Commento su Esodo 27:22

ועשית את המזבח וגו׳ ושלש אמות קמתו AND THOU SHALT MAKE AN ALTAR etc. AND THE HEIGHT THEREOF SHALL BE THREE CUBITS — These words should be understood as they are written (i. e. to mean exactly what they say — that its height was three cubits); this is the opinion of R. Jehudah. R. José, however, says: it is stated here, “[the altar shall be] square” and it is stated with reference to the inner (the golden) altar, (Exodus 30:2) “square [shall it be].” How was it there (in the case of the latter)? Its height was twice its length (“a cubit the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, . . . and two cubits the height thereof”)! So, also, here: the height shall be twice its length, i. e. ten cubits. And if you ask, how, then, do I explain the words and three cubits the height thereof?” I reply that this gives the measurement from the edge of the surround (סובב) upwards (whilst 10 cubits was the actual height from the ground to the top of the altar) (cf. Zevachim 60a; Rashi on v. 5).

ועשית את המזבח, "You shall make the altar, etc." The Torah speaks of המזבח, instead of saying merely מזבח. Perhaps this is because the Torah refers here to what has already been mentioned in 25,9 when the Torah described that G'd had shown Moses a blueprint of both the Tabernacle and its furnishings including the altar. When adding that the altar was to be made of acacia wood, the Torah elaborated that whereas G'd had shown Moses a picture of the completed altar, i.e. a structure covered with copper, He now revealed that the altar was not to be of solid copper but of acacia wood which would be overlaid with copper.

ועשית את המזבח, the copper altar located in the courtyard in front of the Tabernacle.

It states concerning the inner [altar]: “square”. . . [This interpretation is made] because the word “square” in both places is [extra and is therefore] available for a gezeirah shavah. For it is written here, “Five amohs long, and five amohs wide,” so why does it also say, “Square”? This shows the word is available [for a gezeirah shavah]. And it is available there as well. For it is written (30:2), “It shall be one amoh long and one amoh wide,” so why does it also say, “Square”? This shows that it too is available [for a gezeirah shavah]. Since the word is available for a gezeirah shavah on both sides, it may be interpreted even contrary to the verse’s plain meaning.

Kap. 27. V. 1. ועשית את המזבח, nicht מזבח: dieses ה erklärt sich entweder als Hinweisung auf das auf dem Berge gezeigte Vorbild (V. 8), oder es wird der Altar als ein durch alles Vorangehende stillschweigend vorauszusetzendes Erfordernis bezeichnet. רבוע יהיה וגו׳, die Quadratur des Altars bedingt die Tauglichkeit desselben, die Länge, Breite und Höhe darf wechseln, מדת ארכו ומדת רחבו ומדת קומתו אין מעכבין (Sebachim 62 a). Gleichwohl hat die Höhe nicht gewechselt und wird nicht wechseln, der von Mosche, von Salomo, der im zweiten Tempel errichtete waren von gleicher Höhe, obgleich die Länge und Breite von fünf Quadratellen des mosaischen Altars bis zu zweiunddreißig Quadratellen des zweiten Tempels stieg, und auch der einst zu erwartende, von Jecheskeel geschaute wird dieselbe Höhe haben (Maim. הל׳ בית הבחירה II, 5). Demgemäß ist das וההראל ארבע אמות (Jechesk. 43, 15) mit den קרנות gemessen, nicht so wie Raschi daselbst. Vielleicht heißt es deshalb חמש אמות ארך וחמש אמות רחב (nicht ארכו und רחבו) und שלש אמות קמתו. Die Höhe ist die bleibende des Altars, nicht so die Länge und Breite.

'ועשית את המזבח וגו, “you are to construct the altar, etc.;” the word מזבח here may be understood as an acrostic of the words: מחילה, זכות, ברכה, חיים, “forgiveness, merit, blessing, life.”

ושלש אמות קמתו. Diese drei Ellen sind nach ר׳ יוסי (Sebachim 59 b) die Höhe des eigentlichen in Jecheskeel (43, 15) הראל genannten Altars. Es war dies der obere, auf einem Vorsprung סובב, im Texte כרכב (V. 5) genannt, ruhende Teil, der von סובב bis zu den קרנות (V. 2) drei Ellen, mit denselben vier Ellen (Jechesk. das,) maß. Von diesem סובב) כרכב) bis zur Erde waren sechs Ellen, somit die Gesamthöhe: zehn Ellen.

