The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
The Bronze Altar
Exodus 27:1–8 — The Bronze Altar. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1“You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā ’eṯ- ham·miz·bê·aḥ šiṭ·ṭîm ‘ă·ṣê ham·miz·bê·aḥ yih·yeh rā·ḇū·a‘ ḥā·mêš ’am·mō·wṯ ’ō·reḵ wə·ḥā·mêš ’am·mō·wṯ rō·ḥaḇ wə·šā·lōš ’am·mō·wṯ qō·mā·ṯōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-you-shall-make the-altar of-acacia wood; five cubits long and-five cubits wide — foured shall-the-altar be — and-three cubits its-height.”
Where the English smooths the original
Thou shalt make an altar. —Heb., the altar. It is assumed that a sanctuary must have an altar, worship without sacrifice being unknown.Ellicott marks the very point the Hebrew article carries — “the altar,” not “an altar.”
This brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins. The wood had been consumed by the fire from heaven, if it had not been secured by the brass: nor could the human nature of Christ have borne the wrath of God, if it had not been supported by Divine power.
Foursquare. —Ancient altars were either rectangular or circular, the square and the circle being regarded as perfect figures.
This altar of burnt offering is said to be made of "shittim wood", a wood incorruptible and durable; Christ, as God, is from everlasting to everlasting; as man, though he once died, he now lives for evermore, and never did or will see corruption
It was made of wood rather than of solid brass, that it might not be too heavy. But notwithstanding that it was overlaid with brass, ( Exodus 27:2 ,) had it been of common wood, it must soon have been consumed to ashes by the continual heatBenson states the engineering reason for the wood-and-bronze design — too heavy if solid brass, burned to ash if bare wood — the literal fact under Henry's and Gill's figures.
2Make a horn on each of its four corners, so that the horns are of one piece, and overlay it with bronze.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā qar·nō·ṯāw ‘al ’ar·ba‘ pin·nō·ṯāw qar·nō·ṯāw tih·ye·nā mim·men·nū wə·ṣip·pî·ṯā ’ō·ṯōw nə·ḥō·šeṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-you-shall-make its-horns upon its-four corners — from-it shall-its-horns be — and-you-shall-overlay it with-bronze.”
Where the English smooths the original
horns were, so far as is known, peculiar to Israelite altars. Originally, they would seem to have been mere ornaments at the four upper corners, but ultimately they came to be regarded as essential to an altar, and the virtue of the altar was thought to lie especially in them.
At its four corners shall its horns be from (out of) it," i.e., not removable, but as if growing out of it. These horns were projections at the corners of the altar, formed to imitate in all probability the horns of oxen, and in these the whole force of the altar was concentrated.
may denote the power of Christ, who is the horn of salvation to preserve his people from a final falling away, and from ruin and destruction, and his protection of those that fly to him for refuge; and these horns being at the corners of the altar may respect the four parts of the world, from whence souls come to Christ for everlasting salvation
With brass; With plates of brass of competent thickness, both above the wood and under it, that the fire might not take hold of the wood.
3Make all its utensils of bronze—its pots for removing ashes, its shovels, its sprinkling bowls, its meat forks, and its firepans.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā ta·‘ă·śeh lə·ḵāl kê·lāw nə·ḥō·šeṯ sî·rō·ṯāw lə·ḏaš·šə·nōw wə·yā·‘āw ū·miz·rə·qō·ṯāw ū·miz·lə·ḡō·ṯāw ū·maḥ·tō·ṯāw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-you-shall-make its-pots for-removing-its-ashes, and-its-shovels, and-its-sprinkling-bowls, and-its-forks, and-its-firepans; for-all its-utensils you-shall-make bronze.”
Where the English smooths the original
The word translated “to receive his ashes” is a rare one, and implies a mixture with the ashes of unburnt fat.
basons ] lit. tossing-vessels ,—large bowls, used for tossing the blood in a volume against the sides of the altar
the pans, to cleanse it of the ashes of the fat ( Exodus 27:3 : דּשּׁן, a denom. verb from דּשׁן the ashes of fat, that is to say, the ashes that arose from burning the flesh of the sacrifice upon the altar, has a privative meaning, and signifies "to ash away," i.e., to cleanse from ashes)
Firepans - The same word is rendered snuffdishes, Exodus 25:38 ; Exodus 37:23 : censers, Leviticus 10:1 ; Leviticus 16:12 ; Numbers 4:14 ; Numbers 16:6 , etc. These utensils appear to have been shallow metal vessels which were employed merely to carry burning embers from the brazen altar to the altar of incense.
4Construct for it a grate of bronze mesh, and make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the mesh.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā lōw miḵ·bār ma·‘ă·śêh nə·ḥō·šeṯ re·šeṯ wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā ’ar·ba‘ nə·ḥō·šeṯ ṭab·bə·‘ōṯ ‘al ’ar·ba‘ qə·ṣō·w·ṯāw ‘al- hā·re·šeṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-you-shall-make for-it a-grating, a-work-of net, of-bronze; and-you-shall-make upon the-net four rings-of bronze upon its-four corners.”
Where the English smooths the original
The brazen altar, like the ark and the table of shewbread, was to be carried by the priests when the Israelites changed their camping-ground. It therefore required “rings,” like them ( Exodus 25:12 ; Exodus 25:26 ). These were, in the case of the altar, to be attached to the network, which must have been of a very solid and substantial character.
The altar was to have מכבּר a grating, רשׂת מעשׂה net-work, i.e., a covering of brass made in the form of a net, of larger dimensions that the sides of the altar, for this grating was to be under the "compass" (כּרכּב) of the altar from beneath, and to reach to the half of it
this was the focus or hearth, on which the sacrifice and the wood were laid and burnt: this, according to the Targum of Jonathan on Exodus 38:4 was to receive the coals and bones which fell from the altar: and so may denote the purity of Christ's sacrifice, which was offered up without spot to God
This was the principal part of the altar. It was let into the hollow about the middle of it, and here the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burned. It was a broad plate of brass full of holes, like a net or sieve
5Set the grate beneath the ledge of the altar, so that the mesh comes halfway up the altar.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·nā·ṯat·tāh ’ō·ṯāh mil·lə·māṭ·ṭāh ta·ḥaṯ kar·kōḇ ham·miz·bê·aḥ hā·re·šeṯ wə·hā·yə·ṯāh ḥă·ṣî ‘aḏ ham·miz·bê·aḥ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-you-shall-put it beneath the-ledge of-the-altar from-below, and-the-net shall-be unto half-of the-altar.”
Where the English smooths the original
The compass of the altar - A shelf or projecting ledge, of convenient width, carried round the altar half way between the top and the base. It was supported all round its outer edge by a vertical net-like grating of bronze that rested on the ground.
The priest stood upon this carcob or bench when offering sacrifice, or when placing the wood, or doing anything else upon the altar. This explains Aaron's coming down (ירד) from the altar ( Leviticus 9:22 ); and there is no necessity to suppose that there were steps to the altarKeil's reading guards Exodus 20:26's ban on steps up to the altar.
The "compass" ( karkob ) is spoken of as if it were something well-known; yet it had not been previously mentioned. Etymologically the word should mean "a cincture" or "band" round the altar; and thus far critics are generally agreed. But its position, size, and object, are greatly disputed.
6Additionally, make poles of acacia wood for the altar and overlay them with bronze.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā ḇad·dîm bad·dê šiṭ·ṭîm ‘ă·ṣê lam·miz·bê·aḥ wə·ṣip·pî·ṯā ’ō·ṯām nə·ḥō·šeṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-you-shall-make poles for-the-altar, poles-of acacia wood, and-you-shall-overlay them with-bronze.”
Where the English smooths the original
There is a gradual descent in the preciousness of the materials from the holy of holies to the holy place, and from that to the court.
bronze ] contrast the gold of Exodus 25:13 ; Exodus 25:28 .
And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood,.... Like those that were made for the ark, and for the same purpose: and overlay them with brass; with plates of brass, whereas those for the ark were overlaid with gold.
