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Tuesday, August 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Literal Standard Version

Exodus 27:2

And you have made its horns on its four corners, its horns are of the same, and you have overlaid it [with] bronze.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Altar;   Tabernacle;   Types;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Altars;   Altar of Burnt-Offering, the;   Brass, or Copper;   Horns;   Metals;   Types of Christ;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Altar;   Horn;   Urijah;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Altar;   Horn;   Tabernacle;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Altar;   Horn;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Pentateuch;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Altar;   Horn;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Leviticus;   Tabernacle;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Horn ;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - The Brazen Altar;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Altar;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Brass (brazen);   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Altar;   Horn;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Tabernacle, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Altar;   Corner;   Horn;   Horns of the Altar;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Altars forms of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Atonement, Day of;   Jethro;   Priest;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
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.
King James Version
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.
Lexham English Bible
And you will make its horns on its four corners; its horns will be of one piece with it, and you will overlay it with bronze.
New Century Version
Make each of the four corners of the altar stick out like a horn, in such a way that the corners with their horns are all one piece. Then cover the whole altar with bronze.
New English Translation
You are to make its four horns on its four corners; its horns will be part of it, and you are to overlay it with bronze.
Amplified Bible
"Make horns (horn-shaped projections) for it on its four corners; the horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.
New American Standard Bible
"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.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And thou shalt make it hornes in the foure corners thereof: the hornes shalbe of it selfe, and thou shalt couer it with brasse.
Legacy Standard Bible
You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of the same piece, and you shall overlay it with bronze.
Contemporary English Version
and make each of the four top corners stick up like the horn of a bull. Then cover the whole altar with bronze, including the four horns.
Complete Jewish Bible
Make horns for it on its four corners; the horns are to be of one piece with it; and you are to overlay it with bronze.
Darby Translation
And thou shalt make its horns at the four corners thereof; its horns shall be of itself; and thou shalt overlay it with copper.
Easy-to-Read Version
Make a horn for each of the four corners of the altar. Join each horn to its corner so that everything is one piece. Then cover the altar with bronze.
English Standard Version
And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.
George Lamsa Translation
And you shall make the horns of it on the four corners thereof; its horns shall be of the same; and you shall overlay it with brass.
Good News Translation
Make projections at the top of the four corners. They are to form one piece with the altar, and the whole is to be covered with bronze.
Christian Standard Bible®
Make horns for it on its four corners; the horns are to be of one piece. Overlay it with bronze.
Literal Translation
And you shall make its horns on its four corners. Its horns shall be a part of itself. And you shall overlay it with bronze.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
thou shalt make hornes vpon the foure corners of it, & shalt ouer laye it with brasse.
American Standard Version
And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof; the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.
Bible in Basic English
Put horns at the four angles of it, made of the same, plating it all with brass.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And thou shalt make vnto it hornes in his foure corners: his hornes shalbe of the same as it is of, and thou shalt couer it with brasse.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof; the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it; and thou shalt overlay it with brass.
King James Version (1611)
And thou shalt make the hornes of it vpon the foure corners thereof: his hornes shall be of the same: and thou shalt ouerlay it with brasse.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And thou shalt make the horns on the four corners; the horns shall be of the same piece, and thou shalt overlay them with brass.
English Revised Version
And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.
Berean Standard Bible
Make a horn on each of its four corners, so that the horns are of one piece, and overlay it with bronze.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe hornes schulen be bi foure corneris therof; and thou schalt hile it with bras.
Young's Literal Translation
And thou hast made its horns on its four corners, its horns are of the same, and thou hast overlaid it [with] brass.
Update Bible Version
And you shall make its horns on the four corners thereof; the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it: and you shall overlay it with bronze.
Webster's Bible Translation
And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: its horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.
World English Bible
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.
New King James Version
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.
New Living Translation
Make horns for each of its four corners so that the horns and altar are all one piece. Overlay the altar with bronze.
New Life Bible
Make horns for it on its four corners. They will be of one piece and covered with brass.
New Revised Standard
You shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And thou shalt make its horns upon its four corners, of the same, shall be its horns, - and thou shalt overlay it with copper.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And there shall be horns at the four corners of the same: and thou shalt cover it with brass.
Revised Standard Version
And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"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.

Contextual Overview

1"And you have made the altar of shittim wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth—the altar is square—and three cubits [is] its height. 2And you have made its horns on its four corners, its horns are of the same, and you have overlaid it [with] bronze.3And you have made its pots to remove its ashes, and its shovels, and its bowls, and its forks, and its fire-pans, even all its vessels you make of bronze. 4And you have made a grate of network of bronze for it, and have made four rings of bronze on the net on its four extremities, 5and have put it under the rim of the altar beneath, and the net has been up to the middle of the altar. 6And you have made poles for the altar, poles of shittim wood, and have overlaid them [with] bronze. 7And the poles have been brought into the rings, and the poles have been on the two sides of the altar in carrying it. 8You make it hollow [with] boards; as it has been showed [to] you on the mountain, so do they make [it].

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

horns of it upon the four corners thereof: The horns might have been designed not only for ornament, but to prevent the sacrifices from falling off, and to tie the victim to, previous to its being sacrificed. Exodus 29:12, Leviticus 4:7, Leviticus 4:18, Leviticus 4:25, Leviticus 8:15, Leviticus 16:18, 1 Kings 1:50, 1 Kings 2:28, Psalms 118:27, Hebrews 6:18

overlay it with brass: Numbers 16:38, Numbers 16:39, 1 Kings 8:64

Reciprocal: Exodus 30:2 - the horns Exodus 38:2 - he made Ezekiel 43:15 - four horns Zechariah 9:15 - the corners

Cross-References

Genesis 47:29
And the days of Israel are near to die, and he calls for his son, for Joseph, and says to him, "Now if I have found grace in your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh, and you have done kindness and truth with me; please do not bury me in Egypt,
Genesis 48:21
And Israel says to Joseph, "Behold, I am dying, and God has been with you, and has brought you back to the land of your fathers;
1 Samuel 20:3
And David swears again and says, "Your father has certainly known that I have found grace in your eyes, and he says, Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he is grieved; and yet, YHWH lives, and your soul lives, but—as a step between me and death."
Proverbs 27:1
Do not boast about tomorrow, || For you do not know what a day brings forth.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
All that your hand finds to do, with your power do, for there is no work, and plan, and knowledge, and wisdom in Sheol to where you are going.
Isaiah 38:1
In those days has Hezekiah been sick to death, and Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, comes to him and says to him, "Thus said YHWH: Give a charge to your house, for you [are] dying, and do not live."
Isaiah 38:3
and says, "Ah, now, O YHWH, please remember how I have habitually walked before You in truth, and with a perfect heart, and I have done that which [is] good in your eyes"; and Hezekiah weeps [with] a great weeping.
Mark 13:35
watch, therefore, for you have not known when the lord of the house comes, at evening, or at midnight, or at rooster-crowing, or at the morning;
James 4:14
who does not know the thing of tomorrow; for what is your life? For it is a vapor that is appearing for a little [while], and then is vanishing;

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Ver. 2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof,.... 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, from whence souls come to Christ for everlasting salvation:

his horns shall be of the same; that is, made of the same wood as the altar itself and so may lead to observe the like things: or "upwards out of it" b, the altar; prominent from it, as the Arabic version, and so the sacrifices could be bound to them, Psalms 118:27:

and thou shalt overlay it with brass; with plates of brass, that it may endure the fire, and preserve the wood from being burnt with it; this may denote not only the brightness, lustre, and glory of Christ, like the shining brass, but his great strength in bearing the sins of his people, and all the punishment due unto them, even the fire of divine wrath, without being consumed by it. Jarchi observes, that it was overlaid with brass, because it was to make atonement for the impudence of the forehead, which is as brass, Isaiah 48:4.

b ממנו "sursum exeo", Noldius, p. 615.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

(Compare Exodus 38:1-7.) The great altar which stood in the court immediately in front of the tabernacle was commonly called the altar of burnt-offering, because on it were burnt the whole burnt-offerings, and all those parts of the other animal sacrifices which were offered to the Lord. It was also called the brazen altar, because it was covered with bronze, in distinction from the golden altar or altar of incense Exodus 39:38-39; Exodus 40:5-6.