חמש אמות, “five cubits (long).” This alluded to the Tablets, five of which commandments were engraved on one Tablet. The width of the altar, also five cubits, was to allude to the second of the Tablets; its height of three cubits was to allude to the three redeemers, i.e. Moses, Aaron and Miriam. Some commentators see in the measurement of three cubits for its height a reference to how much it rose above what has been described as רשת, a brass network, which was part of the altar’s walls. (Talmud, tractate Z‘vachim, folio 60).This “network” of copper, halfway up the sides of the copper altar may be viewed as if it were some kind of garment, something decorative. Its upper edge was five cubits from the ground. The section known as karkov, ledge extended from the upper end of the network to the surface of the altar which had four cube shaped corner posts each one cubit high and wide. The “roof” of this altar was five cubits square (external measurements, i.e. approximately three meters) The usable surface therefore was diminished by 60 centimeters at each corner where the corner posts, known as “horns” were positioned. The area comprising one cube square in the center of the roof of this altar was where the maaracha, the firewood for burning the sacrificial animals was kept. Even though the Torah does not spell out the details of the ramp leading to the top of the altar, it is understood that there was such a ramp, as it was forbidden to ascend the altar by means of steps. (Exodus 20,23) This ramp was at the south side of the altar rising northward. The Talmud in tractate Z’vachim, folio 62 explains why it was impossible for that ramp to have been positioned elsewhere.

ממנו תהיין קרנתיו ITS HORNS SHALL BE OF THE SAME — i. e. he shall not make them separately and afterwards attach them to it (to the altar).

קרנותיו, a feature of all altars, as were the shovels and the basins for the blood as receptacles.

ממנו תהיין קרנותיו, integral parts of the structure, not something superimposed.

V. 2. קרנות waren auf den vier Winkeln der Oberfläche sich erhebende Würfel von einer Kubikelle. ממנו תהיין, sie sollen nicht angesetzt, sondern mit dem Altar, oder doch der Altarplatte (je nachdem man das נבוב לחות V. 8 versteht), aus einem Stücke sein; es ist somit der Altar selbst, der mit diesen Winkelhöhen in die Höhe strebt.

וצפית אתו נחשת AND THOU SHALT OVERLAY IT WITH COPPER — to atone for sins committed with effrontery (more lit., with impudence of forehead, the Hebrew expression for effrontery being, “having a copper forehead,”) as it is said, (Isaiah 48:4) “[Because I know that thou art obstinate] and that thy forehead is copper” (cf. our English expression “brazen-faced”) (Midrash Tanchuma, Terumah 11).

סירתיו — a kind of pot.

ויעיו; shovels used to scoop up the ashes of the remains of the sacrifices offered on the altar. The ashes in turn would be placed inside the pots mentioned at the beginning of the verse.

The same as כל כליו . Rashi is saying that [despite the ל of לכל ,] the vessels themselves are to be of copper, not the items needed for the vessels. [Rashi knows this] because there is nothing other than them [i.e., the vessels themselves] mentioned here. The ל is superfluous; it is [written] for stylistic reasons.

V. 3. סיר Topf, ist vielleicht verwandt mit סגר, umschließen. — יעים: Wegräumungsgeräte, so: ויעה ברד מחסה כזב (Jes. 28, 17). — מזלג rad. זלג Die Bedeutung von זלג, chald. Herabstürzen von Tränen, und die Verwandtschaft mit שלך, niederfallen, wovon השליך, niederwerfen, und mit שלג: Schnee, Bedeutungen, die in den Grundbegriff: niederfallen zusammengehen, und andererseits mit סלק, chald. weggenommen werden, dürften מזלג als ein Geräte bezeichnen, vermittelst dessen etwas von einer Stelle weggenommen wird, um es auf eine andere Stelle niederzulegen, daher: Gabel. — לכל נכליו תעשה נחשת: Kupfer soll durch Verarbeitung zu seinen Geräten gestaltet werden. Durch die Arbeit wird der Rohstoff zum Geräte.

