The Altar of Burnt Offering

27 “You(A) are to construct the altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, 7½ feet long, and 7½ feet wide;[a] it must be 4½ feet high.[b] Make horns for it on its four corners; the horns are to be of one piece.[c] Overlay it with bronze.(B) 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. Set it below, under the altar’s ledge,[d] so that the mesh comes halfway up[e] 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.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 27:1 Lit five cubits in length and five cubits in width
  2. Exodus 27:1 Lit wide; and its height three cubits
  3. Exodus 27:2 Lit piece with it
  4. Exodus 27:5 Perhaps a ledge around the altar on which the priests could stand; Lv 9:22
  5. Exodus 27:5 Or altar’s rim, so that the grid comes halfway down

Instructions for Making the Bronze Altar

27 “And you will make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar will be square, and its height will be three cubits. And you will make its horns on its four corners; its horns will be of one piece with it,[a] and you will overlay it with bronze. And you will make its pots for removing its fat-soaked ashes and its shovels and its sprinkling bowls and its forks[b] and its fire pans; you will make all its equipment with bronze. And you will make for it a grating, a work of bronze network, and you will make on the network four bronze rings on its four ends. And you will put it under the ledge of the altar, below, and the network will be up to the middle of the altar. And you will make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and you will overlay them with bronze. And the poles will be put into the rings, and the poles will be on the two sides of the altar when carrying it. You will make it hollow with boards. As it was shown you on the mountain, so they will do.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 27:2 Literally “from it”
  2. Exodus 27:3 1 Samuel 2:13 mentions a fork with “three teeth” used by priests