Exodus 27:2

27:2 You are to make its four horns ¹  on its four corners; its horns will be part of it, ²  and you are to overlay it with bronze.

Exodus 38:2

38:2 He made its horns on its four corners; its horns were part of it, ³  and he overlaid it with bronze.

Exodus 30:2-3

30:2 Its length is to be a foot and a half ⁴  and its width a foot and a half; it will be square. Its height is to be three feet, ⁵  with its horns of one piece with it. ⁶  30:3 You are to overlay it with pure gold – its top, ⁷  its four walls, ⁸  and its horns – and make a surrounding border of gold for it. ⁹ 

Exodus 30:10

30:10 Aaron is to make atonement on its horns once in the year with some of the blood of the sin offering for atonement; ¹⁰  once in the year ¹¹  he is to make atonement on it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.” ¹² 

Exodus 37:25-26

The Making of the Altar of Incense

37:25 He made the incense altar of acacia wood. Its length was a foot and a half and its width a foot and a half – a square – and its height was three feet. Its horns were of one piece with it. ¹³  37:26 He overlaid it with pure gold – its top, ¹⁴  its four walls, ¹⁵  and its horns – and he made a surrounding border of gold for it. ¹⁶ 

[27:2]  ¹ 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]  ² 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).

[38:2]  ³ tn Heb “its horns were from it,” meaning from the same piece.

[30:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “a cubit.”

[30:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “two cubits.”

[30:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “its horns from it.”

[30:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “roof.”

[30:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “its walls around.”

[30:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “and make for it border gold around.” The verb is a consecutive perfect. See Exod 25:11, where the ark also has such a molding.

[30:10]  ⁹ tn The word “atonements” (plural in Hebrew) is a genitive showing the result or product of the sacrifice made.

[30:10]  ¹⁰ sn This ruling presupposes that the instruction for the Day of Atonement has been given, or at the very least, is to be given shortly. That is the one day of the year that all sin and all ritual impurity would be removed.

[30:10]  ¹¹ sn The phrase “most holy to the Lord” means that the altar cannot be used for any other purpose than what is stated here.

[37:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from it were its horns,” meaning that they were made from the same piece.

[37:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “roof.”

[37:26]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “its walls around.”

[37:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he made for it border gold around.”