Exodus 27:1-8

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 27:1-8

As God intended in the tabernacle to manifest his presence among his people, so there they were to pay their devotions to him, not in the tabernacle itself (into that only the priests entered as God's domestic servants), but in the court before the tabernacle, where, as common subjects, they attended. There an altar was ordered to be set up, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God: and this altar was to sanctify their gifts. Here they were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 27:1

And thou shall make an altar of shittim wood ,.... This is a different altar from that made of earth before the tabernacle was built, Exodus 20:24 and from the altar of incense, Exodus 30:1 this was to offer burnt offerings on, and was placed at the door of the tabernacle, in the court of the people, where they brought their sacrifices to the priests to offer for them: it stood in the open air, as it was proper it should, that the smoke or the sacrifices might ascend up and scatter. This... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 27:2

Which were either for ornament, or for keeping what was laid upon the altar from falling off, or for the fastening of the sacrifice to them, and were what criminals fled to for refuge, and laid hold on; and 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,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 27:3

And thou shall make his pans to receive his ashes ,.... Not to receive them in as they fell, but to gather them up in, and carry them away; and this was done every morning about cockcrowing, not much sooner nor later F3 Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 8. & Maimon, in ib. : and his shovels ; to throw up the ashes together to be put into the pans; Jarchi describes this vessel to be like the cover of a brass pot, with a handle to it; the same we call a fire shovel: and his basins : to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 27:4

And thou shalt, make for it a grate of network of brass ,.... Or "sieve", as in Amos 9:9 , it was a plate of brass with holes in it, to let through either the blood that drained from the parts of the sacrifice, or the ashes of it; for 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,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 27:5

And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath ,.... That is, the grate was to be put within the square compass of the altar, in the hollow part of it, for the wood and sacrifice to be laid upon it: that the net may be even to the midst of the altar ; and as the altar was three cubits high, this net or grate was let down by chains to its rings a cubit and a half, and being of such a depth was capable of containing a great deal. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 27:6

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. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 27:7

And the staves shall be put into the rings ,.... Not into the rings of the grate, as Jarchi and others: though Dr. Lightfoot F6 Works, vol. 1. p. 722. thinks these came out of each corner through the altar frame, and hung out of the frame, and in these the staves being put, made the frame and the grate sure together, and so they were also carried together; but it seems rather, that as the grate had rings peculiar to that, to let it down and take it up, and with which it was carried,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 27:8

Hollow with boards shalt thou make it ,.... The frame of it being made of boards of shittim wood, there was nothing within side but the grate, which was put within the square, down into the middle of it, and so was light of carriage; though the Targum of Jonathan, and other Jewish writers, represent this hollow as filled up with dust and earth, to answer to the altar of earth Moses was before bid to make; but this seems quite contrary to the present direction: the hollowness of the altar may... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 27:1

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 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 more

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