7The poles are to be inserted into the rings so that the poles are on two sides of the altar when it is carried.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
bad·dāw wə·hū·ḇā ’eṯ- baṭ·ṭab·bā·‘ōṯ hab·bad·dîm wə·hā·yū ‘al- šə·tê ṣal·‘ōṯ ham·miz·bê·aḥ biś·’êṯ ’ō·ṯōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And its-poles shall-be-brought into the-rings, so-that the-poles shall-be upon two sides-of the-altar when-it-is-carried.”
Where the English smooths the original
staves … rings—Those rings were placed at the side through which the poles were inserted on occasions of removal.
the staves were on the two sides of it, in order to bear it from place to place, which was done by the Levites; and was typical of the ministers of the Gospel bearing the name of Christ, and spreading the doctrine of his sacrifice and satisfaction, in the world, which is the main and fundamental doctrine of the Gospel.
The staves shall be put into the rings , which seem to be the same both to the altar and the grate, though some allege that place for the contrary.
8Construct the altar with boards so that it is hollow. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ta·‘ă·śeh ’ō·ṯōw lu·ḥōṯ nə·ḇūḇ ya·‘ă·śū ka·’ă·šer her·’āh ’ō·ṯə·ḵā bā·hār kên
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“Hollow of-boards shall-you-make it; just-as he-showed you on-the-mountain, so shall-they-make-it.”
Where the English smooths the original
Hollow with boards - Slabs, or planks, rather than boards. The word is that which is used for the stone tables of the law Exodus 24:12 ; Exodus 31:18 , not that applied to the boards of the tabernacle Exodus 26:15 .
the hollowness of the altar may denote the emptiness of Christ when he became a sacrifice: he emptied himself, as it were, when he became incarnate, of all his greatness, glory, and riches, and became mean and poor for the sake of his people, that they through his poverty might be made rich, Philippians 2:7
It is difficult to reconcile satisfactorily this plated ‘altar’ ( v. 1) of acacia wood, borne upon the shoulders of Levites from one encampment to another ( Numbers 4:13 ; Numbers 7:9 ), with the altar of earth or stone, reared where occasion might require, on which burnt-and peace-offerings were to be sacrificed ( Exodus 20:24 f.).Cambridge states the earth-altar tension as an open critical problem, not a solved one.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens with a name that is also a verdict. The first object of the court is ham·mizbêaḥ — “the altar,” but the root zāḇaḥ means “to slaughter,” so the literal sense is “the place of slaughter.” Ellicott reads the definite article rightly: “It is assumed that a sanctuary must have an altar, worship without sacrifice being unknown.” Before there is a tent for God to meet Israel, there is a place for blood. The altar is rāḇūa‘, which Keil renders flatly “foured” — four-sided — a shape Ellicott notes the ancients held “perfect.” At its four corners rise the qarnōṯ, the horns, which Ellicott observes were “so far as is known, peculiar to Israelite altars.” And those horns are mimmennū, “from it”: Keil insists they are “not removable, but as if growing out of it,” so that “in these the whole force of the altar was concentrated.” Refuge and atonement are not bolted on; they grow out of the altar’s own substance.
The altar is built of ‘ăṣê šiṭṭîm, acacia wood, and then ṣippîṯā nəḥōšeṯ — sheathed in bronze. The combination is the engine of the whole reading. Benson notes the practical problem plainly: “had it been of common wood, it must soon have been consumed to ashes by the continual heat.” Poole supplies the fix: “plates of brass of competent thickness, both above the wood and under it, that the fire might not take hold of the wood.” Matthew Henry then lifts the mechanism into figure — this is the tool’s most-cited human voice for the unit, offered as his reading, not the text’s claim: “The wood had been consumed by the fire from heaven, if it had not been secured by the brass: nor could the human nature of Christ have borne the wrath of God, if it had not been supported by Divine power.” Gill presses the same timber typologically — acacia is “incorruptible and durable,” like the body that “never did or will see corruption.” One need not accept the figure to feel the literal weight: this is wood made to stand in fire.
