The English word altar, if
the commonly accepted etymology be adopted -- alta ara -- does not
describe as well as its Hebrew and Greek equivalents, mizbeah (from
zabhah, to sacrifice) and thysiasterion (from thyo, to immolate), the
purpose of the thing it stands for.
I. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
As soon as men conceived
the idea of offering sacrifices to the Deity they felt the need of
places specially designed for this end. These primeval specimens of
altars were necessarily most simple, very likely consisting of a heap
of stones or earth, suitable for the fire and the victims. Some of the
megalithic monuments left by prehistoric man seem to have been erected
for this purpose. Probably of this simple description were the altars
which Cain and Abel used to offer up their sacrifices, though scripture
does not mention in connection with their names any such monuments;
such also were the altars built up by Noah after the flood (Genesis
8:20); by Abraham in Sichem (Genesis 12:7), Bethel (Genesis 12:8;
13:4), Mambre (Genesis 13:18), and at the place where he had been about
to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22:9); by Isaac and Jacob at Bersabee
(Genesis 26:25; 46:1), and by the latter in Galaad (Genesis 31:54). The
same may be said of the altar erected in the desert of Sinai before the
golden calf (Exodus 32:5). During the period of the Judges and of the
Kings, the Israelites, owing to their propensity to idolatrous worship,
raised up altars to Baal and Astaroth, even to Moloch and Chamos. No
temple enclosed these altars or those erected to the one true God by
the patriarchs; they were raised up in the open air, and preferably on
the tops of the hills, whence their name, "high places". The
Chanaanites' high places were commonly located near large and shady
trees, or in the woods, in the midst of which a consecrated precinct
was marked out, affording good opportunities for the sacred debauches
accompanying the Astaroth worship which were so often alluded to by the
Prophets.
Altar of the Holocaust
Modern critics affirm that
there existed in Israel different legitimate places of worship before
the time of Josias, an assertion however, which is not to be examined
here as only regulations concerning the altar come under consideration
at present. The earliest ordinance on the subject is found in Ex., xx,
24-26 as follows: "You shall make an altar of earth unto me, and you
shall offer upon it your holocausts and peace offerings, your sheep and
oxen, in every place w here the memory of my name shall be: ill come to
thee, and will bless thee. And if thou make an altar of stone unto me,
thou shalt not build it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up a tool upon
it, it shall be defiled. Thou shalt not go up by steps unto my altar,
lest thy nakedness be discovered." These regulations fairly correspond
to the practice hitherto commonly followed, as may be concluded from
the scanty indications furnished by the histories of the patriarchs.
The Deuteronomic Law, while enforcing the injunction of local unity of
worship, repeats, on the occasion of the altar erected on Mount Hebal,
these primitive rules: "Thou shalt build . . . an altar . . . of stones
. . . not fashioned nor polished" (Deuteronomy 27:5, 6; cf. Joshua
8:30, 31). The description given in the places cited, as well as that
of the altar erected near the Jordan by the Rubenites, Gadites, and the
half-tribe of Manasses (Joshua 22), which was "the pattern of the altar
of Yahweh", suggests that the altars there referred to were large
constructions (Joshua 22:10). It may well be supposed that they were
built upon a mound and reached by a slope or even by steps The motive,
indeed, for the rule of Ex, xx, 26, had disappeared since the priests
had been provided with breeches (Exodus 28:42). There are reasons to
suppose that the altars erected at Silo and the other places of worship
before the translation of the Ark to Jerusalem, though probably of
smaller dimensions, were of the same general description. These were
fixed altars, the splendour of which was to be surpassed in the memory
of Israel by that of the altar erected by Solomon in front of the
Temple. Before describing it and sketching its history, it is proper to
gather the different references found in the Bible to the portable
altar used during the wanderings of the Hebrews through the wilderness
1. Altar of Holocaust of the Tabernacle
According to the
prescriptions of Ex, xxvii, 1-8, xxxviii, 1-7, this altar of holocaust,
constructed of setim wood (a kind of acacia), foursquare in form,
measured five cubits square and three in height, it was covered with
plates of brass. At its four upper corners were four "horns", likewise
overlaid with brass, which probably served to hold the flesh of the
victims heaped upon the altar In the ease of sin-offerings, the priest
put some of the blood of the victim upon these horns, they were also a
place of refuge, as is to be inferred from Ex, xxi, 14. A grate of
brass, after the manner of a net, extended to the middle of the altar,
and under it a hearth. At the four corners of the net rings had been
east; and through these rings ran two bars of setim wood covered with
brass to carry the altar. This indeed was not solid, but empty and
hollow on the inside. Such expressions as "to come down from the altar"
(Leviticus 9:22) lead us to suppose that this altar which was placed at
the door of the tabernacle (Leviticus 4:18) was usually set upon a
hillock and reached by a slope. Some believe also that the
above-described altar, which was merely a framework, had to be filled
with earth or stones, in compliance with the regulations of Ex, xx, 24,
and in order to prevent it from being injured by the flames of the
sacrifices. The altar served not only for the holocausts, but also for
all the other sacrifices in which a part of the victim was burnt. Fire
was unceasingly kept in the hearth for the sacrifices. When this altar
was built up, before serving for Divine worship, it was solemnly
consecrated by an unction with holy oil and by daily anointings and
aspersions with the blood of the sin-offerings for seven days. For
twelve days this was followed by daily sacrifices offered by the
princes of each tribe, thenceforth all bloody sacrifices were offered
on this altar. Some independent critics, remarking that this altar is
mentioned in the sacerdotal code only (cf. Pentateuch), and arguing
from the anomalies presented by the idea of the construction in wood of
a fireplace upon which a strong fire continually burned, regard this
former altar of holocaust, not as the pattern, but as a projection back
to early times and on a smallcr scale, of the altar of Jerusalem
2. Altar of Holocaust of the Temple of Solomon
This is commonly known
under the name of "brazen altar". It was located in the Temple court,
to the east of the Temple proper. In form it resembled the altar of the
tabernacle, but its dimensions were much larger: twenty cubits in
length, twenty cubits in breadth and ten cubits in height (2 Chronicles
4:1). Ez, xliii, 17 suggests that it was erected upon a base enclosing,
according to certain traditions, the rock Sakkara which still can be
seen in the Haram esh-Sherif. The whole structure, base and altar
proper, was entirely filled up with rocks and earth. A slope, which
Talmudic traditions suppose to have been broken three times by several
steps, led to the top of the base which was a few feet wider than the
altar proper, in order that the priest might easily go around the
latter. This altar, built up by Solomon (1 Kings 8:64), was the object
of a new consecration during Asa's reign (2 Chronicles 15:8), which
makes us think that some restoration had taken place. Achaz removed it
towards the north, and in its place erected another, similar to that
which he had seen in Damascus (2 Kings 16:10-l5). A restoration of the
former order of things very likely occurred under Ezechias, although
the sacred text does not mention it explicitly. Again polluted by
Ezechias' son Manasses, it vas later on repaired and dedicated again to
Yahweh by the same prince (2 Kings 21:4-5; 2 Chronicles 33:4, 5, 16).
