You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it. And you shall overlay it with bronze.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it; and you shall overlay it with brass.
- KJV 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.
- BSB Make a horn on each of its four corners, so that the horns are of one piece, and overlay it with bronze.
- NASB You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.
- NLT Make horns for each of its four corners so that the horns and altar are all one piece. Overlay the altar with bronze.
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
Horns were made at the altar's four corners, of one piece with it, and overlaid with bronze. These horns held significance for sacrifice and refuge.
Overview
The altar's horns, integral to its structure, were used in applying sacrificial blood and were grasped by those seeking sanctuary (1 Kings 1:50). They symbolized the altar's power and the refuge atonement provides. The refuge found at the altar's horns ultimately points to the safety sinners find in Christ's atoning sacrifice.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 118:27Yahweh is God, and he has given us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar.
- 1 Kgs 1:50Adonijah was afraid because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and hung onto the horns of the altar.
- Exod 29:12You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar.
- Lev 4:7The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before Yahweh, which is in the Tent of Meeting; and he shall pour out all of rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
- Lev 4:25The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
- Heb 6:18that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.
- Lev 4:18He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before Yahweh, that is in the Tent of Meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
- Lev 8:15He killed it; and Moses took the blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement for it.
- 1 Kgs 2:28This news came to Joab; for Joab had followed Adonijah, although he didn’t follow Absalom. Joab fled to Yahweh’s Tent, and held onto the horns of the altar.
- Num 16:38–39even the censers of these sinners against their own lives. Let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered them before Yahweh. Therefore they are holy. They shall be a sign to the children of Israel.”
- Lev 16:18“He shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the bull’s blood, and some of the goat’s blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar.
- 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.
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 27:2 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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