Verse 3 is an inventory, and its words are sharper than the English lets on. The pots are lədaššənōw — Keil’s “privative” verb, “to ash away,” cleaning off the greasy ash of burnt fat; Cambridge: “lit. its fat … Not used of ordinary ashes.” The bowls are mizrāqōṯ, which Cambridge corrects to “tossing-vessels … used for tossing the blood in a volume against the sides of the altar.” The firepans are maḥtōṯ, the same word Barnes traces through Scripture as “snuffdishes … censers,” vessels “to carry burning embers from the brazen altar to the altar of incense.” Then comes the miḵbār, the grating, a rešeṯ — a hunting-net pressed into worship. Gill reads it as the “focus or hearth, on which the sacrifice and the wood were laid,” and even the karkōḇ, the disputed ledge (vv. 4–5), Keil makes the priest’s standing-bench that explains why Aaron “came down” from the altar without any steps (Leviticus 9:22) — quietly guarding the command of Exodus 20:26.
The last working detail is mobility. Baddîm, poles of acacia, are overlaid in bronze and hūḇā — “brought” (a Hophal passive) — into the rings, set on the two ṣal‘ōṯ, the “ribs” of the altar, biś’êṯ ’ōṯōw, “when it is carried.” The Pulpit Commentary catches the design grammar of the sanctuary in this descent of metals: “a gradual descent in the preciousness of the materials from the holy of holies to the holy place, and from that to the court.” Gold within, bronze without. Gill turns the bearing of the altar into the work of “the ministers of the Gospel bearing the name of Christ … in the world” — his figure, not the verse’s plain sense, but anchored to the literal fact: this place of blood was made to move with a pilgrim people.
The unit ends on two hard words. The altar is nəḇûḇ, “hollow” — a rare term (four occurrences in all of Scripture) — “of boards” that are luḥōṯ, the very word for the stone tablets of the law (Barnes). And it is to be made ka’ăšer her’āh ’ōṯəḵā bāhār, “just as he showed you on the mountain.” Two honesties belong here. First, the hollowness raises an unresolved problem: how does a wooden box hold fire? Most ancient interpreters fill it with earth to reconcile it with the earth-altar of Exodus 20:24, but Cambridge judges the two laws “entirely unrelated” — a real critical tension this tool will not paper over. Second, the closing refrain anchors everything not in Moses’ ingenuity but in a heavenly shown pattern; Gill is careful that “he showed thee” means “that is, God.” The court’s plainest object — a bronze box for burning — is a copy of something seen above.
Set the bronze altar against the rule that Scripture alone is the final authority, and three things stand out — offered as a reading to be tested, not a verdict to be trusted.
The way to God begins at a place of death. The first thing a worshipper met on entering the court was not a teacher, a table, or a throne, but ham·mizbêaḥ, the slaughter-place. The grammar assumes it (“the altar”), and the very name (“place of slaughter”) declares it: there is no approach to the LORD that does not pass through substitutionary blood thrown against the sides. The New Testament will say the same in plainer words — “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).
The altar is made to be both fixed and portable, both shown and built. It copies a heavenly pattern (“as he showed you on the mountain”) yet is carried on poles through the wilderness. The pattern is settled in heaven; the obedience is worked out on the road. This is the Berean shape — a fixed given (“the written,” the shown pattern) measured and obeyed, not improvised.
The horns of refuge grow out of the place of sacrifice. The fugitive who grasped the horns (1 Kings 1:50) was grasping projections that were mimmennū, “of one piece” with the altar of blood. Sanctuary and atonement are the same substance. The tool reads this as the gospel’s own logic in bronze — but weigh it; keep what the Word supports.
The first object in the court of God is a place of slaughter — there is no door to the Holy that does not open onto an altar.
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The order Moses receives here is carried out, almost word for word, in the building account — Bezalel “made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood … and overlaid it with bronze” (Exodus 38:1–7). The overlap is not just the common mizbêaḥ (altar) and nəḥōšeṯ (bronze): the opening verse pairs with Exodus 38:1 on the genuinely rare words rāḇūa‘ (“foured,” only 12 verses in all Scripture) and šiṭṭâh (acacia, 28 verses), with the dimensional set qôwmâh / rôḥaḇ / ’ōreḵ / ’ammâh; and the grating-and-rings verse (27:4) pairs with Exodus 38:5 on the scarce miḵbār (“grating,” found only 6 times, all in the altar texts). Command and execution are made to match: God speaks the pattern, and the pattern is built exactly.
