Exodus 30:2

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

a cubit, the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof four square, shall it be, - and two cubits, the height thereof, of the same, shall be the horns thereof,

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Its length shall be a cubit, and its breadth a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it.

King James Version
A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.

Lexham English Bible
a cubit its length and a cubit its width—it will be square—and two cubits its height, its horns of one piece with it.

New Century Version
Make it square—eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide—and make it thirty-six inches high. The corners that stick out like horns must be one piece with the altar.

New English Translation
Its length is to be a foot and a half and its width a foot and a half; it will be square. Its height is to be three feet, with its horns of one piece with it.

Amplified Bible
"It shall be a cubit long and a cubit wide. It shall be square and it shall be two cubits high. Its horns of one piece with it.

New American Standard Bible
"Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit; it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of one piece with it.

Geneva Bible (1587)
The length therof a cubite and the breadth thereof a cubite (it shalbe foure square) and the height thereof two cubites: the hornes thereof shalbe of the same,

Legacy Standard Bible
Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit; it shall be square. And its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of the same piece.

Contemporary English Version
Make it eighteen inches square and thirty-six inches high, and make each of its four corners stick up like the horn of a bull.

Complete Jewish Bible
It is to be eighteen inches square and three feet high; its horns are to be of one piece with it.

Darby Translation
a cubit the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof—square shall it be; and two cubits its height; of itself shall be its horns.

Easy-to-Read Version
You must make the altar square—1 cubit long and 1 cubit wide. It must be 2 cubits high. There will be horns at the four corners. These horns must be made as one piece with the altar.

English Standard Version
A cubit shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it.

George Lamsa Translation
A cubit long, and a cubit wide; foursquare shall it be; and its height shall be two cubits; the horns thereof shall be of one piece of the same material.

Good News Translation
It is to be square, 18 inches long and 18 inches wide, and it is to be 36 inches high. Its projections at the four corners are to form one piece with it.

Christian Standard Bible®
It must be square, eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide; it must be thirty-six inches high. Its horns must be of one piece with it.

Literal Translation
It shall be a cubit in length and a cubit in width; it shall be square. And its height shall be two cubits, its horns from itself.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
a cubyte longe & brode, eauen foure squared, and two cubytes hye with his hornes,

American Standard Version
A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be; and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it.

Bible in Basic English
The altar is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high, and its horns are to be made of the same.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
A cubite long, and a cubite brode, eue foure square shall it be, and two cubites hye: the hornes therof shall proceede out of it.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be; and two cubits shall be the height thereof; the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it.

King James Version (1611)
A cubite shall bee the length thereof, and a cubite the breadth thereof, (foure square shall it bee) and two cubits shalbe the height thereof: the hornes thereof shalbe of the same.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And thou shalt make it a cubit in length, and a cubit in breadth: it shall be square; and the height of it shall be of two cubits, its horns shall be of the same piece.

English Revised Version
A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it.

Berean Standard Bible
It is to be square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns must be of one piece.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and the auter schal haue a cubit of lengthe, and another cubit of brede, that is foure cornerid, and twei cubitis in heiythe; corneris schulen come forth of the auter.

Young's Literal Translation
a cubit its length, and a cubit its breadth, (it is square), and two cubits its height; its horns [are] of the same.

Update Bible Version
A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the width thereof; foursquare it shall be; and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it.

Webster's Bible Translation
A cubit [shall be] its length, and a cubit its breadth; foursquare shall it be; and two cubits [shall be] its hight: its horns [shall be] of the same.

World English Bible
Its length shall be a cubit, and its breadth a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it.

New King James Version
A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width--it shall be square--and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it.

New Living Translation
Make it 18 inches square and 36 inches high, with horns at the corners carved from the same piece of wood as the altar itself.

New Life Bible
It will be as long and as wide as a man's arm and as high as a man's waist. Its horns will be of one piece with it.

New Revised Standard
It shall be one cubit long, and one cubit wide; it shall be square, and shall be two cubits high; its horns shall be of one piece with it.

Douay-Rheims Bible
It shall be a cubit in length, and another in breadth, that is, four square, and two in height. Horns shall go out of the same.

Revised Standard Version
A cubit shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth; it shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height; its horns shall be of one piece with it.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit, it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of one piece with it.

Contextual Overview

¹ And thou shalt make an altar, for burning incense, of acacia wood, shalt thou make it: ² a cubit, the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof four square, shall it be, - and two cubits, the height thereof, of the same, shall be the horns thereof, ³ And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof,-and thou shalt make to it a border of gold round about. ⁴ And, two rings of gold, shalt thou make to it, under the border thereof upon the two corners thereof, shalt thou make them on the two sides thereof, - so shall they become receptacles for the staves, to lift it therewith. ⁵ And thou shalt make the staves of acacia wood, - and overlay them with gold. ⁶ And thou shalt place it before the veil, which is by the ark of the testimony, - before the propitiatory which is upon the testimony, where I will meet thee. ⁷ And Aaron shall burn thereon fragrant incense, - morning by morning, when he trimmeth the lamps, shall he burn it; ⁸ and, when Aaron lighteth the lamps, between the evenings, shall he burn it, - a continual incense before Yahweh, to your generations. ⁹ Ye shall not cause to ascend thereupon strange incense, nor an ascending-sacrifice, nor a meal-offering, - and a drink offering, shall ye not pour out thereupon. ¹⁰ But Aaron shall put a propitiatory-covering upon the horns thereof, once in the year: of the blood of the sin-bearer for propitiatory-coverings, once in the year, shall he put a propitiatory-covering thereupon to your generations, most holy, it is to Yahweh.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the horns: Exodus 27:2

