Solomon also made a bronze altar 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.
- KJV Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.
- BSB He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.
- NKJV Moreover he made a bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.
- NASB Then he made a bronze altar, twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and ten cubits in height.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Solomon makes a great bronze altar, twenty cubits square and ten high. A massive altar is provided for sacrifice.
Overview
The huge bronze altar in the temple court was the place for the burnt offerings central to Israel's worship. Its scale matched the grandeur of the temple and the volume of sacrifice. This altar of continual offering points forward to Christ, the final sacrifice who fulfills all the offerings it bore.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Kgs 8:64The same day the king made the middle of the court holy that was before Yahweh’s house; for there he offered the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too little to receive the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.
- Ezek 43:13–17These are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit is a cubit and a hand width): the bottom shall be a cubit, and the width a cubit, and its border around its edge a span; and this shall be the base of the altar.
- 2 Kgs 16:14–15The bronze altar, which was before Yahweh, he brought from the front of the house, from between his altar and Yahweh’s house, and put it on the north side of his altar.
- 1 Kgs 9:25Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he built to Yahweh three times per year, burning incense with them, on the altar that was before Yahweh. So he finished the house.
- 1 Kgs 8:22Solomon stood before Yahweh’s altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven;
- Exod 27:1–8“You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square: and its height shall be three cubits.
- 2 Chr 1:5Moreover the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before Yahweh’s tabernacle; and Solomon and the assembly were seeking counsel there.
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Christ at the center
Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
How 2 Chronicles 4:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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