לדשנו means TO REMOVE ITS ASHES in them. That is exactly as Onkelos translated it: למספי קטמה, to remove the ashes into them. For although in its primary sense דַּשֵּׁן would mean to cover with ashes, it has also the meaning of removing the ashes, for there are in the Hebrew language certain expressions with the peculiarity that the same word changes in meaning so as to be used to denote both “construction” and “destruction,” (having a positive and a negative meaning). Examples are: (Psalms 80:10) “and didst cause it to take deep root (ותשרש)”; (Job 5:3) “I have seen the foolish taking root (משריש),” whilst we have its opposite (negative) meaning in, (Job 31:12) “and thou wouldst root out (תשרש) all my increase.” Similar to it is, (Isaiah 17:6) “in the utmost fruitful branches (בסעיפיה),” and its opposite, (Isaiah 10:33) “The Lord of hosts shall מסעף”, i. e. shall lop off the branches thereof. Similar to it is also (Jeremiah 50:17) “And this last person עִצְּמוֹ” — “has broken his bones” although the primary meaning of עצם is to be strongboned. Similar to it is, (1 Kings 21:13) “and stoned him with stones (ויסקלהו)” i. e. heaped up stones above him, and its opposite is, (Isaiah 62:10) “סקלו the stones” — i. e. remove its stones; and so, too, (Isaiah 5:2) “And he fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof (ויסקלהו).” Thus here, also, לדשנו means to remove its ashes. In 0. F. à discendrer.

ומזרקותיו, to catch the blood which is to be sprinkled on the altar.

ויעיו AND ITS SHOVELS — as the Targum renders it, מגרפות, shovels by which the ashes were removed. They had the form of the lid of a pot, of thin metal, but having a handle. In old French vedil.

ומזלגותיו, these forks were used by the priests to handle parts of the limbs of sacrificial animals on the altar and to turn them over and move them so that would burn up within the time limit assigned for this.

ומזרקתיו AND ITS BOWLS, in which to receive the blood of the sacrifices.

ומזלגתיו AND ITS FLESHHOOKS — These had the form of bent hooks; they stuck them forcibly into the flesh so that they penetrated it, and with them they turned the flesh over upon the coals of the fire-place in order that it might become the more quickly consumed. In old French these are called crochets and in the language of our Sages צנוריות (Yoma 12a).

ומחתתיו AND ITS FIRE-PANS — These had a cavity to hold things so that the coals might be taken in them from the altar in order to carry them on to the inner altar for the incense. And because of their use for raking the coals into them (חתיה) they were called מחתות. This word is of the same root and meaning as the verb in, (Isaiah 30:14) “לחתות fire from the fire-place,” which has the meaning of drawing fire from its place. Similar is, (Proverbs 6:27) “Can a man rake (היחתה) fire into his bosom?”

לכל כליו means ALL THE VESSELS THEREOF [THOU SHALT MAKE OF COPPER] (i. e. it does not mean: “thou shalt make things of copper, for (i. e. to serve as) all its vessels” but the ל is redundant; cf. Rashi on Exodus 14:28).

מכבר A GRATE — מכבר is an expression connected with כברה, a sieve which is called in old French crible. A kind of covering was made for the altar, constructed with many holes just like a net. The word of this verse are transposed, and its explanation is as follows: And thou shalt make for it a grate of copper, of network.

מכבר, a netting; compare Amos 9,9 כאשר יגוע בכברה ולא יפול צרור ארץ, “as one shakes in a sieve and not a pebble falls to the ground.”

