In the directions afterward given (Exod. xxvii, 1-8) fox the construction of the altar that was to be placed in the outer court of the tabernacle, it may seem Strange that no explicit mention is made either of earth or of stone. It was to be made of shittim or acacia WOOt^ overlaid with brass; to be in form a square of five cubits, in height three cubits, and with projecting points <ir "horns" at each of the four cor- ners. It was to In- made '•hollow with boards," and Jewish writers have held that this hollow space be- tween the boards was to be filled with earth or stones when the altar was fixed in a particular place ; so that thy original direction applied also to it. and the boards mighl lie regarded a- having their chief use in holding the earth or stones together, and supporting the fire-
Altar of Burnt-offering— according to Meyer. A, the space between the boards, over which the utensils fir fire and ashes were placed, while within were stones or earth ; B B, the net-work grating, with the projecting ledge, as described in Kxod. xxvii, 4, 5; C, the carenh or ledge it- self, projecting from the middle of the altar ; II, the incline toward it on one side, for the officiating priest to ascend by, formed of earth or stones; abed, the horns or corner pro- jections of the altar.
place, with the fuel and the sacrifice. Having an ele- vation of no more than 4i or 5 feet, no steps could be required for the officiating priest; a mere ledge or projecting border on the side would be quite sufficient, with a gentle incline toward it, formed of earth or stones. This seems really to have been provided by the original construction of the altar according to the now commonly received interpretation of Exod. xxvii, 4, 5, where it is said, "And thou shalt make for it [the altar] a grate of net-work of brass ; and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof; and thou shalt put it under the compass [—""IS, karkob', circuit or border, as the word seems to mean] of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar;" that is, as Yon Meyer has explained (Bibeldentunc/en, p. 201), there was a sort of terrace or projecting board half way up the altar and compassing it about, on which the priests might stand, or articles connected with the sacrifice might be laid; and this was to be supported by a grating of brass underneath, of net-like construction, as exhibited in the preceding cut. See Grate. This pattern probably approaches, nearer than any other that has been presented, to the altar originally formed to ac- company' the tabernacle. The older and still very prevalent idea of its structure differs chiefly with re- gard to the network of brass, which it regards as the grating for the fire, and as furnished with four rings, that it might be sunk down within the boards and at some distance from them ; as exhibited, for example, in the annexed cut, which is essentially the represen-
Altar of Burnt-offering— according to Friederich (SmnboHlc).
tation of Witsius (Miseell. Sacra, i, 333), often repro- duced with little variation. The chief objection to this form is that it places the net-work of brass near the top and within the boards, instead of making it, as the description seems to require, from the ground upward to the middle, and consequently outside — a support, in short, for the projecting karkob, or margin, not for the fire and the sacrifice. The articles connected with the fire are not minutely described, but are included in the enumeration given at ver. 3: "And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basins, and his flesh-hooks, and his fire-pans; all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass." The prob- ability is that there was no grating upon the top, but simply the pans for fire and ashes resting upon stones or earth within the boards; and thus these might
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easily be scraped or removed for cleaning, as occasion required. — Fair bairn. See Pan.
In the arrangements made for adapting the instru- ments of worship to the larger proportions of the tem- ple, the altar of burnt-offering necessarily partook of the general character of the change. It became now a square of 20 cubits instead of 5, and was raised to the height of 10 cubits ; it was made also entirely of brass, but in other respects it was probably much the same. The altar attached to the temple of Herod, we learn from Josephus, again greatly exceeded in di- mensions that of the temple of Solomon. " Before the temple," says lie (War, v, 5, 6), "stood the altar, 15 cubits high, and equal in length and breadth, being each way 50 cubits. It was built in the figure of a square, and it had corners like horns (literally, jutting up into horn-shaped corners — KeparottSiic wpoavlYuw yuviac~), and the passage up to it was by an insensible acclivity." This was, no doubt, with the view of meeting the requirement in Exod. xx, 2(5 ; and in like manner, for the purpose of complying with the in- struction to avoid any hewn work, it was, we are told, "formed without any iron tool, nor was it ever so much as touched by such iron tool." In this latter statement the Mishna agrees with Josephus ; but it differs materially as to the dimensions, making the base only a square of 32 cubits, and the top of 2G, so that it is impossible to pronounce with certainty upon the exact measurement. But there can be little doubt it was eonsiderablj' larger than Solomon's, as it was a leading part of Herod's ambition, in his costly repara- tion of the temple, to make all his external proportions superior to that which had preceded. It also had, we are informed, what must in some form have belonged to the altar of the first temple, a pipe connected with the south-west horn, for conveying away the blood of the sacrifices. This discharged itself by a subterra- nean passage into the brook Kedron [Marcus, Be sacer- dot. IIebro?or. quibusd. c. altaris snfit.functhmibus (Jena, 1700) ; Schlichter, Be suffitu sacro Hebreeorum (Halle, 1754); Elijah ben-Hirsch, HStrri tYtta bv Itt&W (Freft. a. M. 1714) ; Gartmann, Be Ilebncorum altari suffitus (Wittenb. 1699-1700)]. See Ai.tak.