1
“You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā ’eṯ- ham·miz·bê·aḥ šiṭ·ṭîm ‘ă·ṣê ham·miz·bê·aḥ yih·yeh rā·ḇū·a‘ ḥā·mêš ’am·mō·wṯ ’ō·reḵ wə·ḥā·mêš ’am·mō·wṯ rō·ḥaḇ wə·šā·lōš ’am·mō·wṯ qō·mā·ṯōw
Word by word17 · parsed
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular
The chapter’s signature verb. wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā, “and you shall make,” opens vv. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 — Moses is told five times to make. The altar is commanded, not improvised.
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
√ mizbêach — an altarArticleNounmasculine singular
mizbêaḥ (H4196) means literally “place of slaughter” — from the root zābaḥ, “to sacrifice.” The very name carries the function: this is where life is given up. The definite article assumes such a place must exist.
√ shiṭṭâh — the acacia (from its scourging thorns)Nounfeminine plural
šiṭṭîm (H7848), acacia — the desert hardwood used throughout the tabernacle. Gill makes the typological reach: a wood “incorruptible and durable,” which he reads of the humanity of Christ that “never did or will see corruption.” Whether one follows the figure or not, the durable, fire-resistant timber is the literal point Benson presses.
√ ʻêts — a tree (from its firmness)Nounmasculine plural construct
√ mizbêach — an altarArticleNounmasculine singular
√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
√ râbaʻ — to be quadrateVerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine singular
rāḇūa‘, “foured / square.” Ellicott notes that ancient altars were “either rectangular or circular, the square and the circle being regarded as perfect figures” — the shape itself meant completeness.
√ châmêsh — fiveNumberfeminine singular
√ ʼammâh — properly, a mother (iNounfeminine plural
’ammâh (H520), “cubit” — Strong’s notes the noun is “properly, a mother,” the forearm taken as the “mother” (the basic, generative unit) of measure. The five-by-five-by-three reckoning in cubits (≈ 7½ ft square, 4½ ft high) is no round-figure approximation but the precise dimensions repeated verbatim in the building account (Exodus 38:1).
√ ʼôrek — lengthNounmasculine singular
√ châmêsh — fiveConjunctive wawNumberfeminine singular
√ ʼammâh — properly, a mother (iNounfeminine plural
√ rôchab — width (literally or figuratively)Nounmasculine singular
√ shâlôwsh — threeConjunctive wawNumberfeminine singular
√ ʼammâh — properly, a mother (iNounfeminine plural
√ qôwmâh — heightNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
qōmāṯōw, “its height” — only three cubits (≈ 4½ ft). Ellicott observes that a “greater height would have made it difficult to arrange the victims upon the altar”; the perfection of a cube was sacrificed to the practical reach of the priest.