V. 4. כבר .מכבר, verwandt mit גבר, Grundbedeutung: bewältigen, daher die Begriffe der Mächtigkeit: מַכְבִיר ,כַבִיר. Verwandt ist כבר auch mit כור: Tiegel. Ebenso wie der Begriff כבשן, Kalzinierofen, von כבש, der Überwältigung der Stoffe gebildet ist, so gestaltet derselbe Begriff auch כור, das Mittel zur prüfenden Scheidung und Läuterung der Metalle. Dieselbe Anschauung liegt der Bedeutung: Sieb für כברה zu Grunde und gewinnt an Anschaulichkeit durch die Erwägung, dass, wie aus Menachot 76 b erhellt, die Gewinnung des סלת, des reinsten Mehls, durch wiederholtes Schütteln der geschälten Getreidekörner in Sieben dergestalt gewonnen wurde, dass durch das Schütteln immer mehr die gröbere Mehlhülle קמח von dem feineren inneren Amylonkern abgeschüttelt wurde und als Staub durch das Sieb ging, wo dann das סלת, als קרטין körnerartig im Sieb zurückblieb. Woraus sich auch das Bild Abot V, 18 erklärt: נפה שמוציאה את הקמח וקולטת את הסולת, und ebenso: Amos 9. 9: והנעותי בכל הגוים את בית ישראל כאשר ינוע בכברה ולא יפול צרור ארץ "Ich bewege das Haus Israel durch alle Völker hin, wie etwas in einem Sieb bewegt wird und doch nichts Gedrungenes zu Boden fällt", d. h. Israels Bewegung unter den Völkern im Exil bewirkt nur seine Läuterung. Was von ihm dadurch abfällt, ist nur der unedle Staub. Das kernhafte Wahre bleibt ihm erhalten und geht nicht in die Völker auf. Dieses Sieben בכברה ist also eine wirkliche Bewältigung des dadurch zu läuternden Stoffes. (Auffallend steht mit dieser von Raschi Menachot 76 b beschriebenen, ja auch durch den Ausdruck der Tosifta das. קולטת סולת, begründeten Prozedur, Rabas Erläuterung (das.63 a) קסבר ר׳ ישמעאל עשרון מובחר בלא טרחא וכו׳, in Widerspruch, da hier das feine Mehl סלת als feinster Staub durch das Sieb fällt רשת — .(וצ׳׳ע, Netz, ist wohl von ירש, in Besitz nehmen, somit das Mittel zum Fangen und Festhalten. An dem Altar war somit eine Sieb und Netz veranschaulichende Darstellung. Dieses Siebnetz umgab die vier Wände des Altars, und war, wie wir bei der Betrachtung über die Bedeutung des Altars finden werden, von höchster Bedeutung.

ועשית על הרשת, “you will construct on that network, etc.;” these rings were meant to enable the Levites to insert the staves into by which the altar would be transported, carried by the Levites. Rabbi Yechiel, pointing to a statement in the Talmud, tractate Shabbat, folio 92, raised the problem that according to the Talmud, anyone carrying a load at a level of higher than ten handbreadths (on the Sabbath) should be guilty of having committed a violation seeing that the sons of Kehat who carried the Holy Ark on their shoulders, certainly carried it more than ten handbreadths above ground level. The Talmud there proves that the rings through which the staves for carrying the Tabernacle’s furnishings were carried were attached at two thirds of the height of the respective holy vessel. The height of the Levites supposedly was eighteen handbreadths including their respective heads. It follows that anything they carried on their shoulders was already much higher than that. [Rabbi Yechiel did not refer to the Levites being guilty of carrying something in the desert, seeing that the Israelites, of course, did not travel in the desert on the Sabbath. What he questioned was that the public domain is never considered as being more than ten handbreadths above ground level, so that anyone carrying a load on the Sabbath at a level higher than ten handbreadths cannot be culpable for violating the Sabbath. Seeing that the Levites carried loads at a higher level than that, and the desert where the Israelites were was certainly considered a public domain, how could our sages have restricted the concept of “public domain” to as little as ten handbreadths above ground level. Ed.] In light of all the above, how could the Talmud have derived the limitation of the height of the concept “public domain” by using the altar as its example? The Levites’ shoulders were fifteen handbreadths high, and the part of the altar that stuck out beyond their heads was way beyond ten handbreadths above ground. We would have to say that the Talmud’s statement is to be taken as proof that the rings fastened to the network were at a level lower than two thirds of the altar and that only the upper third was above the rings, or at least no more than half its height. If so, the rule that the public domain does not extend beyond a height of then handbreadths can be used for the Sabbath, the level of the network of the altar serving as proof.

