constructed of stone or earth, but it is remarkable that we seldom read of their offering sacrifices on them. At times it is simply said they built an altar unto the Lord and at other times they built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord. The altars appear to have been erected as places of drawing near to God, of which sacrifice was the basis.
Moses was told that in all places where God recorded His name they should build an altar of wood or of stone and offer thereon sheep and oxen for burnt offerings and peace offerings; but such altars if made of stone were not to be made of hewn stone; for had they lifted up a tool upon it, it would have been defiled. Ex 20:25-26. There must be nothing of man's handiwork in approaching to God: a principle, alas, grossly violated in the professing church of God! It is added, "neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon." Man's contrivance is here forbidden, for in divine things anything of his only manifests the utter shamelessness of that which springs from fallen nature: cf. Col 2:20-23. When the tabernacle was made, minute instructions were given to Moses, and he was to make everything as had been shown him in the mount.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
If you make a stone altar for Me, you must not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it. You must not go up to My altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.
If you died with Christ to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: "Don't handle, don't taste, don't touch"? read more. All these [regulations] refer to what is destroyed by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. Although these have a reputation of wisdom by promoting ascetic practices, humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value against fleshly indulgence.
Smith
Altar.
The first altar of which we have any account is that built by Noah when he left the ark.
In the early times altars were usually built in certain spots hallowed by religious associations, e.g., where God appeared.
Ge 12:7; 18/type/hcsb'>13:18,18; 35:1
Though generally erected for the offering of sacrifice, in some instances they appear to have been only memorials.
Altars were most probably originally made of earth. The law of Moses allowed them to be made of either earth or unhewn stones.
I. The Altar of Burnt Offering. It differed in construction at different times. (1) In the tabernacle,
ff.; Exod 38:1 ff., it was comparatively small and portable. In shape it was square. It as five cubits in length, the same in breadth, and three cubits high. It was made of planks of shittim (or acacia) wood overlaid with brass. The interior was hollow.
At the four corners were four projections called horns made, like the altar itself, of shittim wood overlaid with brass,
and to them the victim was bound when about to be sacrificed.
Round the altar, midway between the top and bottom, ran a projecting ledge, on which perhaps the priest stood when officiating. To the outer edge of this, again, a grating or network of brass was affixed, and reached to the bottom of the altar. At the four corners of the network were four brazen rings, into which were inserted the staves by which the altar was carried. These staves were of the same material as the altar itself. As the priests were forbidden to ascend the altar by steps,
it has been conjectured that a slope of earth led gradually up to the ledge from which they officiated. The place of the altar was at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.)"
(2) In Solomon's temple the altar was considerably larger in its dimensions. It differed too in the material of which it was made, being entirely of brass.
It had no grating, and instead of a single gradual slope, the ascent to it was probably made by three successive platforms, to each of which it has been supposed that steps led. The altar erected by Herod in front of the temple was 15 cubits in height and 50 cubits in length and breadth. According to
a perpetual fire was to be kept burning on the altar. II. The Altar of Incense, called also the golden altar to distinguish it from the altar of burnt offering which was called the brazen altar.
(a) That in the tabernacle was made of acacia wood, overlaid with pure gold. In shape it was square, being a cubit in length and breadth and two cubits in height. Like the altar of burnt offering it had horns at the four corners, which were of one piece with the rest of the altar. This altar stood in the holy place, "before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony."
(b) The altar of Solomon's temple was similar,
but was made of cedar overlaid with gold. III. Other Altars. In
reference is made to an alter to an unknown God. There were several altars in Athens with this inscription, erected during the time of a plague. Since they knew not what god was offended and required to be propitiated.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
But the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your offspring." So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
But the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your offspring." So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
So Abram moved his tent and went to live beside the oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord.
So Abram moved his tent and went to live beside the oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord.
God said to Jacob, "Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
And Moses built an altar and named it, "The Lord Is My Banner." He said, "Indeed, [my] hand is [lifted up] toward the Lord's throne. The Lord will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation."
