In Exod. xxvii, 3, the following utensils are men- tioned as belonging to the altar, all of which were to be made of brass. 1. m'TO, siroth' ', pans or dishes to receive the ashes (q. v.) that fell through the grating. 2 G"1"?! yalm', shovels (Vulg. forcipes), for cleaning the altar. 3. nip^T^, mizrakoth' (Auth. Vers, basins ; Sept. (puikai ; Gesenius, patera sacrifica), vessels for receiving the blood and sprinkling it*on the altar. 4. FVllPTXI, mizlagoth' (Auth. Vers, "flesh-hooks;" Sept. Kpiaypai ; Vulg. fuscimda), large forks to turn the pieces of flesh, or to take them off the fire (see 1 Sam. ii, 13). 5. rVlFirra, machtoth' (Auth. Vers, "fire- pans;" Sept. to nvfmov); the same word is else- where translated censers (Num. xvi, 17) ; but in Exod. xxv, 38, " snuff- dishes ;" Sept. viroOtpara. (Comp. Lamy, De Tabern. p. 439 sq. ; Meyer, Bibeldeut. p. 201 sq. ; Van Til, De Tabernac. p. 57.)
(b.) The altar of burnt-offerings in Solomon's tem- ple was of much larger dimensions, " twenty cubits in length and breadth, and ten in height" (2 Chron. iv, 1 ; comp. 1 Kings viii, 22, 64 ; ix, 25), and was made en- tirety of brass, i. e. bronze plates covering a structure
of earth or stone (Cramer, De Ara exter. p. 29 sq.). It is said of Asa that he renewed (^n), that is, either
Supposed Forms of the Jewish Altar of Burnt-offerings. 1. According to Lamy. 2. Kitto (Piet Bible). S. Rabbins, 4. Calmet. 5. Surenhusius (Mischna, ii, 260).
ALTAR
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ALTAR
repaired (in which sense the word is evidently used in 2 Chron. xxiv, 4) or reconstructed (Sept. treicaiviai) the altar of the Lord that was before the porch of the Lord (2 Chron. xv, 8). This altar was removed by King Ahaz (2 Kings xvi, 14); it was "cleansed" by Hezekiab ; and in the latter part of Manasseh's reign was rebuilt. It is not certain whether this was one of the sacred utensils which the Babylonians broke up and removed their materials (Jer. lii, 17 sq.).
(c.) Of the altar of burnt-offering in the second tem- ple the canonical scriptures give us no' information, excepting that it was erected before the foundations of the temple were laid (Ezra iii, 3, G), on the same place where it had formerly been built (Josephus, A tit. xi. 4, 1). From the Apocrypha, however, we ma}- in- fer that it was made, not of brass, but of unhewn stone (comp. Spencer, Leg. rit. p. 418 sq. ; Biihr, Sym- bol, i, 489; Cramer, p. 32 sq.), for in the account of the restoration of the temple service by Judas Macca- baeus, it is said, "They took whole stones, according to the law, and built a new altar according to the for- mer" (1 Mace, iv, 47). When Antiochus Epiphanes pillaged Jerusalem, Josephus informs us that he left the temple bare, and took away the golden candle- sticks, and the golden altar (of incense), and table (of skew-bread), and the altar of burnt-offering {Ant. xii, 5,4).
(<£.) The. altar of burnt-offering erected by Herod is thus described by Josephus (Wars, v, 5, 6) : " Before this temple stood the altar, fifteen cubits high, and equal both in length and breadth, each of Avhich di- mensions was fifty cubits. The figure it was built in was a square, and it had corners like horns, and the passage up to it was by an insensible acclivity from the south. It was formed without any iron tool, nor did any iron tool so much as touch it at any time." The dimensions of this altar are differentlj- stated in the Mishna (Middoth, iii, 1). It is there described as a square 32 cubits at the base ; at the height of a cubit it is reduced 1 cubit each way, making it 30 cu- bits square ; at 5 cubits higher it is similarly con- tracted, becoming 28 cubits square, and at the base of the horns 2G cubits ; and, allowing a cubit each way for the deambulacrum, a sqviare of 24 cubits is left for the fire on the altar. Other Jewish writers place the deambulacrum 2 feet below the surface of the altar, which would certainly be a more suitable construc- tion. The Mishna states, in accordance with Jose- phus, that the stones of the altar were unhewn, agree- ably to the command in Exod. xx, 25; and that they were ^ bitevvashed ever}' year at the Passover and the feast of tabernacles. On the south side was an in- clined plane, 32 cubits long and 1G cubits broad, made likewise of unhewn stones. A pipe was connected with tli- south-west horn, through which the blood of the victims was discharged by a subterraneous pas- M-c into the brook Kedron. Under the altar was a cavity to receive the drink-offerings, which was cov- ered with a marble slab, and cleansed from time to time. On the north side of the altar several iron rings were fixed to fasten the victims. Lastly, a red line was drawn round the middle of the altar to dis- tinguish between the blood that was to be sprinkled above and below it (Belaud, Antiq. Sacr. p. 97 sq. ; Lamy, De Tabemac. table 1<;; L'Empereur, in the Mishna, in loc. ; Cramer, I)- Ara exteriore Templi .-'<•- cundi, Lugd. Bat. 1697, and in Ogolini Tkesaur. x; Dgolini . I //are erter. in his Tkesaur. x; Otho, Lex. RabL p. :;■-' sq. I.