New King James Version
Exodus 27:1
1“You shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide—the altar shall be square—and its height shall be three cubits.
Exodus 27:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.
- New International Version (NIV)“Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Using acacia wood, construct a square altar 7-1/2 feet wide, 7-1/2 feet long, and 4-1/2 feet high.
Context of Exodus 27:1
“You shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide—the altar shall be square—and its height shall be three cubits. 2You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it. And you shall overlay it with bronze. 3Also you shall make its pans to receive its ashes, and its shovels and its basins and its forks and its firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze.
Read all of Exodus 27Exodus 27:1 word by word
וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ אֶת־הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ עֲצֵ֣י שִׁטִּ֑ים חָמֵשׁ֩ אַמּ֨וֹת אֹ֜רֶךְ וְחָמֵ֧שׁ אַמּ֣וֹת רֹ֗חַב רָב֤וּעַ יִהְיֶה֙ הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ וְשָׁלֹ֥שׁ אַמּ֖וֹת קֹמָתֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And thou shalt makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- an altarמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
- shittimשִׁטָּהshiţţâh shiţţîym · acaciaH7848
- woodעֵץ‛êts · tree: woodH6086
- fiveחָמֵשׁchâmêsh chămishshâh · fiveH2568
- cubitsאַמָּה'ammâh · cubitH520
- longאֹ֫רֶךְ'ôrek · lengthH753
- broadרֹ֫חַבrôchab · widthH7341
- shall be foursquareרָבַעrâba‛ · to squareH7251
- and the heightקוֹמָהqômâh · heightH6967
- threeשָׁלֹשׁshâlôsh shâlôsh shelôshâh shelôshâh · threeH7969
Cross-references for Exodus 27:1
- Exodus 20:24An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.
- Exodus 24:4And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
- Exodus 38:1He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood; five cubits was its length and five cubits its width—it was square—and its height was three cubits.
- Exodus 40:10You shall anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar. The altar shall be most holy.
- 2 Samuel 24:18And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
- 2 Chronicles 4:1Moreover he made a bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.
- Ezekiel 43:13“These are the measurements of the altar in cubits (the cubit is one cubit and a handbreadth): the base one cubit high and one cubit wide, with a rim all around its edge of one span. This is the height of the altar:
- Hebrews 13:10We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
Commentaries on Exodus 27:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Thou shalt make an altar - מזבח mizbeach, from זבח zabach, to slay: Septuagint, , from , to sacrifice or from to kill, etc. See Clarke's note on Genesis 8:20. Four square - As this altar was five cubits long and five broad, and the cubit is reckoned to be twenty-one inches, hence it must have been eight feet nine inches square, and about five feet three inches in height, the amount of three cubits, taken at the same ratio.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-8Verses 1-8 (Compare Exodus 38:1-7.) The great altar which stood in the court immediately in front of the tabernacle was commonly called the altar of burnt-offering, because on it were burnt the whole burnt-offerings, and all those parts of the other animal sacrifices which were offered to the Lord. It was also called the brazen altar, because it was covered with bronze, in distinction from the golden altar or altar of incense Exodus 39:38-39; Exodus…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The altar of burnt offerings. (1-8) The court of the tabernacle. (9-19) The oil for the lamps. (20-21) Verses 1-8 In the court before the tabernacle, where the people attended, was an altar, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God. It was of wood overlaid with brass. A grate of brass was let into the hollow of the altar, about the middle of which the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burnt. It was made…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-8The square altar for burnt offerings, like the tabernacle frames, was made of acacia wood covered with metal. Yet, to match the other features outside the sanctuary, they covered it with bronze (27:2–3; see 27:10, 17, 19).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-211-2. altar of shittim wood--The dimensions of this altar which was placed at the entrance of the sanctuary were nearly three yards square, and a yard and a half in height. Under the wooden frame of this chest-like altar the inside was hollow, and each corner was to be terminated by "horns"--angular projections, perpendicular or oblique, in the form of horns. The animals to be sacrificed were bound to these (Psa 118:27), and part of the blood was applied…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 27:1
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 27
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries