The works of the Reverend and learned John Lightfoot D. D., late Master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge such as were, and such as never before were printed : in two volumes : with the authors life and large and useful tables to each volume : also three maps : one of the temple drawn by the author himself, the others of Jervsalem and the Holy Land drawn according to the author's chorography, with a description collected out of his writings.

CHAP. XXXIV. Of the Altar of Burnt-offering. (Book 34)

THE Altar that Moses made▪ in the Wilderness, because it was to be carried up and down, was of light materials and of small dimensions: for a 1.1 it was of Shittim wood, and but five cubits square, and three cubits high, with a Grate of Brass hanging within it for the Fire and Sacrifice to lye upon. And therefore when it is called the brazen Altar, 2 Chon. I. 5. it is because it was plated over with brass, Exod. XXXVIII. 1. But when Solomon came to build the Temple, and there was to be no more removing of the Tabernacle of the Congregation as there had been before, b 1.2 he made the Altar far larger and weightier than that of Moses: namely of Brass and of twenty cubits square and ten cubits high.

I shall not be curious to inquire whether Solomon's Altar were of brass indeed or no; or whether it is said to be of brass, though it were of stone, because it succeeded instead of Moses his brazen one, as c 1.3 some Jews conceive, d 1.4 or as others, because though it were of stone, yet it was over-laid with brass: I see no reason why it should not be properly and literally understood that it was of massie brass indeed: for why may we not well conclude by the plating of Moses his Altar over with brass, that it was made of wood only for lightness, and had it not been for that, it had been all of brass as well as the outside: And that that outside plating, might be a warrant to Solomon to make his Altar of massie brass. It is true indeed that there is a command of making an Altar of Earth or Stone, Exod. XX. but it may very well be questioned, whether these Altars meant not such as were made upon special and emergent occasions, namely upon the Lords singular appearing to particular persons, as to Gideon, Mano••b and others, who upon such ap∣pearances built Altars and sacrificed, Judg. VI. 26. & XIII. 19. 1 King. XVIII. 30, 31.

There is but little to be discovered about the exact fashion and Fabrick of Solomon's Altar, because the Scripture speaketh very concisely of it: For it saith only thus, He made an Altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the bredth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof, 2 Chron. IV. I. So that it was four times as big in its square, as was the Altar made by Moses, and three times as high, and a cubit over: but whether it were exactly of the fashion of that of Moses, as whether the middle space within its square were hollow like his, or made up with stone, and whether it had a grated Hearth like his or a solid, and what was the manner of the ascending and going up to it, may be rather apprehended by supposal, than certainly known by any scriptu∣ral description or demonstration.

The Sacrifices that are recorded to have been offered sometimes at once, both upon the Altar of Moses and that of Solomon, are exceeding wonderful, and may cause a Man to marvail, how so vast numbers should be laid and burnt in so little a space, as even the larger of them was of, though a very large time should be allowed for it: as Solomon's thousand Sacrifices upon Moses his Altar, 1 King. III. 4. and the peoples seven hundred Oxen and seven thousand Sheep upon Solomon's, 2 Chron. XV. 11, &c. Moses his Altar was but five cubits square, and how long a time might be required for a thousand Beasts whole Burnt-offerings, for so they are called, to be burnt in so small a compass? David Kimchi upon that place and story Glosseth thus, He offered not all these Sacrifices in one day, but before he returned again from Gibeon to Jerusalem: yet it seemeth by our Rabbins that they took it to be done at one time. The greatest solemnities that ever were at Jeru∣salem lasted ordinarily but seven days; or at the utmost but fourteen, when they would double their Festivity, as at the Dedication of the Temple, 1 King. VIII. 65. now grant Solomon fourteen, nay twice fourteen days stay at Gibeon, yet will it seem difficult that he should dispatch so many Sacrifices even in that time. And at his own Altar at Jerusalem how vast is the number of Sacrifices, that is mentioned, 1 King. VIII. 63. And Solomon offered a Sacrifice of Peace-offerings, which he offered to the Lord, two and twenty thousand Oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand Sheep: so the King and all the Children of Israel dedicated the House of the Lord, The same day did the King hallow the middle of the Court, &c.

Allow the whole fourteen days that are spoken of in vers. 65. unto this business, and yet the Text seems to limit it to a shorter time; and for all that, a Man may rather stand amazed at such a thing as this doing, than find out any satisfactory apprehension how it should be done. Sure the divine fire upon the Altar, was of a more singular quickness of dispatch than ordinary fires: or else I know not what can be said to these things. The Jews do reckon several wonders that were continually acted at the Temple, as

that no Flies infested that place, though there were so much slaughtering of Beasts there, and that the smoke of the Altar always went straight up and was never blown aside by the wind, &c. which though it may be they are the less believed for the relaters sakes, yet certainly well weighed in themselves they carry very good sense and reason in them. For who would have been able in the Summer to have stood in the Court near the Altar where there was so much blood shed, and flesh stirring, if the slaughter place there had been troubled with stink, Flies and Wasps, as our common Slaughter-houses are? And how reekey and smokey a place would the Temple and all the places about it have been, and how would those that attended the service, have been choaked and stifled, and no Man able to have indured in the Court, if the smoke from off the Altar had been blown up and down with every puff of wind, as we ordinarily see smoke to be? So that for the prevention of such unconveniences as these which would have made the service into∣lerable and unaccessible, we cannot but acknowledge a continual miraculous providence and dispensation. And so in this particular that we have in hand: that multitudes of Sacrifices, such as were especially at the three Festivals, should be dispatched by the fire within the time allotted for the offering of such Sacrifices, is rather to be ascribed to mira∣cle than to any thing else. The Altar is called Ariel, the Lords Lion, as we shall observe by and by, and it was a Lion of a very quick devouring.