כרכב המזבח THE COMPASS OF THE ALTAR — כרכב is a surround. Anything which encompasses an object all the way round is called כרכב, just as we read in the Talmudical section beginning with the words הכל שוחטין (Chullin 25a): The following come under the description of unfinished wooden vessels — all such as have still to be polished and to be rounded off (ולכרכב; i. e. making a rim by hollowing out the centre). This is similar to the practice of making rounded grooves in the boards that form the sides of chests and wooden chairs. For the altar too he made a hollowing round about — its width was a cubit — in its wall for ornamentation. It was made at the end of three cubits of its height (measuring from the top of the altar). This is according to the view of him who says (cf. v. 1): its (the altar's) height was twice its length. And if you ask how, then, can I explain the statement, “and the height thereof shall be three cubits” I reply, that this gives the measurement from the edge of the surround upwards. This surround served only as an ornamentation, but a surround for the priests to walk upon when officiating the copper altar had only on its top within its horns (running from one horn to the other). Thus we read in Treatise Zevachim 62a: What is the כרכב? The sunken space between one horn of the altar and the other, this being a cubit in width, and, from that space inward (towards the centre of the altar) a space of another cubit upon which the priests could walk right round the altar, thus making a surround two cubits in width. These two cubits were called כרכב. The criticism is there made to this definition: But is it not written, “[and thou shalt put it (the grate)] under the compass of the altar beneath” — which statement teaches us that the כרכב was on the side of the altar and not on its top since the covering formed by the grate was beneath it? Whereupon the Talmud replies (lit., the replier replies), that in fact there were two surrounds, one for ornamentation (that below) and another (on the top) for the priests that they should not slip off when walking round. The one on the side of the altar was intended for ornamentation, and beneath it they put the grate as a covering and its width reached to the middle of its (the altar’s) height, measuring this from the ground. It also served to mark the middle of its height separating the two halves of the altars side upon which were put respectively the sacrifical blood which had to be sprinkled above (on the upper part; this was the blood of a חטאת) and the blood which had to be sprinkled below (that of עולה ,שלמים and אשם). Corresponding to this there was made for the altar in the “Eternal House” (the Temple at Jerusalem) a sign consisting of a red line (Zevachim 53a; Mishnah Middot 3:1). As to the ascent (כבש — the inclined plane) upon which they went up to the top of the altar, it is true that Scripture does not expressly mention it in this section but we have it already implied in the statement in the section beginning with the words מזבח אדמה תעשה לי (Exodus 20:21—23): “Thou shalt not go up by steps [unto my altar]” — i. e. thou shalt not make steps on its ascent, but thou shalt make an unbroken ascent, — this tells us that it had such an ascent. — So do we read in the Mechilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:23:1). — For the altar of earth there spoken of is identical with the altar of copper described here and it was called an altar of earth because they used to fill the hollow space within it (within its coppered walls) with earth at every place where they encamped in the wilderness. This ascent was on the south of the altar, its top standing away from the altar just a hair’s breadth (i. e. almost touching the altar). Its foot reached to the cubit adjacent to the hangings of the court on the south, (i. e. it was one cubit distant from those hangings of the enclosure). This latter statement is according to him who holds that its height (that of the altar) was ten cubits, whilst according to him who holds that the command, (v. 1) “and three cubits shall be the height thereof” is to be taken literally (cf. Rashi on v. 1) the length of the ascent was only ten cubits, for since the altar was lower the slope leading to its top could not be a very long one. So did I find in the Boraitha דמ"ט מדות (cf. Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 419). And as regards this statement that it stood away from the top of the altar just a hair’s breadth, in Treatise Zevachim 62b they (the Rabbis) derived it from a Biblical text.

כרכב המזבח, ledges which are common to all vessels made of wood, as our sages confirm in Chulin 25 “these are wooden vessels in their original unfinished state that are not susceptible to ritual impurity; any such vessel or instrument that is not fit for intended for scraping the scales off fish, etc.”

כרכב. A narrow projection running about halfway up the wall of the altar. It enabled the priests to walk there and reach the upper parts of the altar. It was immediately above the netting. This expression is also used in the Talmud when discussing the ritual rulings pertaining to the sacrificial service. (Chulin 25)

Between the raised projections. . . Meaning: It was a little farther in [toward the altar’s center] than the four projections.