"You must make an earthen altar for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats, as well as your cattle. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered. If you make a stone altar for Me, you must not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it. read more. You must not go up to My altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.
"You are to construct the altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, seven and a half feet long, and seven and a half feet wide; it must be four and a half feet high. Make horns for it on its four corners; the horns are to be of one piece. Overlay it with bronze.
Construct the altar with boards so that it is hollow. They are to make it just as it was shown to you on the mountain.
"You are to place the altar in front of the veil by the ark of the testimony-in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony-where I will meet with you.
He made with it the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and its bronze grate, all the utensils for the altar,
Place the gold altar for incense in front of the ark of the testimony. Put up the screen for the entrance to the tabernacle.
Then he placed the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered the burnt offering and the grain offering on it, just as the Lord had commanded him.
Solomon also made all the equipment in the Lord's temple: the gold altar; the gold table that the bread of the Presence was placed on;
On the same day, the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the Lord's temple because that was where he offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings since the bronze altar before the Lord was too small to accommodate the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings.
The Lord is God and has given us light. Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
Watsons
ALTAR. Sacrifices are nearly as ancient as worship, and altars are of almost equal antiquity. Scripture speaks of altars, erected by the patriarchs, without describing their form, or the materials of which they were composed. The altar which Jacob set up at Bethel, was the stone which had served him for a pillow; Gideon sacrificed on the rock before his house. The first altars which God commanded Moses to raise, were of earth or rough stones; and it was declared that if iron were used in constructing them they would become impure, Ex 20:24-25. The altar which Moses enjoined Joshua to build on Mount Ebal, was to be of unpolished stones, De 27:5; Jos 8:31; and it is very probable that such were those built by Samuel, Saul, and David. The altar which Solomon erected in the temple was of brass, but filled, it is believed, with rough stones, 2Ch 4:1-3. It was twenty cubits long, twenty wide, and ten high. That built at Jerusalem, by Zerubbabel, after the return from Babylon, was of rough stones; as was that of Maccabees. Josephus says that the altar which in his time was in the temple was of rough stones, fifteen cubits high, forty long, and forty wide.
Among the Romans altars were of two kinds, the higher and the lower; the higher were intended for the celestial gods, and were called altaria, from altus; the lower were for the terrestrial and infernal gods, and were called arae. Those dedicated to the heavenly gods were raised a great height above the surface of the earth; those of the terrestrial gods were almost even with the surface; and those for the infernal deities were only holes dug in the ground called scrobiculi.
Before temples were in use the altars were placed in the groves, highways, or on tops of mountains, inscribed with the names, ensigns, or characters of the respective gods to whom they belonged. The great temples at Rome generally contained three altars; the first in the sanctuary, at the foot of the statue, for incense and libations; the second before the gate of the temple, for the sacrifices of victims; and the third was a portable one for the offerings and sacred vestments or vessels to lie upon. The ancients used to swear upon the altars upon solemn occasions, such as confirming alliances, treaties of peace, &c. They were also places of refuge, and served as an asylum and sanctuary to all who fled to them, whatever their crimes were.
The principal altars among the Jews were those of incense, of burnt- offering, and the altar or table for the shew bread. The altar of incense was a small table of shittim wood covered with plates of gold. It was a cubit long, a cubit broad, and two cubits high. At the four corners were four horns. The priest, whose turn it was to officiate, burnt incense on this altar, at the time of the morning sacrifice between the sprinkling of the blood and the laying of the pieces of the victim on the altar of burnt-offering. He did the same also in the evening, between the laying of the pieces on the altar and the drink-offering. At the same time the people prayed in silence, and their prayers were offered up by the priests. The altar of burnt-offering was of shittim wood also, and carried upon the shoulders of the priests, by staves of the same wood overlaid with brass. In Moses's days it was five cubits square, and three high: but it was greatly enlarged in the days of Solomon, being twenty cubits square, and ten in height. It was covered with brass, and had a horn at each corner to which the sacrifice was tied. This altar was placed in the open air, that the smoke might not sully the inside of the tabernacle or temple. On this altar the holy fire was renewed from time to time, and kept constantly burning. Hereon, likewise, the sacrifices of lambs and bullocks were burnt, especially a lamb every morning at the third hour, or nine of the clock, and a lamb every afternoon at three, 4/type/hcsb'>Ex 20:24-25; 27:1-2,4; 38:1. The altar of burnt-offering had the privilege of being a sanctuary or place of refuge. The wilful murderer, indeed, sought protection there in vain; for by the express command of God he might be dragged to justice, even from the altar. The altar or table of shew bread was of shittim wood also, covered with plates of gold, and had a border round it adorned with sculpture. It was two cubits long, one wide, and one and a half in height. This table stood in the sanctum sanctorum, [holy of holies,] and upon it were placed the loaves of shew bread. After the return of the Jews from their captivity, and the building of the second temple, the form and size of the altars were somewhat changed.
Sacrifices according to the laws of Moses, could not be offered except by the priests; and at any other place than on the altar of the tabernacle or the temple. Furthermore, they were not to be offered to idols, nor with any superstitious rites. See Le 17:1-7; De 12:15-16. Without these precautionary measures, the true religion would hardly have been secure. If a different arrangement had been adopted, if the priests had been scattered about to various altars, without being subjected to the salutary restraint which would result from a mutual observation of each other, they would no doubt some of them have willingly consented to the worship of idols; and others, in their separate situation, would not have been in a condition to resist the wishes of the multitude, had those wishes been wrong. The necessity of sacrificing at one altar, (that of the tabernacle or temple,) is frequently and emphatically insisted on, De 12:13-14; and all other altars are disapproved, Le 26:30, compare Jos 22:9-34. Notwithstanding this, it appears that, subsequently to the time of Moses, especially in the days of the kings, altars were multiplied; but they fell under suspicions, although some of them were perhaps sacred to the worship of the true God. It is, nevertheless, true, that prophets, whose characters were above all suspicion, sacrificed, in some instances, in other places than the one designated by the laws, 1Sa 13:3-14; 16:1-5; 1Ki 18:21-40.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"You must make an earthen altar for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats, as well as your cattle. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered.
"You must make an earthen altar for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats, as well as your cattle. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered. If you make a stone altar for Me, you must not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it.
If you make a stone altar for Me, you must not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it.
"You are to construct the altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, seven and a half feet long, and seven and a half feet wide; it must be four and a half feet high. Make horns for it on its four corners; the horns are to be of one piece. Overlay it with bronze.
Construct a grate for it of bronze mesh, and make four bronze rings on the mesh at its four corners.
Bezalel constructed the altar of burnt offering from acacia wood. It was square, seven and a half feet long and seven and a half feet wide, and was four and a half feet high.
The Lord spoke to Moses: "Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: This is what the Lord has commanded: read more. Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, sheep, or goat in the camp, or slaughters [it] outside the camp, instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present [it] as an offering to the Lord before His tabernacle-that person will be charged with murder. He has shed blood and must be cut off from his people. This is so the Israelites will bring to the Lord the sacrifices they have been offering in the open country. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting and offer them as fellowship sacrifices to the Lord. The priest will then sprinkle the blood on the Lord's altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat-demons that they have prostituted themselves with. This will be a permanent statute for them throughout their generations.
I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your dead bodies on the lifeless bodies of your idols; I will reject you.
Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in all the [sacred] places you see. You must offer your burnt offerings only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you. read more. "But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you. Those who are clean or unclean may eat it, as they would a gazelle or deer, but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
Build an altar of stones there to the Lord your God-you must not use any iron tool on them.
just as Moses the Lord's servant 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 which no iron tool has been used. Then they offered burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings on it.