Now whereas it is said, That Solomon did hallow the middle of the Court that was before the House of the Lord, for there he offered Burnt-offerings and Meat-offerings and the fat of the Peace-offerings because the brazen Altar that was before the Lord was too little to receive them: lay this also in too, and yet it will be difficult enough to apprehend the dispatch of so many thousand Sacrifices in so short a time, if this consideration be not also laid in therewithal. But the question that is most ordinarily raised out of these words is, in what sense to understand this hallowing of the middle of the Court: whether he burnt the Sacrifices upon the very Pavement, as is the opinion of Rabbi Judah, or whether he set up Moses's Altar by his own Altar and offered on it, or whether he built an Altar of stone by his brazen one: for these opinions are also held; but methinks the greater question is about the place, and what is meant by the middle of the Court? Upon which quaere, these two things, may first be taken into observation. 1. That fire from Hea∣ven in the time of David, had appointed out the exact place of offering Sacrifice or of the Altar, 1 Chron. XXI. 1. and to go about that piece of service in any other place of the Court, required either a prophetical warrant, or a dispensation through meer neces∣sity, both which dispensers concurred here. 2. That this place which Solomon hallowed in the Court, was hallowed by the very service performed upon it; The Altar of Moses was hallowed at its first setting up, by being annointed, and so do the Jews, not with∣out good ground, assert that Solomon's Altar was hallowed likewise: but this necessita∣ted place, for so let me call it, which Solomon was constrained to set apart for that ser∣vice, was not so served, but his very sacrificing there did hallow the place: namely for such a present imployment, but not for future. And so the current of the Text may be interpreted, he hallowed the middle of the Court, for there he offered Burnt-offerings: so that whereas the other Altar being anointed, sanctified the gift, this extraordinary Altar did not so much sanctifie the offering at the first, as was sanctified by it: And so the Temple after the return out of the Babylonian Captivity and all the Utensils belonging to it, were sanctified by the very service, for there was neither divine fire, nor any cloud of glory, nor any anointing Oyl to sanctifie them.

The middle of the Court which Solomon hallowed, I suppose is to be expounded in the largest acceptation of either of the words, both the middle, and the Court: for the word the middle of a thing in the Scripture language, is not always taken for the very Center of the thing mentioned, but for any part within that thing, be it in whatsoever it will, as in the middle of the Land, and in the middle of the Congregation, meaneth but within the Land, and in the Congregation: So is the phrase to be understood here, that Solomon hallowed the Court in any part of it for the burning of the Sacrifices, though the precise compass of the Altar, was fixedly pointed out as the only place for such a purpose, by fire from Heaven: And as for the word the Court, the present occasion doth seem to extend the sense of it to the whole compass of the holy ground: for it we look upon the vast and infinite number of Sacrifices that were to be slain and offered, we can do no less, and all little enough too, than allow the whole compass of the holy ground for it: And the word the Court, standeth not in opposition to the Moun∣tain of the House, but both the Mountain of the House, and the Court it self, are both called by that general name the Court in contradiction to the very body of the Temple.

Ezekiel's Altar is said to be twelve cubits long, and twelve cubits broad, square in the four squares thereof, Ezek. XLIII. 16. which g 1.5 the Talmudicks do reckon up to four and twenty cubits upon every side of the square: for they suppose that the account is not as

measuring from corner to corner on every side, but measuring from the very midst or center of the Altar to any of the sides, and thither was twelve cubits: And the reason of this their construction is, because it is said 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Towards the four squares of it. It might seem (say they) that the whole Altar was but twelve cubits square in all: but when it is said 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Towards the four squares thereof, it sheweth, that he measureth from the middle, twelve cubits every way: And of this square, namely of four and twenty cubits on every side, they hold the Altar to have been after the Captivity, and so they describe it. R. Jose saith, At the first the Altar was but twenty eight cubits on every side: And according to this measure it narrowed in its rising till the fire place was but twenty cubits square: But when the Children of the Captivity came up, they added thereunto four cubits on the North, and four cubits on the West, like the fashion of the letter γ Gamma.

As Solomon's Altar was ten cubits high, 2 Chr. IV. 1. so also was the Altar at the second Temple, and so the Jerusalem Talmud doth witness, saying 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 h 1.6 The height of the Altar was ten cubits: And of that height is Ezekiel's Altar, whose copy the Children of the Captivity did very much follow: Now as it was impossible for the Priests when the Altar was so high, to stand on the ground and to serve upon it, so had they an express prohibition against going up to the Altar by steps, lest their nakedness under their loose Coats should be discovered, Exod. XX. 26. Therefore as a temper between these two exigents, there was a gentle rising made from the ground to the top of the Altar, whereon the Priests might go up to the Altar to serve upon it; and this rising was called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Kebesh which may well be Englished The rise of the Altar.

The Gloss upon the Mishneh in the Treatise Zabim, and R. Nathan from thence hath taught us to understand the manner of this rising, by that instance and description that they give of the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 i 1.7 That it is a great Plank that Mariners have, that when they will come down out of the Ship, they descend, or come down upon it, to save their feet from touching of the water: and this Plank is called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Kebesh: And so in the Treatise of the Sabbath they have a case, about a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Kebesh, or such a Plank: k 1.8 Doth an Idolater make a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Descent for himself, to go down by? an Israelite may go down after him. But doth he make it for the Israelite? it is not lawful for him to go upon it: There is an example of Rabban Gamaliel and the Elders, they were to come out of a Ship, and an Idolater had made 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 a descent for himself, Rabban Gamaliel and the Elders came down upon it. So that by this parallel we may observe the manner and nature of this 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Kebesh or rise to the Altar, that it was a sloping gentle rising, but made of stone, whereby the Priests might go up to the Altar, without danger of discovering their nakedness: we might call it a rising Cawsey to the top of the Altar; for so doth l 1.9 Maymony call the Arched Cawsey over the Valley of Kidron to Mount Olivet by which the Red Cow was brought to her burning by this very name 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Kebesh.

Now as for the manner and form of the Altar and of this rising up to it, and for the right understanding of all, which is not very facil, divers things are to be observed. As,

1. There are reckoned these several parts of the Altar. First, The Foundation, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which also in Ezekiel is called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 The bosom or bottom upon the ground, Ezek. XLIII. 13, 14. This was one cubit high from the ground, and one cubit broad: and the length of this Foundation upon every side of the square was two and thirty cubits. And there∣fore whereas it was said before, that the bredth of the Altar and its rise was sixty two cubits from North to South, it is to be taken, as that the rise is to be accounted a thing different from the Altar it self, and lying a great space further out than the compass of the Altar did, as we shall see anon: Now this Foundation which is said to be two and thirty cubits square every way, did not hold the compleat measure of a cubit broad in every part of it, but in the South-East corner of it, it wanted somewhat to make the corner a perfect Angle answerable to the other corners. And this is that which the Tal∣mud meaneth when it saith 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 m 1.10 The Foundation was a perfect walk, all along on the North side, and all along on the South: but on the South it wanted one cubit, and on the East one cubit. That is, were a Man upon the Foundation, he might walk upon all the length of the North side, and might turn at the North-West corner, and so walk on the West quarter: but would he do so, to go off from the South quarter to the East, he could not, for when he was to turn at the South-East Angle, there was no such Angle there, as there was at the other corners, for it was broken off, and wanted a cubit on the South∣side, and a cubit on the East, which two cubits should have met to have brought the corner into a sharpe point like the others. Now the reason of the defect is given by them else where, to be because, that very corner only of all the Altar was not in the Tribe of Benjamin, but in the Tribe of Judah. For they held it necessary that all the Altars should be in the lot of Benjamin, because of those words of Jacob, a 1.11 Benjamin shall raven as a Wolf, in the morning he shall devour the prey, and in the evening he shall divide the spoil: which how they understood of the Sanctuary and Altar being built

within Benjamin's lot, appears by the Gloss that the Jerusalem Targum and Jonathan put upon it. Benjamin, say they, is likened to a devouring Wolf, because he was a strong Tribe: In his Country the divine Majesty of the Lord of all the world was to dwell, and in his possession was the House of the Sanctuary to be built; In the morning the Priests shall offer the daily Lamb, till it be the fourth hour of the day, and between the Evenings they shall offer the other Lamb, and at Even they shall divide what remaineth of the rest of the Sacrifices, and every one shall eat his portion. But more copiously in the Treatise Zevachin or con∣cerning Sacrifices, where this very point about the want of this corner of the Altar is copiously discussed. The fifth Chapter of that Book, setteth it self purposely to de∣scribe the several places where the several Sacrifices were slain beside the Altar: and after other things it falls upon the question that is before us about this desicient Angle of the Altar, and it handles and determines it thus, o 1.12 The South-East corner had no foun∣dation: what was the reason? Rabbi Eliezer saith, because it was not in the portion of the Ravener: As Rab. Samuel the Son of Rabbi Isaac saith 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 The Altar took up one cubit in the portion of Judah: Rab. Levi bar Chama saith, R. Chama bar Chaninah saith there went a line out of the portion of Judah, and entred upon the portion of Benjamin. And Righteous Benjamin was troubled at it, as it is said 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 (The Glossers render it, He was careful for it every day) Yet Righteous Benjamin obtained to become 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Host to the holy blessed God as it is said; And he shall dwell between his shoulders: The meaning of which passage is to this purpose: that the line that parted the lots or portions of the two Tribes Judah and Benjamin, came just over at this point of the Altar, that if this Angle of the Foundation had been made like the other, a cubit of the Altar would have been in the lot of Judah, which they had no Scripture warrant for, for the Altar was to be in the lot of the Ravenor, that is of Benjamin that should raven as a Wolf, therefore they chose rather to make no Angle at all at this point of the Foundation, than to make it, since it would fall in the portion of Judah.