V. 5. Es soll dieses Siebnetz von dem כרכב bis zur Hälfte des Altars hinabreichen. Wir haben כרכב Vorsprung übersetzt. Es scheint wie קרקע von רקע, so auch כרכב von רכב abzuleiten sein. רכב: heißt auf einer Unterlage sich befinden, diese Unterlage selbst heißt: מרכב ,רֶכֶב und ,מרכבה, z.B. der Wagen. (Bei der Mühle hieß der Mühlstein רכב Der Analogie nach sollte man glauben, der untere, feste, heiße רכב, und der obere, bewegliche, die Friktion bewirkende ריחים, man hält jedoch allgemein רכב für den oberen). Wie wir bei den allgemeinen Betrachtungen noch näher sehen werden, bestand der Altar aus zwei, eigentlich drei wesentlichen Bestandteilen. Es waren eigentlich drei auf einander geschichtete Quadrate, von denen jedes untere in Länge und Breite das darauf folgende übertraf. Im zweiten Tempel war die Basis eine Elle hoch und zweiunddreißig Quadratellen breit, darauf stand ein Würfel von fünf Ellen Höhe und dreißig Quadratellen, auf welchem wieder sich ein Würfel von drei Ellen Höhe und achtundzwanzig Quadratellen erhob. Dieser letzte, drei Ellen hohe Würfel, auf dessen Oberfläche sich dann die vier קרנות eine Elle hoch erhoben, der eigentliche Altar, הראל, ruhte somit auf einer Unterlage, die nach allen vier Seiten eine Elle weiter hervorstand, und eine eine Elle breite Umgebung des Altars bildete, auf welcher derselbe umschritten werden konnte, und daher סובב genannt wird. Sie heißt im Texte כרכב, weil der obere Teil, der eigentliche Altar auf ihr ruhte. (Nach רבי war dieser סובב an dem Altare Mosche nicht ein wirklicher Vorsprung, sondern nur durch eine Verzierung angedeutet (Sebachim 62 a).

כרכוב המזבח, “the ledge of the altar.” Rashi comments that we have learned this from the Talmud in Zevachim, folio 62, where the question is posed: “which was the Carcov?” The answer given is that it was a ledge protruding one cubit from the wall of the altar above the mesh, running from one corner of the altar to the next and that there was a space 1 cubit wide underneath it where the priests would walk. Every corner of the altar was surrounded by this walkway one cubit high and one cubit wide, and these are what are called: “the corners of the altar.” On the other hand, the four corners of the altar on top of its platform were cubes one cubit high. The space between them, according to Rashi, was called Carcov.

עד חצי המזבח, in order to make a separation between the blood which had to end up on the top of that altar, and that which would be absorbed by the netting surrounding the altar at the top of the lower half of the altar. For the sake of easy recall remember that the blood of bird offerings that were known as עולת העוף had to reach the top of the altar, whereas the blood of offerings known as חטאת העוף, sin offerings consisting of a bird, had to be sprinkled or smeared against the lower half of the altar at the netting. All these details have been spelled out in Zevachim 53.

For its hollow was filled with earth. . . In order to offer sacrifices upon it.

עד חצי המזבח, bis zu fünf Ellen Höhe vom Boden. Das Siebnetz war somit eine Elle breit.

ועשית בדים למזבח, בדי עצי שטים , “you are to construct staves for the altar, staves made of shittim wood.” It would have seemed more appropriate for the Torah to write: ועשית בדים למזבח עצי שטים, without repeating the word בדים once more. Alternately, the Torah could have written: ועשית למזבח בדי עצי שטים, which would have been the shortest way to express the same instruction, just as the Torah did in connection with the ark where the Torah wrote: ועשית בדי עצי שטים. Why this peculiar wording then? It was to allude to the fact that these staves were to be extremely long-lasting (compare Kings I 8,8). There was a miracle involved in all this as our sages (Tanchuma Terumah 17) have mentioned that G’d said that “in the future these staves would be 487 years ‘long’”. The idea was that from the time of the original construction of the Tabernacle until the dedication of Solomon’s Temple 487 years later no other staves would be used to transport the altar.

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בטבעת [AND THE BARS SHALL BE BROUGHT] INTO THE RINGS — into the four rings made for the grate (v. 4).

