Exodus 27:1-8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 27
The Altar for Burnt Offerings. 1 You shall make an altar(A) of acacia wood, on a square, five cubits long and five cubits wide; it shall be three cubits high. 2 At the four corners make horns[a] that are of one piece with the altar. You shall then plate it with bronze. 3 Make pots for removing the ashes, as well as shovels, basins, forks, and fire pans; all these utensils you shall make of bronze. 4 Make for it a grating,[b] a bronze network; make four bronze rings for it, one at each of its four corners. 5 Put it down around the altar, on the ground. This network is to be half as high as the altar. 6 You shall also make poles of acacia wood for the altar, and plate them with bronze. 7 These poles are to be put through the rings, so that they are on either side of the altar when it is carried. 8 Make the altar itself in the form of a hollow[c] box. Just as it was shown you on the mountain, so it is to be made.
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- 27:2 Horns: the horn of a ram, goat or ox is a common Old Testament figure for strength and dignity; they represent the divine character of the altar itself or the deity worshiped there.
- 27:4 Grating: it is not clear whether this was flush with the altar or at some small distance from it; in the latter case the space between the altar and the grating would be filled with stones and serve as a platform around the altar, which would otherwise be too high for the priest to reach conveniently.
- 27:8 Hollow: probably filled with earth or stones when in use. Cf. 20:24–25.
2 Chronicles 1:5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
5 the bronze altar made by Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, he put in front of the tabernacle of the Lord.[a] There Solomon and the assembly sought out the Lord,(A)
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- 1:5 The bronze altar…the tabernacle of the Lord: by this notice, the Chronicler justifies Solomon’s worship at the high place of Gibeon. He pictures the tabernacle, i.e., the Mosaic meeting tent, and the bronze altar made at Moses’ command (Ex 31:1–9) as remaining at Gibeon after David had installed the ark of the covenant in another tent in Jerusalem (1 Chr 15:1, 25; 16:1). Bezalel’s altar was made of acacia wood plated with bronze (Ex 27:1–2). Later, Solomon made an all-bronze altar for the Temple in Jerusalem (2 Chr 4:1).
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