As this South-East point of the Foundation was remarkable for this, that it had no corner, so was the South-West corner of it remarkable for another thing, and that was, for two holes that were in it near to the Angles point, one upon the West Foundation, and the other upon the South, into which the blood that was poured upon the Founda∣tion did run, and so into a sink or common-shore under ground, which emptied it self into the Valley of Kidron.

2. The base or foundation having thus risen one cubit from the ground and carried a cubit bredth round about, but only in the Angle that hath been mentioned, the square of the body of the Altar, was grown then, a cubit narrower on every side, and so it was but thirty cubits upon every side of the square: and thus it held for five cubits high, and then it narrowed one cubit more, and this narrowing was called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the Circuit of the Altar: And there the square was but eight and twenty cubits on every side: But here the Talmuds measure differeth from the measure of Ezekiel, which though Rabbi So∣lomon observeth, yet he concludeth that the measure in the Talmud was the true measure in the second Temple. Ezekiel saith, That from the bottom upon the ground, to the lower settle were two cubits, whereas the Talmud saith but one, and from the lower settle to the higher, Ezekiel reckoneth four cubits, but the Talmud five: In which difference in the particulars yet there is agreement in the main summ, and both of them do raise the Cir∣cuit of the Altar six cubits high, and therefore we shall not spend time to reconcile them here, but leave them to be taken up by and by; only we cannot pass over the word that Ezekiel useth, for both the Foundation and the Circuit, and that is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Azarah which is the common word that is used for the Court: Because that as the people did tread in the Court at the time of the service, so did the Priests upon these ledges or sides of the Altar: especially upon the higher, which was called the Circuit of the Altar, when they went about it to besprinkle the horns of it with the blood of the Sacrifices: The manner of which action the Talmudick Chapter lately cited, giveth us the relation of, in the Mish∣ueh, in these words, p 1.13 The Sin-offering of the Congregation, or of a private person, and the Goats, offered at the beginnings of the months, or at the solemn times, their slaughter was on the North side, of the Altar, and the taking of their blood in some of the Vessels of the service was on the North side, and it required a fourfold putting on the four horns. How was this done? He went up the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 rise of the Altar, and turned off to the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 circuit of it: He went to the South-East horn, and then to the North-East, so to the North-West, and lastly to the South-West, and the blood that was left he poured upon the Foundation on the South side: Either of these ledges the Rabbins sometimes call 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 q 1.14 Malben, either because they were as sloors whereon the Priests trod, for so the word is sometimes taken, or because they* 1.15 were often rub'd to keep them white, since there was so much blood sprinkled on them: s 1.16 For the whole Altar was whited over twice a year, namely at the Passover and at the Feast of Tabernacles. Rabbi saith, that it was rubbed with a Map on the eve of every Sabbath.

3. A cubit height above this upper ledge, which was called the Circuit, there was a narrowing again, a cubit bredth, and there began the horns of the Altar, and now the square was but six and twenty cubits upon every side. The horns were at every corner a cubit square being hollow, and rising a cubit upward: for it is a usual saying among the Jews that 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 t 1.17 The height of every horn was five hands bredth, or a common cubit, which is to be taken so as that the horns rose but one cubit straight up from their Foundation or first beginning, abating by degrees from a cubit square in the bottom, into a Pyramidical sharp, but so as that for one cubit height it rose straight, and then pointed outward like the tip of a horn: The lowest part of these horns, was seven cubits from the ground, and therefore these words, bind the Sacrifice with cords to the horns of the Altar, Psal. CXVIII. can hardly be taken in propriety, as if the Sacrifice stood tied to the Altar till it was offered; but as the Chaldee paraphraseth it, it meaneth, Tie the Lamb that is to be offered, with cords till ye come to offer him, and sprinkle his blood upon the horns of the Altar. Joah in fear of his life is said to have fled to the Altar, and to lay hold upon the horns of it. 1 King. II. 29. in which passage the Hebrew Doctors say he was doubly deceived, First, in that he thought to have refuge and escaping, for wilful murder; and Secondly, in that he looked for safety by taking hold of it, whereas the refuge of the Altar, was on the top of it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 u 1.18 Our Rabbins say, saith David Kimchi, the Altar was no refuge but for Man∣slaughter committed unawares and but on the top of it. But whether Joab or they were the likelier to be deceived in this thing, I leave to them to discuss between them: But this certainly cannot go unobserved, that God in giving of the pattern of the Altar, was so punctual for the making of horns to it in the corners of it, as that that is a special charge, both about the Altar of Burnt-Offering, Exod. XXVII. 2. Thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: And also about the Altar of Incense, Exod. XXX. 2. The horns thereof shall be of the same. Now what the Lord intended to signifie by this so exact a prescription, it is not good to be too bold to go about to determine, yet we may not unprofitably look upon them as a lesson for instruction: reading to us that as the Altar signifieth Christ, who offered himself upon himself, the manhood upon the Altar of the God-head, and as the double Altar, of Sacrifice and Incense typified the offering up of Christ at his death, and the continual Inscense of his mediation, so the horns of both Altars may well be conceived to signifie, the dignity vigor and merit of his death and mediation: upon which whosoever layeth hold by assured Faith shall escape condemnation: and unto which (as the Priests to these horns atevery Sacrifice mentioned) a sinner in every service is to make his address and application.

It is not an improper conception of Rabbi Solomon, about the Law concerning the Cities of refuge, Exod. XXI. 13. w 1.19 that as God enjoyned them when they should come into the Land of Canaan to appoint a place for the Man-slayer that had killed a Man at unawares to flee unto, so that while they were in the Wilderness God appointed them a place for refuge, upon such occasion, and that was the Camp of the Levites. Now the addition that follows in the next Verse, that they should take a wilful murderer from his Altar, to put to death, doth not only confirm that his supposal, but it doth give some intimation, that even in the Land of Canaan, and when their refuge Cities were set out, yet the Altar was then a Sanctuary for those that fled to it in such or such cases: A very eminent figure of deliverance from condemnation by laying hold upon Christs merits.

The x 1.20 Jews dispute why Joab, whom they hold to have been President of the Sanhe∣drin, and knew the Law well enough, that a wilful murderer should not escape by the Altar, why he should flee thither: And they Answer, That it was either to save his Estate, which had he been slain elsewhere, had been forfeit: or to obtain his burial, which had he been Judged and Condemned judicially, he had lost and been cast away unburied: But it seemeth rather that the occurrence which is mentioned immediately before, and which occurred immediately before, namely about Abiathar, did give him occasion to do what he did: For though Abiathar were in the same fault with Joab, in the matter of Adonijah, yet had he escaped death (being only put from his Office) upon these two reasons, because he had born the Ark and was High-Priest, and because he had been afflicted and partner with David in his afflictions. under this later predicament Joab fell as well as he, and might hope for favour in that respect equally with him: And as for the former, Joab indeed was not, nor could not be a Priest, yet, thought he, I will do as much towards that as I can, that is, lay hold on the horns of the Altar, and there devote my self to God and his service by that solemn Ceremony, and it may be for these two considerations, Solomon will spare me, as he did Abiathar. (For that ••he laying hold of the Altar in this kind had a Vow in it for the future, as well as a pre∣sent safety, might be argued from the nature of the Altar, which made holy what touch∣ed it, and from the very circumstance of laying hold upon it.) But Joab to the wilful

murder of Abner and Amasa, had added contempt and opposal of the King upon Davids Throne, which figured him that was to Reign over the House of Israel for ever, and therefore unfit to escape, and uncapable to be any such votary.

4. A cubit above the first rising of the horns of the Altar, the square narrowed a cubit* 1.21 again and so was now but four and twenty cubits every way, and so held on to that flat of it on the top where the fire lay: The cubits-ledge, that the abatement made to be as a bench round about, was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the place whereupon the Priests went, and stood about the Altar to lay on the pieces of the Sacrifice, or to stir them as they lay in the fire: And this helpeth us to judge concerning the manner and fashion of the horns spoken of last; namely, that they did not rise directly upright higher than the Altar it self, for then it had been impossible for the Priest to go about the Altar upon this ledge, for the horns would have hindred if they had risen a full cubit square up hither: but their form is to be conceived as was said before, namely, that they rose indeed up even with this ledge, but they so sharpened and bended outward when they came level with it, that the Priests had passed between them and the Altar.

From the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Circuit of the Altar upward, which was four cubits, was that part which more peculiarly was called Harel, and Ariel, Ezek. XLIII. 15. And Harel was four cubits, and from Ariel upwards were the four horns. He had described the gradual risings of the Altar hitherto in the Verses before, in these characters and descriptions.

Vers. 13. The bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit. This was the Founda∣tion of which we have spoken, a cubit high and a cubit broad.

And the border thereof by the edge thereof round about a span: The edge of this Foun∣dation was not sharp as are the edges of stone steps, but it was wrought as are the stone borders of our Chimney-hearths, with a border of a span over: and so the blood that was poured upon this Foundation could not run off to the Pavement, but was kept up that it might run down at the holes fore-mentioned, into the Common-shore.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 And thus was the top of the Altar: The top of the Altar was also finished with such another bordering.

Vers. 14. And from the bottom upon the ground even to the lower settle, two cubits: Not that the Foundation called here the lower settle, was two cubits thick in the flatness of it, as it lay upon the ground, for the Verse before saith, that the bottom was but a cubit, but that from this Foundation, there arose a slope rising a cubit height, which was some∣what thicker than the body of the Altar presently above it, and so from the ground to the top of this rising, where the square narrowed were two cubits: and from the top of this sloping where the square narrowed, to the Circuit, was properly but four cubits, but from the Foundation five. And so though the Talmud speaketh differently from the Prophet (when it saith the Foundation or lower settle was but one cubit high, and he, two: and when it saith the height from the lower to the higher settle, or from the Foundation to the circuit was five cubits, and the Prophet saith but four) yet do they both mean but one and the same thing, but understood as hath been spoken: namely, the one taketh the Foundation or lower settle, barely as it lay flat upon the ground, and the other takes it with this cubital slope rising from it, made leaning a cubit height to the body of the Altar: and this interpretation helpeth to understand that which David Kimchi professeth he cannot tell what to make of; and that is, why the upper settle which was narrower by two cubits in the square, is called the greater, and the lower, which was larger in the square, is called the lesser: The reason whereof is this, because the upper, though it were less in compass, yet was larger in bredth, because this leaning slope rising that we speak of, took up a good part of the bredth of the lower, and so the walk upon it was not so clear and large as it was upon the other.

And then the Prophet tells us, that when the body of the Altar was thus risen six cubits high to the upper settle, which the Talmudicks call the circuit, That thence Harel was to be four cubits, and from Ariel and upward, the four horns.

There a 1.22 are some that conceive that Harel and Ariel are indeed but one and the same word, though so diversly written, from whom I cannot much differ, as to point of Grammar, because the Letters 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 do admit of such alternancy in the language, yet me thinks the difference of the words should hold out some difference of the sense: and Harel to signifie the Lords Mountain, and Ariel the Lords Lion upon the Mountain; the lower part at the horns more properly Harel, and the upper more properly Ariel. But since the Text gives the b 1.23 name Ariel to all that part that was from the Root of the horns upward, we shall not much stick upon it. The word Harel, if you will construe it the Mountain of the Lord, David Kimchi tells you that it is as much as to say, The House of the Lord, and because they served other Gods in every place upon high Hills, this which was the Hill of the Lord was but four cubits high: And if you will take the word Ariel, our Rabbins of happy memory, saith he, say the Altar was called Ariel (or the Lords Lion) be∣cause the holy fire that came down from Heaven couched on it like a Lion.

The word Ariel doth also signifie one exceeding strong, 2 Sam. XXIII. 20. and so doth Arel, Esai. XXXIII. 7. But take it whether way you will here, either for a strong thing or for the Lords Lion, the Altar was very properly so called, either because of the devouring of many Sacrifices, Lion like, or because of the great strength and prevalency the people had by Sacrifice, the Lord owning them wonderfully in that service, whilest gone about according to his Will: or because of the strong Lion Christ, whom the Altar and Sacrifices did represent. Jerusalem, and especially Zion the City where David Dwells, is also called Ariel, the strong one, or the Lion of the Lord, because of its preva∣lency against all enemies whatsoever, whilest it continued to be the Lords, through the strength of those promises that were made unto it: but when it forsook the Lord, and became prophane, it is threatned that it shall become as the other Ariel, or the Altar, where was continually abundance of shedding of blood and slaughter, Esai. XXIX. 1, 2.

The very top of the Altar was four and twenty cubits square, and this was called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Maaracah, or the Hearth, where, as we observe elsewhere, there were fires con∣tinually burning, but especially one very great one for the Sacrifices. And thus was the bulk and platform of the Altar; It was a large pile of ten cubits high rising by de∣grees, so as that at the foot it was two and thirty cubits on every side of the square, but at the top came to be but four and twenty.

The rising thus: 1. The base one cubit rising, and then the square lessened a cubit. 2. The body of the Altar rising plain five cubits, and then lessening one cubit in the square. 3. A cubit rising again, and the square lessening a cubit, and at the bench where it narrowed there stood the four horns out at the four corners. 4. A rising again one cubit, and a narrowing one cubit, and there was the bench where the Priests stood to serve. 5. And then a rising two cubits, and there was the Hearth.

Thus stood the Altar, and thus stood the Priests upon the highest bench to serve, but how came they up thither? If they could have gone up the steps that we have mention∣ed, namely, where the square still descended, yet was it unlawful, because of that com∣mand, Exod. XX. 26. But they could not go up that way neither, for we have seen that between the first bench and the second there was five cubits rising, which is a mea∣sure far beyond any Mans stepping up: the way therefore for them to go both to the top of the Altar, to their bench two cubits below the top, and to the other benches, as there was occasion, was thus provided.

There c 1.24 was a gentle rising Cawsey (for so let us call it, they called it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Chebbesh) on the South side of the Altar sixteen cubits broad, that began two and thirty cubits from the Altar foot and rose easily to the head of it in a gentle descent, made of the same materials that the Altar was, of which hereafter, so that this Cawsey lay out from the Altar two and thirty cubits on the South side, leaving on either side it four cubits breadth, which it wanted of the breadth of the Altar.