נבוב לחת HOLLOW WITH TABLETS — Render it as the Targum does, חליל לוחין, hollow as regards boards (לוחין is what is termed an accusative of respect): boards of shittim-wood on all sides (cf. v. 1) and a hollow space in the middle; it shall not be in its entirety a single block of wood, the thickness of which in two directions should be five cubits by five cubits — like the trunk of a tree, which has been hollowed out.

נבוב לוחות, similar to a box which has no rim around its base and no cover.

נבוב לוחות, hollow. We find a similar expression in Job 11,12 איש נבוב לוחות, “a hollow man, etc.” Whenever the Israelites made camp they would fill the inside of this altar with earth. Only after that would they use it to offer their sacrifices.

V. 8. נבוב ,נבוב לוחות kommt nur noch einmal vor: ואיש נבוב ילבב Job 11, 12 "und der hohle Mensch bekommt ein Inneres". So auch hier: hohl von Tafeln, d. h. nicht ein massiver Block. Dieser Wanderaltar ward, wie bereits oben Kap. 20, 21 ausgesprochen, über einen Erdaufwurf gestellt. Es ist der מזבח אדמה, der so lange mit uns zu wandern hatte, bis dem Heiligtum die feste bleibende Stätte gewonnen, und ein מזבח אבנים zu errichten war. Der Übergangsaltar zu Schilo, Nob und Gibeon war, nach R. Nathan (Sebachim 61 b), statt mit Erde, mit Steinen ausgefüllt.

נבוב לוחות, “make it hollow with boards;” it was to be hollow underneath in order for it to be lighter when carrying it. These hollowed out boards were inside of the mesh on which blood would be sprinkled, occupying the lower half of the altar. When the Israelites were encamped they would fill the hollow space with earth and offer the sacrifices on top of that earth. When they would move again, the accumulated earth would fall between the boards enclosing that hollowed space and the mesh, which looked like a sieve. Each time the came to rest they would fill that hollow space up with earth again.

כאשר הראה אותך בהר, that they were to fill the hollow inside with earth at the times they would be encamped. The fire [reserve of the wooden pile some of which was kept constantly burning. Ed.] which was to be kept going on the altar as described in Leviticus 6,6, would be based on the earth.

Der מזבח.

Wir haben schon oben Kap. 20, 21 darauf hingewiesen, wie die gegensätzliche Stellung der Sätze: מזבח אדמה תעשה לי=לא תעשון אתי וגו׳ die Auffassung des מזבח'zu Gott emporzuhebenden Erde bestätigt, und diesen Begriff dürfen wir auch als leitenden Gedanken seiner Konstruktion festhalten. Terrassenförmig in drei Absätzen, im מקדש aus einer Basis von zweiunddreißig Quadratellen, mit zweimaliger Verjüngung von je zwei Quadratellen, stieg der Altar neun Ellen hoch bis zu einer Oberfläche von achtundzwanzig Ellen empor, über welcher noch an allen vier Winkeln die "Altarstrahlen", קרנות, als Würfel von einer Elle emporstrebten. Jecheskel 43, 15 wird die obere Anhöhe des Altars d e geradezu הראל genannt, "Gottesberg" zu welchem die beiden unteren Erhebungen, auf deren Rücken der "Gottesberg" sich erhebt, als עזרות, Vorräume, Vorstufen, im Verhältnis stehen. Die untere, kleinere Erhöhung 2, die Basis, יסוד wird V. 14 עזרה קטנה, die größere Erhöhung b c עזרה גדולה genannt. Die Oberfläche, das Plateau, f des "Gottesberges" wird (das). אריאל, der "Gotteslöwe" genannt, auf ihr das Gottesfeuer, das "löwenmächtig" als אש אוכלה der Hingebungsopfer wartete, in welchen Israel seine אימורים und איברים, die Nieren seiner Begierden, das Fett seiner Güter, die Glieder seiner Wahrnehmung, seiner Erkenntnis und seiner Tat, sein ganzes leiblich-geistiges Wesen, dem Feuer des Göttlichen hingibt, sich durch und durch zur "Nahrung des Göttlichen" auf Erden, zur Gewinnung des göttlichen Wohlgefallens mit allem irdischen Sein und Streben umwandeln zu lassen.