The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to go to their own land of Gilead, which they took possession of according to the Lord's command through Moses. When they came to the region of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh built a large, impressive altar there by the Jordan. read more. Then the Israelites heard [it] said, "Look, the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan at the region of the Jordan, on the Israelite side." When the Israelites heard [this], the entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh to go to war against them. The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead. [They sent] 10 leaders with him-one family leader for each tribe of Israel. All of them were heads of their families among the clans of Israel. They went to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and told them, "This is what the Lord's entire community says: 'What is this treachery you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the Lord and building an altar for yourselves, so that you are in rebellion against the Lord today? Wasn't the sin of Peor, which brought a plague on the Lord's community, enough for us, so that we have not cleansed ourselves from it even to this day, and now, you would turn away from the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow He will be angry with the entire community of Israel. But if the land you possess is defiled, cross over to the land the Lord possesses where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and take possession [of it] among us. But don't rebel against the Lord or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. Wasn't Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath on the entire community of Israel? He was not the only one who perished because of his sin.' " The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders of the Israelite clans, "The Lord is the God of gods! The Lord is the God of gods! He knows, and may Israel also know. Do not spare us today, if [it was] in rebellion or treachery against the Lord that we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from Him. May the Lord Himself hold us accountable if [we intended] to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it. We actually did this from a specific concern that in the future your descendants might say to our descendants, 'What relationship do you have with the Lord, the God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you descendants of Reuben and Gad. You have no share in the Lord!' So your descendants may cause our descendants to stop fearing the Lord. "Therefore we said: Let us take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offering or sacrifice. Instead, it is to be a witness between us and you, and between the generations after us, so that we may carry out the worship of the Lord in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings. Then in the future, your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, 'You have no share in the Lord!' We thought that if they said this to us or to our generations in the future, we would reply: Look at the replica of the Lord's altar that our fathers made, not for burnt offering or sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you. We would never rebel against the Lord or turn away from Him today by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God, which is in front of His tabernacle." When Phinehas the priest and the community leaders, the heads of Israel's clans who were with him, heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, "Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against Him. As a result, you have delivered the Israelites from the Lord's power." Then Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders returned from the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead to the Israelites in the land of Canaan and brought back a report to them. The Israelites were pleased with the report, and they praised God. They spoke no more about going to war against them to ravage the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived. So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar: It is a witness between us that the Lord is God.
Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul blew the ram's horn throughout the land saying, "Let the Hebrews hear!" And all Israel heard the news, "Saul has attacked the Philistine garrison, and Israel is now repulsive to the Philistines." Then the troops were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal. read more. The Philistines also gathered to fight against Israel: 3,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven. The men of Israel saw that they were in trouble because the troops were in a difficult situation. They hid in caves, thickets, among rocks, and in holes and cisterns. Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul, however, was still at Gilgal, and all his troops were gripped with fear. He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn't come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him. So Saul said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." Then he offered the burnt offering. Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. So Saul went out to greet him, and Samuel asked, "What have you done?" Saul answered, "When I saw that the troops were deserting me and you didn't come within the appointed days and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, I thought: The Philistines will now descend on me at Gilgal, and I haven't sought the Lord's favor. So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering." Samuel said to Saul, "You have been foolish. You have not kept the command which the Lord your God gave you. It was at this time that the Lord would have permanently established your reign over Israel, but now your reign will not endure. The Lord has found a man loyal to Him,and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not done what the Lord commanded."
The Lord said to Samuel, "How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected a king from his sons." Samuel asked, "How can I go? Saul will hear [about it] and kill me!" The Lord answered, "Take a young cow with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' read more. Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will let you know what you are to do. You are to anoint for Me the one I indicate to you." Samuel did what the Lord directed and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, "Do you come in peace?" "In peace," he replied. "I've come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
He made a bronze altar 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high. Then he made the cast [metal] reservoir, 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was seven and a half feet high, and 45 feet in circumference. read more. The likeness of oxen was below it, completely encircling it, 10 every half yard, completely surrounding the reservoir. The oxen were cast in two rows when the reservoir was cast.