Exodus 27 · Verse 1

Exodus 27:1

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.
Exodus 27:1, King James Version

Exodus 27:1 in other translations

BSB“You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.
WEB“You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits wide. The altar shall be square. Its height shall be three cubits.
ASVAnd thou shalt make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.
YLT‘And thou hast made the altar of shittim wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth--the altar is square--and three cubits its height.
DARBYAnd thou shalt make the altar of acacia-wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth; the altar shall be square; and the height thereof three cubits.
BBEAnd make an altar of hard wood, a square altar, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high.
WebsterAnd thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and its hight shall be three cubits.

What does Exodus 27:1 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 27:1-2

Ex 27:1-21. Altar for Burnt Offering.

1-2. 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 to them.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Introduction

The altar of burnt-offerings, and its dimensions, Exo 27:1; its horns, Exo 27:2; pans, shovels, etc., Exo 27:3; its grate and net work, Exo 27:4, Exo 27:5; its staves, Exo 27:6, Exo 27:7. Court of the tabernacle, with its pillars and hangings, Exo 27:9-15. Gate of the court, its pillars, hangings, length, breadth, and height, Exo 27:16-18. All the vessels used in the court of the tabernacle to be of brass, Exo 27:19. The Israelites to provide pure olive oil for the light, Exo 27:20. Every thing to be ordered by Aaron and his sons, Exo 27:21. Verse 1 Thou shalt make an altar - מזבח mizbeach, from זבח zabach, to slay: Septuagint, θυσιαστηριον, from θυσιαζω, to sacrifice or from θυω to kill, etc. See Clarke's note on Gen 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 27:1-8
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 of net-work like a sieve, and hung hollow, that the ashes might fall through. 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.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Exodus 27:1 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְעָשִׂ֥יתָve.'a.Si.taand you will makeH6213
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַha.miz.Be.achthe altarH4196
עֲצֵ֣י'a.Tzeiwood<s> ofH6086
שִׁטִּ֑יםshi.TimacaciaH7848
חָמֵשׁ֩cha.MeshfiveH2568
אַמּ֨וֹת'a.MotcubitsH520
אֹ֜רֶךְ'O.rekhlengthH753
וְחָמֵ֧שׁve.cha.Meshand fiveH2568
אַמּ֣וֹת'a.MotcubitsH520
רֹ֗חַבRo.chavbreadthH7341
רָב֤וּעַra.Vu.a'squareH7251
יִהְיֶה֙yih.Yehit will beH1961
הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַha.miz.Be.achthe altarH4196
וְשָׁלֹ֥שׁve.sha.Loshand [will be] threeH7969
אַמּ֖וֹת'a.MotcubitsH520
קֹמָתֽוֹ\׃ko.ma.Toheight itsH6967

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 27:1

  • Exodus 38:1-7

    And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof. And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass. And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass. And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it. …

  • Exodus 24:4

    And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

  • Exodus 40:29

    And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering; as the Lord commanded Moses.

  • 2 Samuel 24:18

    And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.

  • Ezekiel 43:13-17

    And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit is a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about shall be a span: and this shall be the higher place of the altar. And from the bottom upon the ground even to the lower settle shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser settle even to the greater settle shall be four cubits, and the breadth one cubit. So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward shall be four horns. And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof. …

  • Exodus 40:10

    And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy.

  • Exodus 20:24-26

    An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

  • Hebrews 13:10

    We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

  • 2 Chronicles 4:1

    Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1 The altar of burnt offering, with the vessels thereof.
9 The court of the tabernacle inclosed with hangings and pillars.
18 The measure of the court, and the furniture of brass.
20 The oil for the lamp.

altar of shittim wood.
20:24-26; 24:4; 38:1-7; 40:10,29; 2Sa 24:18; 2Ch 4:1; Eze 43:13-17
Heb 13:10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Exodus 27:1

    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.

  • Exodus 27:2

    And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.

Read all of Exodus 27

Exodus 27:1 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		HARÁS también altar de madera de Sittim de cinco codos de longitud, y de cinco codos de anchura: será cuadrado el altar, y su altura de tres codos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et tu feras l’autel de bois de sittim: il aura cinq coudées de long, et cinq coudées de large; l’autel sera carré, et sa hauteur sera de trois coudées.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und du sollst den Altar von Akazienholz machen: fünf Ellen die Länge, und fünf Ellen die Breite-quadratförmig soll der Altar sein-und drei Ellen seine Höhe.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Facies et altare de lignis setim, quod habebit quinque cubitus in longitudine, et totidem in latitudine, id est, quadrum, et tres cubitos in altitudine.