^27:1“You are to make the¹ altar of acacia wood, seven feet six inches long,² and seven feet six inches wide; the altar is to be square,³ and its height is to be⁴ four feet six inches. ^27:2You are to make its four horns⁵ on its four corners; its horns will be part of it,⁶ and you are to overlay it with bronze. ^27:3You are to make its pots for the ashes,⁷ its shovels, its tossing bowls,⁸ its meat hooks, and its fire pans—you are to make all⁹ its utensils of bronze. ^27:4You are to make a grating¹⁰ for it, a network of bronze, and you are to make on the network four bronze rings on its four corners. ^27:5You are to put it under the ledge of the altar below, so that the network will come¹¹ halfway up the altar.¹²

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Footnotes

1 The article on this word identifies this as the altar, meaning the main high altar on which the sacrifices would be made.
2 The dimensions are five cubits by five cubits by three cubits high.
3 Heb “four”; this refers to four sides. S. R. Driver says this is an archaism that means there were four equal sides (Exodus, ).
4 Heb “and three cubits its height.”
5 The horns of the altar were indispensable—they were the most sacred part. Blood was put on them; fugitives could cling to them, and the priests would grab the horns of the little altar when making intercessory prayer. They signified power, as horns on an animal did in the wild (and so the word was used for kings as well). The horns may also represent the sacrificial animals killed on the altar.
6 The text, as before, uses the prepositional phrase “from it” or “part of it” to say that the horns will be part of the altar—of the same piece as the altar. They were not to be made separately and then attached, but made at the end of the boards used to build the altar (U. Cassuto, Exodus, ).
7 The word is literally “its fat,” but sometimes it describes “fatty ashes” ( “the greasy ashes”). The fat would run down and mix with the ashes, and this had to be collected and removed.
8 This was the larger bowl used in tossing the blood at the side of the altar.
9 The text has “to all its vessels.” This is the lamed (ל) of inclusion according to Gesenius, meaning “all its utensils” ( §143.e).
10 The noun מִכְבָּר (mikhbar) means “a grating”; it is related to the word that means a “sieve.” This formed a vertical support for the ledge, resting on the ground and supporting its outer edge (S. R. Driver, Exodus, ).
11 The verb is the verb “to be,” here the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. It is “and it will be” or “that it may be,” or here “that it may come” halfway up.
12 Heb “to the half of the altar.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze. You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net extends halfway down the altar.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide. Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar are of one piece, and overlay the altar with bronze. Make all its utensils of bronze—its pots to remove the ashes, and its shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. Make a grating for it, a bronze network, and make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the network. Put it under the ledge of the altar so that it is halfway up the altar.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“You are to construct the altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, 7½ feet long, and 7½ feet wide; it must be 4½ feet high. Make horns for it on its four corners; the horns are to be of one piece. Overlay it with 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. Set it below, under the altar’s ledge, so that the mesh comes halfway up the altar.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Using acacia wood, construct a square altar 7½ feet wide, 7½ feet long, and 4½ feet high. Make horns for each of its four corners so that the horns and altar are all one piece. Overlay the altar with bronze. Make ash buckets, shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans, all of bronze. Make a bronze grating for it, and attach four bronze rings at its four corners. Install the grating halfway down the side of the altar, under the ledge.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“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, 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 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.

KJV 1900King James Version

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. And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass. And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass. And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof. And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.

Public Domain