Genesis 8:20

8:20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ¹ 

Genesis 12:7

12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants ²  I will give this land.” So Abram ³  built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 13:18

13:18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live ⁴  by the oaks ⁵  of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.

Genesis 22:9

22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there ⁶  and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up ⁷  his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.

Genesis 33:20

33:20 There he set up an altar and called it “The God of Israel is God.” ⁸ 

Genesis 35:1

The Return to Bethel

35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once ⁹  to Bethel ¹⁰  and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ¹¹ 

Exodus 17:15

17:15 Moses built an altar, and he called it “The Lord is my Banner,” ¹² 

¹ sn Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the Lord. After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but a God of redemption and restoration. The one who escaped the catastrophe could best express his gratitude and submission through sacrificial worship, acknowledging God as the sovereign of the universe.

² tn The same Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁴ tn Heb “he came and lived.”

⁵ tn Or “terebinths.”

⁶ sn Abraham built an altar there. The theme of Abraham’s altar building culminates here. He has been a faithful worshiper. Will he continue to worship when called upon to make such a radical sacrifice?

⁷ sn Then he tied up. This text has given rise to an important theme in Judaism known as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew word for “binding.” When sacrifices were made in the sanctuary, God remembered the binding of Isaac, for which a substitute was offered. See D. Polish, “The Binding of Isaac,” Jud 6 (1957): 17-21.

⁸ tn Heb “God, the God of Israel.” Rather than translating the name, a number of modern translations merely transliterate it from the Hebrew as “El Elohe Israel” (cf. NIV, NRSV, REB). It is not entirely clear how the name should be interpreted grammatically. One option is to supply an equative verb, as in the translation: “The God of Israel [is] God.” Another interpretive option is “the God of Israel [is] strong [or “mighty”].” Buying the land and settling down for a while was a momentous step for the patriarch, so the commemorative naming of the altar is significant.

⁹ tn Heb “arise, go up.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.

¹⁰ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

¹¹ sn God is calling on Jacob to fulfill his vow he made when he fled from…Esau (see Gen 28:20-22).

¹² sn Heb “Yahweh-nissi” (so NAB), which means “Yahweh is my banner.” Note that when Israel murmured and failed God, the name commemorated the incident or the outcome of their failure. When they were blessed with success, the naming praised God. Here the holding up of the staff of God was preserved in the name for the altar – God gave them the victory.