On d 1.25 the West side of it there stood two Tables, one of Silver, on which they set and laid the Vessels of the Service: the other of Marble which was called the Table of the Fat, on which they laid the pieces of the Sacrifice when they were to be brought up to the Altar. And there was also on e 1.26 the same side of it, and (as f 1.27 it is probably conjectured) made in the very side of the Cawsey or rise it self, a place into which those birds that being present to be offered, did prove unfit, were cast, till some con∣venient time to convey them away, this was called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Rebubah, for so we may con∣clude upon g 1.28 R. Nathan's credit who so readeth, though others differ: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 h 1.29 And there (saith the general consent) they laid up the Birds unmeet for Offering. i 1.30 On the East side of it, was the place where they laid the guts and garbidge of the Birds that were offered, and where he that cleansed the Incense Altar poured down the ashes he brought forth, and he that brought the first ashes from off the Burnt∣offering Altar, did the like: But these things continued long there after they were laid down, but were speedily by some or other conveyed away: k 1.31 By the Marble Table, which called the Table of the Fat, the Priests stood when they sounded their Trumpets at the time of Divine Service.

The l 1.32 ordinary way of going up this Cawsey, or Bridge, or call it what you will, was on the right side of it, that is, on the East, and to come down on the West, (only upon three occasions mentioned in the place cited in the Margine, he came down the same way he went up, but backward) and this helps us somewhat to understand a story (which we shall have occasion to look after elsewhere) related in Joma m 1.33 of two Priests going a strife who should first get up to cleanse the Altar of its ashes, (which was the first work done in the Morning) the one of them thrust the other off the bridge and broake his leg, because they went so near the sides, though they had room enough to have gone up in the middle without danger, but the manner was not to go up that way.

Asn 1.34 a Man went up, first there was a little Cawsey on the East side, that brought him from the first beginning of this great Cawsey to the Foundation of the Altar if he had occasion to go thither: And as he went up higher, when he was come as high as the Circuit, there was another to carry him off thither, if he had occasion to sprinkle blood upon the horns of the Altar: But above that I read not of any such come off; not that the Priests had not constant occasion to step off to the uppermost ledge or bench, (for there they used to stand continually when they were turning the pieces in the fire, or the like) but because by the time that the rise was come up thither, the step off was so easie, that a less matter than what deserved the name of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 a bridge would serve the turn.

Thus was the form of the Altar and the ascent to it: but I must mention here before I have done with the form of it, somewhat that was visible upon it, that had some re∣ference also to the form of it, and that was,o 1.35 A red line that went round about it in the just middle between the bottom and the top, to be a direction to the Priests that they might sprinkle the blood above or beneath (for sometime they did the one and sometime the other, as we shall shew when we treat concerning Sacrifice) as the occasion called upon them to do, and not mistake. For whereas some blood was to be poured or sprinkled at the bottom of the Altar, and some upon the horns of it, some below, some above, to make sure that either of these should keep its right place and not transgress, they set this line to be a bound between them.

The materials and manner of working up this renowned pile, let the Reader take in the Talmuds and in Maymonides his own words and expressionsp 1.36 When they built the Altar (say they) they built it solid like a Pillar, and they made no hollow in it: but one brought whole great stones and little (for an iron tool might not be used upon them) and he brought Mortar and Pitch and Lead, and mixt all and poured all into the great base that he had laid according to his measure, and so he built on upwards: and he put in the midst of the buliding a piece of Wood or of Stone at the South-East horn according to the measure of the Foundation, and so he put in the midst of every one of the horns till he had finished the building; then he took away those pieces that were in the midst of the building, and so the South-East horn was left without a Foundation and the rest of the horns were left hollow.

Theseq 1.37 stones that made the Altar and the rise to it are recorded to have been got∣ten in the Valley of Bethbaccerem, a place mentioned in Neh. III. 14. and Jer. VI. 1. and the same Record tells us, That twice a year the Altar was whited, namely at the Pass∣over and at the Feast of Tabernacles: and the Temple whited once a year, namely, at the Passover: Rabbi saith, on the Eve of every Sabbath they rubbed the Altar with a Map because of the blood; they might not Plaster it with an iron Trowel, lest that touching should defile it; for iron was made to shorten Mans days, and the Altar was made for the prolonging Mans life, and it is not fit that that which would shorten should be lifted up upon that that would lengthen.

Thus was the fashion and proportion of the Altar the Lords Table, Mal. I. 7. the holi∣ness of it was such that it sanctified the gift, Matth. XXIII. 19. that is, whatsoever came upon it, being fit to be offered 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 The Altar sanctified whatsoever was fit for it. It is a Talmudick Maxim in the Treatise Zevachin, the very beginning of the ninth Chapter: And at the seventh Halacah of the same Chapter, they say, That as the Altar sanctified what was fit for it, so also did the rise of the Altar: and there they dis∣course at large with what things, if they were once brought to the top of the Altar, might come down, and what might not, which we shall not insist upon.

