So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward shall be four horns.
Parallel translations
- WEB The upper altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar hearth and upward there shall be four horns.
- BSB The altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and four horns shall project upward from the hearth.
- NKJV The altar hearth is four cubits high, with four horns extending upward from the hearth.
- NASB The altar hearth shall be four cubits; and from the altar hearth shall extend upward four horns.
- NLT The top of the altar, the hearth, rises another 7 feet higher, with a horn rising up from each of the four corners.
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
The top of the altar, the hearth where offerings burn, is measured and crowned with four horns.
Overview
The hearth is the place where the sacrifice is consumed by fire, and the four horns mark it as a place of atonement and refuge. Horns in Scripture symbolize strength and were touched with sacrificial blood for cleansing. This altar foreshadows Christ, on whom the fire of judgment fell so that sinners might find mercy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Exod 27:2And 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.
- Lev 9:9And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him: and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar:
- Ps 118:27God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
- 1 Kgs 2:28Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
- Isa 29:7And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
- Isa 29:1–2Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
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Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.