^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.

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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, ).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Public Domain