Before we part from the Altar, we have yet one thing more to take into observation about it, and that is the base and wretched affront that ungodly Ahaz put upon it, in not only setting up another Altar by it, but also in removing the Lords Altar out of its place, and out of its honourable imployment to give place to his. The story is 2 King. XVI. He sends the pattern of an Idolatrous Altar from Damascus, and Uriah the Priest maketh one according to that pattern: and when the King came home and saw the Altar, he offered upon it his Burnt-offering, Meat-offering, Drink-offering, &c. And he brought also the brazen Altar which was before the Lord from the fore-front of the House, from between the Altar and the House of the Lord, and put it on the North side of the Altar, vers. 14. Rabbi Solomon expounding this place, conceiveth that by the Altar of the Lord is not meant the Altar properly and indeed, but some appurtenances that related and belonged to the Service of the Altar, and this conclusion he produceth from two or three traditi∣onal Premises: his words are these, This Altar that he removed cannot be the brazen Altar that Moses made, for that was laid up; and it cannot be the Altar of stone which Solomon made, which indeed is called the brazen Altar in the Book of Chronicles, for that could not be removed from place to place, but by pulling down: and behold we have a Tradition, that the fire that came down from Heaven in the days of Solomon, went not off the Altar till Manasseh came and caused it to go off, for he pulled the Altar down: So that I cannot interpret the Altar here but of the Lavers and Bases of brass which served for the Altar, and stood beside it, them Ahaz removed, &c.

You need not marvail if he go alone in his opinion when you look upon it, and how it is strained, and especially from this pinch, because though the Altar of Solomon is cal∣led brazen, yet he holds it to have been of Stone, and overlaid: were it of Brass or were it of Stone, Ahaz his modesty was not so much but that he would pull it down to serve his turn as well as remove it. It appeareth by the Text alledged, that Uriahs mo∣desty was a little more than Ahaz had; for he had set his Altar behind the Altar of the Lord, betwixt it and the East-gate, so that the Lords Altar was betwixt that new-found one and the Temple (it seemeth the space at the entring in from the East-gate, was more open in the times of the first Temple than it was in the second.) But when Ahaz comes, he removes Solomons Altar towards the North, and brings up his own and sets it in the place of it, and so does as it were supplant the Lord of his possession and usurp upon it, putting the Lords Altar out of use as well as out of its place, and giving his own the greatness because it was the greater, in the imployment for all the Sacrifices that were to be offered, both ordinary and extraordinary, both of the King and People: while the Altar of the Lord must stand by as a cypher, only with this dignity, which was less than none at all, The brazen Altar shall be for me to seek to when I think good. As for the departure of the Divine fire from off the Altar, which had come down in the days of Solomon, of which our Rabbin speaketh, it is not unworthy some of the Readers thoughts: For the Temple was so oft prophaned, yea and sometimes shut up, before the Captivity into Babel, as 2 Chron. XXIV. 7. & XXVIII. 24. &c. that it is hardly to be imagined, but that the fire which had been continued from the descent of that Divine fire, was at some of these times or other extinguished. And then Quaere how Hezekiah and Josiah in their Reformation did for fire again upon the Altar.

Notes

• a 1.1

  Ex. XXVII. 1.
• b 1.2

  2 Chron. IV. 1.
• c 1.3

  Vid. Kimch. in 1 King. VIII. 64.
• d 1.4

  Vid. Lev. Gers. ibid.
• g 1.5

  Lev••chin p••r. 5. R. Sol. in E∣zek X••III. & Mid per. 3.
• h 1.6

  Talm. Ierus. in Erubin per. 7.
• i 1.7

  Zabi. per. 3. Aruch in 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• k 1.8

  Shabbath. per. 16. Sect. 8.
• l 1.9

  Maym. in She∣kalim. per.
• m 1.10

  Mid. ubi su••••
• a 1.11

  Gen. XL••••. 2••.
• o 1.12

  Talm. Bak. in Zevachin. per. 5. in Gemara.
• p 1.13

  Lebachin, ubi s••pr. Sect. 3.
• q 1.14

  Vid. R. Sol. in Eztk. XLIII.
• * 1.15

  r Vid. Aruch. in voce.
• s 1.16

  Mid. per. 3.
• t 1.17

  Maym. in Beth habbechir. per. 2.
• u 1.18

  Kimch. in 1 King. II.
• w 1.19

  R. Sol. in Exod. XXI.
• x 1.20

  Vid. Kimchi▪ ibid.
• * 1.21

  y Mid. ubi supr. Ataym ubi supr.
• a 1.22

  Kimch. in loc. ••••••••t Lemp. in Mid. p. 97.
• b 1.23

  Vid. R. Sol. ibid.
• c 1.24

  Mid. per. 3▪
• d 1.25

  Gloss. in Ta∣mid. per. ult. Maym. in beth babbech. per. 2.
• e 1.26

  Middoth ubi supra.
• f 1.27

  C. Lemp. in Mid. pag. 112.
• g 1.28

  Aruch in 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• h 1.29

  Maym in beth habbech. per. 2.
• i 1.30

  Tamid. per. 1.
• k 1.31

  Tamid. per. 7.
• l 1.32

  Talm. in Ze∣vach. per. 6.
• m 1.33

  Ioma, per. ••.
• n 1.34

  Maym. ubi supr.
• o 1.35

  Middoth. p. 3.
• p 1.36

  Maym. ubi supr. Talm in Zevach. sol. 54.
• q 1.37

  Midd. per. 3.