Reciprocal: Exodus 29:12 - the horns

Cross-References

Genesis 16:2
So then Sarai said unto Abram Behold, I pray thee, Yahweh hath restrained me, from bearing, go in I pray thee unto, my handmaid, peradventure I may be built up from, her, And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

Genesis 20:18
For Yahweh, had restrained from bearing, every female a of the house of Abimelech, - because of Sarah, wife of Abraham.

Genesis 25:21
So then Isaac made entreaty unto Yahweh in behalf of his wife, for she was, barren, - and Yahweh suffered himself to be entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

Genesis 29:31
And, when Yahweh saw that Leah was hated, he granted her to bear children, - whereas, Rachel, was barren.

Genesis 30:5
and Bilhah conceived, and bare unto Jacob a son;

Genesis 30:6
and Rachel said God hath vindicated me. Moreover also he hath hearkened unto my voice, and hath given me a son. For this cause, called she his name Dan.

Genesis 30:13
and Leah said, For my happiness, surely happy have daughters pronounced me. So she called his name, Asher.

Genesis 30:14
Then went Reuben, in the days of the wheat harvest, and found mandrakes, in the field, and brought them in unto Leah his mother, and Rachel said unto Leah, Pray give me, stone of the mandrakes of thy son

Genesis 31:36
And it was vexing to Jacob and he contended with Laban, - and Jacob responded and said to Laban, What was my trespass, what my sin, that thou shouldst have come burning after me?

Genesis 50:19
And Joseph said unto them - Do not fear, - although in place of God, I am.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, four square shall it be,.... It was one Jewish square cubit, which is in surface, according to Bishop Cumberland, three English square feet, and about forty seven square inches; which may denote the solidity, perfection, and extensiveness of Christ's priesthood, it being unchangeable, firm, and lasting; and which passes not from one to another, and the which makes something perfect, which the law and priesthood of Aaron could not, even perfects for ever them that are sanctified; and is very extensive; the virtue of it reaches to all the elect of God, from the beginning of the world to the end of it; not his sacrifice only, but his intercession, which is principally respected; that is made for all the people of God, in all places, and in all ages, and for all things for them, both for this life, and that which is to come:

and two cubits shall be the height thereof; so that it was as high again as it was long and broad: Christ, our interceding high priest, is made higher than the heavens:

the horns thereof shall be of the same; of the same wood the altar itself was made: these were a sort of spires that rose up at the four corners of the altar; and the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases the words,

"and of it its horns shall be erect;''

which were chiefly for decoration and ornament; and may denote the honour and glory of Christ, as well as his power and ability to save, to the uttermost, all that come to God by him, or lay hold upon him, since he ever lives to make intercession.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Exodus 37:25-28; Exodus 40:26-27. The altar of incense was to be a casing of boards of shittim wood Exodus 25:5, Exodus 25:18 inches square and three feet in height (taking the cubit as 18 inches), entirely covered with plates of gold. Four “horns” were to project upward at the corners like those of the altar of burnt-offering Exodus 27:2. A crown or moulding of gold was to run round the top. On each of two opposite sides there was to be a gold ring through which the staves were to be put when it was moved from place to place.

Exodus 30:4

By the two corners thereof - Not corners. See the margin. The sense appears to be: And two gold rings shalt thou make for it under its moulding; on its two sides shalt thou make them (i. e. one ring on each side).

Exodus 30:6

The place for the altar of incense was outside the veil, opposite to the ark of the covenant and between the candlestick on the south side and the showbread table on the north Exodus 40:22-24. It appears to have been regarded as having a more intimate connection with the holy of holies than the other things in the holy place; and the mention of the mercy-seat in this verse, if we associate with it the significance of incense as figuring the prayers of the Lord’s people Psalms 141:2; Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3-4, seems to furnish additional pound for an inference that the incense altar took precedence of the table of showbread and the candlestick.

Exodus 30:7

The lamps - See Exodus 25:37.

Exodus 30:7-8

The offering of the incense accompanied that of the morning and evening sacrifice. The two forms of offering symbolized the spirit of man reaching after communion with Yahweh, both in act and utterance. See Psalms 141:2.

Exodus 30:9

By this regulation, the symbolism of the altar of incense was kept free from ambiguity. atonement was made by means of the victim on the brazen altar in the court ontside; the prayers of the reconciled worshippers had their type within the tabernacle.

Exodus 30:10

See the marginal references.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 30:2. Four-square — That is, on the upper or under surface, as it showed four equal sides; but it was twice as high as it was broad, being twenty-one inches broad, and three feet six inches high. It was called, not only the altar of incense, but also the golden altar, Numbers 4:11. For the crown, horns, staves, &c., see on the altar of burnt-offering, chap. xxvii. Exodus 27:1; Exodus 27:1, &c.