Exodus 27:1-8

The Altar

27:1 “You are to make the ¹  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 be ⁴  four feet six inches. 27:2 You are to make its four horns ⁵  on its four corners; its horns will be part of it, ⁶  and you are to overlay it with bronze. 27:3 You 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 all ⁹  its utensils of bronze. 27:4 You are to make a grating ¹⁰  for it, a network of bronze, and you are to make on the network four bronze rings on its four corners. 27:5 You are to put it under the ledge of the altar below, so that the network will come ¹¹  halfway up the altar. ¹²  27:6 You are to make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and you are to overlay them with bronze. 27:7 The poles are to be put ¹³  into the rings so that the poles will be on two sides of the altar when carrying it. ¹⁴  27:8 You are to make the altar hollow, out of boards. Just as it was shown you ¹⁵  on the mountain, so they must make it. ¹⁶ 

Exodus 40:6

40:6 You are to put the altar for the burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting.

Exodus 40:29

40:29 He also put the altar for the burnt offering by the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Exodus 40:2

40:2 “On the first day of the first month you are to set up ¹⁷  the tabernacle, the tent of meeting.

Exodus 4:1

The Source of Sufficiency

4:1 ¹⁸ Moses answered again, ¹⁹  “And if ²⁰  they do not believe me or pay attention to me, ²¹  but say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’?”

Ezekiel 43:13-17

The Altar

43:13 “And these are the measurements of the altar: ²²  Its base ²³  is 1¾ feet ²⁴  high, ²⁵  and 1¾ feet ²⁶  wide, and its border nine inches ²⁷  on its edge. This is to be the height ²⁸  of the altar. 43:14 From the base of the ground to the lower edge is 3½ feet, ²⁹  and the width 1¾ feet; ³⁰  and from the smaller ledge to the larger edge, 7 feet, ³¹  and the width 1¾ feet; 43:15 and the altar hearth, 7 feet, and from the altar hearth four horns projecting upward. 43:16 Now the altar hearth ³²  is a perfect square, 21 feet ³³  long and 21 feet wide. 43:17 The ledge is 24½ feet ³⁴  long and 24½ feet wide on four sides; the border around it is 10½ inches, ³⁵  and its surrounding base 1¾ feet. ³⁶  Its steps face east.”

Romans 8:3-4

8:3 For God achieved what the law could not do because ³⁷  it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 8:4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Romans 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ³⁸  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ³⁹  – which is your reasonable service.

Hebrews 3:1

Jesus and Moses

3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, ⁴⁰  partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, ⁴¹ 

Hebrews 9:14

9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our ⁴²  consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

Hebrews 13:10

13:10 We have an altar that those who serve in the tabernacle have no right to eat from.

Hebrews 13:1

Final Exhortations

13:1 Brotherly love must continue.

Hebrews 2:5

Exposition of Psalm 8: Jesus and the Destiny of Humanity

2:5 For he did not put the world to come, ⁴³  about which we are speaking, ⁴⁴  under the control of angels.

[27:1]  ¹ tn The article on this word identifies this as the altar, meaning the main high altar on which the sacrifices would be made.

[27:1]  ² tn The dimensions are five cubits by five cubits by three cubits high.

[27:1]  ³ tn Heb “four”; this refers to four sides. S. R. Driver says this is an archaism that means there were four equal sides (Exodus, 291).

[27:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “and three cubits its height.”

[27:2]  ⁵ sn 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.

[27:2]  ⁶ sn 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, 363).

[27:3]  ⁷ sn The word is literally “its fat,” but sometimes it describes “fatty ashes” (TEV “the greasy ashes”). The fat would run down and mix with the ashes, and this had to be collected and removed.

[27:3]  ⁸ sn This was the larger bowl used in tossing the blood at the side of the altar.

[27:3]  ⁹ tn The text has “to all its vessels.” This is the lamed (ל) of inclusion according to Gesenius, meaning “all its utensils” (GKC 458 §143.e).

[27:4]  ¹⁰ tn 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, 292).

[27:5]  ¹¹ tn 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.

[27:5]  ¹² tn Heb “to the half of the altar.”

[27:7]  ¹³ tn The verb is a Hophal perfect with vav consecutive: וְהוּבָא (vÿhuva’, “and it will be brought”). The particle אֶת (’et) here introduces the subject of the passive verb (see a similar use in 21:28, “and its flesh will not be eaten”).

[27:7]  ¹⁴ tn The construction is the infinitive construct with bet (ב) preposition: “in carrying it.” Here the meaning must be that the poles are not left in the rings, but only put into the rings when they carried it.

