Altar: (Heb. mizbe'ah, from a word meaning "to slay"), any structure of earth
(Ex. 20:24) or
unwrought stone (20:25) on which sacrifices were offered. Altars were generally erected in
conspicuous places (Gen. 22:9; Ezek. 6:3; 2 Kings 23:12; 16:4; 23:8; Acts 14:13). The word
is
used in Heb. 13:10 for the sacrifice offered upon it--the sacrifice Christ offered.
Paul found among the many altars erected in Athens one bearing the inscription, "To
the
unknown God" (Acts 17:23), or rather "to an [i.e., some] unknown God." The
reason for this
inscription cannot now be accurately determined. It afforded the apostle the occasion of
proclaiming the gospel to the "men of Athens."
The first altar we read of is that erected by Noah (Gen. 8:20). Altars were erected by
Abraham
(Gen. 12:7; 13:4; 22:9), by Isaac (Gen. 26:25), by Jacob (33:20; 35:1, 3), and by Moses
(Ex.
17:15, "Jehovah-nissi").
In the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple, two altars were erected.
(1.) The altar of burnt offering (Ex. 30:28), called also the "brasen altar"
(Ex. 39:39) and "the
table of the Lord" (Mal. 1:7).
This altar, as erected in the tabernacle, is described in Ex. 27:1-8. It was a hollow
square, 5
cubits in length and in breadth, and 3 cubits in height. It was made of shittim wood, and
was
overlaid with plates of brass. Its corners were ornamented with "horns" (Ex.
29:12; Lev. 4:18).
In Ex. 27:3 the various utensils appertaining to the altar are enumerated. They were made
of
brass. (Comp. 1 Sam. 2:13, 14; Lev. 16:12; Num. 16:6, 7.)
In Solomon's temple the altar was of larger dimensions (2 Chr. 4:1. Comp. 1 Kings 8:22,
64;
9:25), and was made wholly of brass, covering a structure of stone or earth. This altar
was
renewed by Asa (2 Chr. 15:8). It was removed by Ahaz (2 Kings 16:14), and
"cleansed" by
Hezekiah, in the latter part of whose reign it was rebuilt. It was finally broken up and
carried
away by the Babylonians (Jer. 52:17).
After the return from captivity it was re-erected (Ezra 3:3, 6) on the same place where it
had
formerly stood. (Comp. 1 Macc. 4:47.) When Antiochus Epiphanes pillaged Jerusalem the
altar
of burnt offering was taken away.
Again the altar was erected by Herod, and remained in its place till the destruction of
Jerusalem
by the Romans (70 A.D.).
The fire on the altar was not permitted to go out (Lev. 6:9).
In the Mosque of Omar, immediately underneath the great dome, which occupies the site of
the
old temple, there is a rough projection of the natural rock, of about 60 feet in its
extreme length,
and 50 in its greatest breadth, and in its highest part about 4 feet above the general
pavement.
This rock seems to have been left intact when Solomon's temple was built. It was in all
probability the site of the altar of burnt offering. Underneath this rock is a cave, which
may
probably have been the granary of Araunah's threshing-floor (1 Chr. 21:22).
(2.) The altar of incense (Ex. 30:1-10), called also "the golden altar" (39:38;
Num. 4:11), stood
in the holy place "before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony." On this
altar sweet spices
were continually burned with fire taken from the brazen altar. The morning and the evening
services were commenced by the high priest offering incense on this altar. The burning of
the
incense was a type of prayer (Ps. 141:2; Rev. 5:8; 8:3, 4).
This altar was a small movable table, made of acacia wood overlaid with gold (Ex. 37:25,
26).
It was 1 cubit in length and breadth, and 2 cubits in height.
In Solomon's temple the altar was similar in size, but was made of cedar-wood (1 Kings
6:20;
7:48) overlaid with gold. In Ezek. 41:22 it is called "the altar of wood."
(Comp. Ex. 30:1-6.)
In the temple built after the Exile the altar was restored. Antiochus Epiphanes took it
away, but
it was afterwards restored by Judas Maccabaeus (1 Macc. 1:23; 4:49). Among the trophies
carried away by Titus on the destruction of Jerusalem the altar of incense is not found,
nor is
any mention made of it in Heb. 9. It was at this altar Zacharias ministered when an angel
appeared to him (Luke 1:11). It is the only altar which appears in the heavenly temple
(Isa. 6:6;
Rev. 8:3,4).
.)