Exodus 27:1 · Exodus 27:4 · Exodus 38:1 · Exodus 38:5
basis: Verifier: Exodus 27:1↔38:1 share the rare lexemes H7251 râbaʻ (“foured,” in 12 vv) + H7848 shiṭṭâh (acacia, 28 vv) plus H6967 qôwmâh, H7341 rôchab, H753 ʼôrek, H520 ʼammâh, H4196 mizbêach; Exodus 27:4↔38:5 add the very rare H4345 makbêr (grating, in only 6 vv) with H2885 ṭabbaʻath — command and execution verbally matched
The horns made here (qarnōṯāw, v. 2) become one of Scripture’s richest motifs. The blood of the sin offering is daubed on them for expiation (Exodus 29:12; Leviticus 4:7); the man in fear of his life grasps them for sanctuary (1 Kings 1:50; 2:28); the worshipper binds the festal victim “to the horns of the altar” (Psalm 118:27). The link is the shared word qeren (horn) — a motif, not a quotation: the same projection is the point of both mercy and asylum.
Exodus 27:2 · Exodus 29:12 · 1 Kings 1:50 · Psalm 118:27
basis: Verifier: shared lexeme H7161 qeren (horn, in 69 vv) across Exodus 27:2, Exodus 29:12, 1 Kings 1:50, Psalm 118:27 — a recurring altar-horn motif, not a verbal citation
Among the altar’s vessels is the maḥtāh (v. 3, “firepan”). It is the same vessel that, on the Day of Atonement, carries burning coals from this brazen altar in past the veil (Leviticus 16:12) — and the very word rendered “censers” when Nadab and Abihu, and later Korah, brought “strange fire.” The shared term maḥtāh ties the court’s altar to the inmost sanctuary: the fire of the place of slaughter is the fire that ascends before the mercy seat.
Exodus 27:3 · Leviticus 16:12
basis: Verifier: shared lexeme H4289 machtâh (firepan/censer, in 19 vv) between Exodus 27:3 and Leviticus 16:12 — a moderately rare object-word linking the brazen altar to the Day of Atonement
The inventory of v. 3 — pots, shovels, sprinkling-bowls, forks, firepans — recurs almost intact in Numbers 4:14, where the priests spread cloths over “all the vessels of the altar” and load them for the journey. The link is carried by genuinely rare vocabulary: mazlēg (fork, only 7 verses), yā‘ (shovel, only 9 verses), maḥtāh (firepan, 19 verses) and mizrāq (bowl, 32 verses) all appear in both. The same five tools commanded here are the ones the Kohathites would shoulder — every bronze implement of the place of slaughter was made, like the altar itself, to travel.
Exodus 27:3 · Numbers 4:14
basis: Verifier: rare shared lexemes H4207 mazlêg (fork, in 7 vv) + H3257 yâʻ (shovel, in 9 vv) with H4289 machtâh (19 vv) and H4219 mizrâq (32 vv) between Exodus 27:3 and Numbers 4:14 — the altar’s vessel-set repeated in the marching instructions
This bronze-cased, pole-borne mizbêaḥ sits in real tension with the earlier command for an altar “of earth … or of unhewn stone” (Exodus 20:24–26). Jewish commentators (Rashi, cited by Ellicott and the Pulpit Commentary) reconcile them by filling the hollow case with earth in use; Cambridge, by contrast, holds the two laws “entirely unrelated.” The link is the shared word mizbêaḥ (altar) — but the relationship between the texts is genuinely contested, and is flagged as such rather than resolved.