[27:8]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is used impersonally; it reads “just as he showed you.” This form then can be made a passive in the translation.

[27:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “thus they will make.” Here too it could be given a passive translation since the subject is not expressed. But “they” would normally refer to the people who will be making this and so can be retained in the translation.

[40:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you will raise,” an imperfect of instruction.

[4:1]  ¹⁸ sn In chap. 3, the first part of this extensive call, Yahweh promises to deliver his people. At the hesitancy of Moses, God guarantees his presence will be with him, and that assures the success of the mission. But with chap. 4, the second half of the call, the tone changes sharply. Now Moses protests his inadequacies in view of the nature of the task. In many ways, these verses address the question, “Who is sufficient for these things?” There are three basic movements in the passage. The first nine verses tell how God gave Moses signs in case Israel did not believe him (4:1-9). The second section records how God dealt with the speech problem of Moses (4:10-12). And finally, the last section records God’s provision of a helper, someone who could talk well (4:13-17). See also J. E. Hamlin, “The Liberator’s Ordeal: A Study of Exodus 4:1-9,” Rhetorical Criticism [PTMS], 33-42.

[4:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and Moses answered and said.”

[4:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “What if.” The use of הֵן (hen) is unusual here, introducing a conditional idea in the question without a following consequence clause (see Exod 8:22 HT [8:26 ET]; Jer 2:10; 2 Chr 7:13). The Greek has “if not” but adds the clause “what shall I say to them?”

[4:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “listen to my voice,” so as to respond positively.

[43:13]  ²² tn Heb “the measurements of the altar by cubits, the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth.” The measuring units here and in the remainder of this section are the Hebrew “long” cubit, consisting of a cubit (about 18 inches or 45 cm) and a handbreadth (about 3 inches or 7.5 cm), for a total of 21 inches (52.5 cm). Because modern readers are not familiar with the cubit as a unit of measurement, and due to the additional complication of the “long” cubit as opposed to the regular cubit, all measurements have been converted to American standard feet and inches, with the Hebrew measurements and the metric equivalents given in the notes. On the altar see Ezek 40:47.

[43:13]  ²³ tn The Hebrew term normally means “bosom.” Here it refers to a hollow in the ground.

[43:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).

[43:13]  ²⁵ tn The word “high” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[43:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).

[43:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “one span.” A span was three handbreadths, or about nine inches (i.e., 22.5 cm).

[43:13]  ²⁸ tc Heb “bulge, protuberance, mound.” The translation follows the LXX.

[43:14]  ²⁹ tn Heb “two cubits” (i.e., 1.05 meters).

[43:14]  ³⁰ tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm; the phrase occurs again later in this verse).

[43:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “four cubits” (i.e., 2.1 meters; the phrase also occurs in the next verse).

[43:16]  ³² tn The precise Hebrew word used here to refer to an “altar hearth” occurs only here in the OT.

[43:16]  ³³ tn Heb “twelve cubits” (i.e., 6.3 meters; the phrase occurs twice in this verse).

[43:17]  ³⁴ tn Heb “fourteen”; the word “cubits” is not in the Hebrew text but is understood from the context; the phrase occurs again later in this verse. Fourteen cubits is about 7.35 meters.

[43:17]  ³⁵ tn Heb “half a cubit” (i.e., 26.25 cm).

[43:17]  ³⁶ tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).

[8:3]  ³⁷ tn Grk “in that.”

[12:1]  ³⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ³⁹ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

[3:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:1]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “of our confession.”

[9:14]  ⁴² tc The reading adopted by the translation is attested by many authorities (A D* K P 365 1739* al). But many others (א D² 0278 33 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa) read “your” instead of “our.” The diversity of evidence makes this a difficult case to decide from external evidence alone. The first and second person pronouns differ by only one letter in Greek, as in English, also making this problem difficult to decide based on internal evidence and transcriptional probability. In the context, the author’s description of sacrificial activities seems to invite the reader to compare his own possible participation in OT liturgy as over against the completed work of Christ, so the second person pronoun “your” might make more sense. On the other hand, TCGNT 599 argues that “our” is preferable because the author of Hebrews uses direct address (i.e., the second person) only in the hortatory sections. What is more, the author seems to prefer the first person in explanatory remarks or when giving the logical grounds for an assertion (cf. Heb 4:15; 7:14). It is hard to reach a definitive conclusion in this case, but the data lean slightly in favor of the first person pronoun.

[2:5]  ⁴³ sn The phrase the world to come means “the coming inhabited earth,” using the Greek term which describes the world of people and their civilizations.

[2:5]  ⁴⁴ sn See the previous reference to the world in Heb 1:6.