Exodus 27:2

His horns shall be of the same - These horns were projections pointing upward in the form either of a small obelisk, or of the horn of an ox. They were to be actually parts of the altar, not merely superadded to it. On them the blood of the sin-offering was smeared Exodus 29:12; Leviticus 4:7; Leviticus 8:15; Leviticus 9:9; Leviticus 16:18. To take hold of them appears to have been regarded as an emphatic mode of laying claim to the supposed right of sanctuary (Exodus 21:14 note; 1 Kings 1:50).

Exodus 27:3

Pans - Rather pots as in Exodus 38:3; 1 Kings 7:45. On the use to which these pots were put in disposing of the ashes of the altar, see Leviticus 1:16.

Basons - Vessels used for receiving the blood of the victims and casting it upon the altar (see Exodus 24:6; Leviticus 1:5; etc.).

Fleshhooks - These were for adjusting the pieces of the victims upon the altar (compare 1 Samuel 2:13).

Firepans - The same word is rendered snuffdishes, Exodus 25:38; Exodus 37:23 : censers, Leviticus 10:1; Leviticus 16:12; Numbers 4:14; Numbers 16:6, etc. These utensils appear to have been shallow metal vessels which were employed merely to carry burning embers from the brazen altar to the altar of incense.

Exodus 27:5

The compass of the altar - A shelf or projecting ledge, of convenient width, carried round the altar half way between the top and the base. It was supported all round its outer edge by a vertical net-like grating of bronze that rested on the ground.

Exodus 27:8

Hollow with boards - Slabs, or planks, rather than boards. The word is that which is used for the stone tables of the law Exodus 24:12; Exodus 31:18, not that applied to the boards of the tabernacle Exodus 26:15.

The brazen altar was a hollow casing, formed of stout acacia planks covered with plates of bronze, seven feet six in length and width and four feet six in height. Jewish as well as Christian authorities have supposed that, when it was fixed for use, it was filled up with earth or rough stones. If we connect this suggestion with the old rule regarding the altar of earth and the altar of stone given in Exodus 20:24-25, the woodwork might in fact be regarded merely as the case of the altar on which the victims were actually burned. The shelf round the sides Exodus 27:5 was required as a stage for the priests to enable them to carry on their work conveniently on the top of the altar. Hence, it is said of Aaron that he came down from the altar Leviticus 9:22. According to rabbinical tradition, there was a slope of earth at the south side banked up for the priest to ascend to the stage (compare Exodus 20:26).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 27:2. Thou shalt make the horns of it — The horns might have three uses:

1. For ornament.

2. To prevent carcasses, c., from falling off.

3. To tie the victim to, previously to its being sacrificed.

So David: Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar Psalms 118:27. Horns were much used in all ancient altars among the heathen, and some of them were entirely constructed of the horns of the beasts that had been offered in sacrifice; but such altars appear to be erected rather as trophies in honour of their gods. On the reverses of several medals we find altars represented with horns at the corners. There is a medal of Antoninus on the reverse of which is an altar, on which a fire burns, consecrated Divi Pio, where the horns appear on each of the corners.

There is one of Faustina, on which the altar and its horns are very distinct, the legend Pietas Augusta. All the following have altars with horns. One of Valerian, legend Consecratio; one of Claudius Gothicus, same legend; one of Quintillus, same legend; one of Crispina, with the legend Diis Genitalibus; and several others. See Numismatica Antiq., a MUSELLIO, under Consecratio, in the index.

Callimachus, in his Hymn to Apollo, line 60 introduces him constructing an altar of the horns of the animals slain by Diana: -

- πηξε δε βωμον

Εκ κεραων κ. τ. λ.


Martial has these words: Cornibus ara frequens.


 
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