Exodus 27:1 · Exodus 27:8 · Exodus 20:24
basis: Verifier: only the common lexeme H4196 mizbêach (altar, in 338 vv) is shared; the harmonization with Exodus 20:24–26 is disputed among the sources (Cambridge calls the laws “entirely unrelated”) — left flagged
The altar is nəḇûḇ (v. 8), “hollow” — from nāḇaḇ, a root that occurs only four times in the whole Hebrew Bible. The same scarce word turns up in Job 11:12, where the empty-headed man is nāḇûḇ, “hollow.” The verbal link is real and rare, but the senses run opposite: the altar’s emptiness is for fitness and carriage (and, in Gill’s reading, Christ’s self-emptying, Philippians 2:7), while Job’s is mere vacancy. A genuine lexical thread that must not be over-read.
Exodus 27:8 · Job 11:12
basis: Verifier: rare shared lexeme H5014 nâbab (hollow/pierced, in only 4 vv) between Exodus 27:8 and Job 11:12 — a true verbal link, though the contextual senses diverge
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
The altar’s deepest figure is its own material: acacia wood (which should be consumed by fire) cased in bronze (which keeps the fire from “taking hold of the wood,” Poole). Matthew Henry made the brazen altar “a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins,” reading the wood-and-bronze as the human nature that “could not have borne the wrath of God, if it had not been supported by Divine power.” The cross-Testament link to Hebrews 13:10 (“we have an altar”) cannot rest on shared Hebrew/Greek lexemes — the Verifier finds none — so it is offered typologically: the place where the offering bears fire without being destroyed.
Exodus 27:1 · Exodus 27:2 · Hebrews 13:10
The horns that grow “from” the altar (v. 2, mimmennū) are where the atoning blood is smeared and where the desperate flee for sanctuary. Gill draws the figure directly: Christ “the horn of salvation” (Luke 1:69), with “those that fly to him for refuge” (Hebrews 6:18), and the four corners reaching “the four parts of the world.” This is a figural reading of an Old-Testament motif, not a verbal citation; weigh it against the text, but it stands in a long line of Christian reading.
Exodus 27:2 · 1 Kings 1:50 · Psalm 118:27
The altar must be built “just as he showed you on the mountain” (v. 8) — the principle Hebrews 8:5 applies to the whole tabernacle: the priests “serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things … ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’” The earthly bronze altar is a shadow of a heavenly reality fulfilled in Christ’s once-for-all offering. This is a cross-Testament (Greek→Hebrew) connection: the Verifier finds no shared original-language lexeme between Exodus 27:8 and Hebrews 8:5 (which actually quotes Exodus 25:40), so it is held as structural/typological, argued from the shared “pattern shown on the mountain” motif rather than asserted as a verbal quotation of this verse.
Exodus 27:8 · Exodus 25:40 · Hebrews 8:5
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). The named voices are quoted verbatim from public-domain commentaries on Exodus 27, attributed in place: Charles Ellicott, Joseph Benson, Matthew Henry, Albert Barnes, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Matthew Poole, John Gill, the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, the Pulpit Commentary, and Keil & Delitzsch. (The Geneva Study Bible’s notes on this passage carry only the bare verse-text with no exposition, so it is not quoted as a voice here.) This unit is Hebrew; no Psalm is present, so Spurgeon’s Treasury of David does not apply here.
Transliterations, parsings, literal renderings, and the “where the English smooths the Hebrew” notes are this tool’s own work (⚙) — careful but fallible; check them against a lexicon (BDB, HALOT). Two terms in this chapter are genuine cruxes and are not over-resolved: karkōḇ (v. 5, “ledge / compass,” occurring only here and Exodus 38:4 — the Pulpit Commentary admits its “position, size, and object are greatly disputed”) and nəḇûḇ (v. 8, “hollow”). The relation of this portable bronze-cased altar to the earth-and-stone altar of Exodus 20:24–26 is a standing critical problem: ancient interpreters fill the case with earth to harmonize them, while Cambridge calls the two laws “entirely unrelated.” That tension is flagged, not solved.
Cross-references carry a verification mark from the Verifier (engine/verifier.py). Same-language verbal links cite shared Strong’s lexemes with their corpus frequency; cross-Testament links (Greek→Hebrew, e.g. Hebrews 13:10 and Hebrews 8:5) cannot share Strong’s numbers and are therefore tiered structural/typological and argued, never “verbal.” Two marks govern everything: ✦ = a human, public-domain source, quoted and named; ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)