The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army (587) was of course
fatal to both the Temple and the altar, and to both may be applied the
sign of the author of the Lamentations: "The stones of the sanctuary
are scattered in the tops of every street".
3. Altar of Holocaust of the Second and Third Temples
The Exile cured the Jews'
propensity to idolatry, those who came back from Babylon with Zorobabel
took it to heart to rebuild the altar as soon as possible, in order
that they might start over again the public worship of Yahweh. We read
the account of the reconstruction in I Esd., iii, 24. This new altar
was of the same form and dimensions as the former, and was probably
likewise built with unhewn stones. Some twenty years later, the new
Temple, completed amidst difficulties and opposition, stood behind the
altar. But the Divine service was poor, as we can infer from the scanty
documents of that epoch. Those indeed were hard times for Israel.
Nehemias -- if, to unravel the intricate chronology of the Books of
Esdras, we admit that Nehemias preceded Esdras to Jerusalem -- spared
no efforts to re-establish the Temple worship; but the resources of the
sanctuary were scarce, and after his return to Persia, the priests
fled, every man to his own country to find a living; the sacrifices,
not provided for, were abandoned, and the altar alone remained, a
solitary witness to the misery of the times (Nehemiah 13:10). Better
days shone again with the coming of Esdras (Ezra 8:35), but the
Persians were costly protectors. The Jews had a sorrowful experience of
this, especially when the Persian general Bagoses imposed for seven
years a heavy tax upon every sacrifice (Josephus, Ant., XI, vii, 1).
The reign of Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) signalized itself by new
profanations: "On the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred
and forty-fifth year [of the Grecian era], king Antiochus set up the
abominable idol of desolation upon the altar of God" (1 Maccabees 1:57;
4:38). How the tyranny of this prince roused the zeal and courage of
the Machabees and their followers, and how, through a long and hard
struggle, they succeeded in shaking the yoke of the Seleucides cannot
be narrated here. Suffice it to say that Judas Machabeus, after having
routed Antiochus' army, considered about the altar of holocausts that
had been profaned, what he should do with it. And a good counsel came
into their minds to pull it down: lest it should be a reproach to them,
because the Gentiles had defiled it; so they threw it down. And they
laid up the stones in the mountain of the temple in a convenient place.
. . Then they took whole stones according to the law, and built a new
altar according to the former . . . and on the five and twentieth day
of the ninth month . . . in the hundred and forty-eighth year . . .
they offeredsacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of
holocausts which they had made" (1 Maccabees 4:44-53). The anniversary
of this new dedication was thenceforward celebrated by a feast, added
to the liturgical calendar. The altar in question remained until the
destruction of Jerusalem and of the Temple by the Romans. Josephus and
the Talmud disagree as to the dimensions of the base. Instead of being
overlaid with plates of brass, like the brazen altar of Solomon's
Temple, it was covered on the outside with a solid plastering which
might be easily replaced. By the horn of the southwest corner there was
an outlet for the blood of the victims, and a hollow to receive
libations. Such was the altar at the time of Jesus Christ (Matthew
5:23, 24; 23:18); involved in the curse that hung over the Temple since
the Saviour's last days, it was wrecked with the Temple (A.D. 70) by
Titus's army, never to be built up again.
Altar of Incense
In the above description
not a word has been said of the incense offerings that were part of the
Yahweh worship. There is indeed on the subject of these offerings and
the Temple furniture connected with them, a noteworthy divergence
between the hitherto common opinion and that of the modern biblical
critics. The latter consider the introduction of incense into the
Yahweh worship as an innovation of relatively recent date (Jeremiah
6:20); they remark that, with the exception of a few passages, the
origin of which it is easy to determine the biblical writers speak only
of one altar, and that incense in the Law is supposed to be offered in
censers, of which each priest possesses one (Leviticus 16:12, l8-20; x;
Numbers 16:17; iii 4-l0). They argue, besides, from the adventitious
character, the late date, and the priestly origin, of the so-called
Mosaic texts referring to the altar of incense, as well as from the
vacillating statements concerning it in the latest sources of Jewish
history; and they conclude that neither in the tabernacle nor in the
first Temple did there exist an altar of incense. We shall presently
give the indications which the opinion heretofore considered as common
makes use of in the description of this piece oftabernacle and Temple
furniture. The first altar of incense constructed in the wilderness was
foursquare, measuring a cubit in length as much in breadth, and two
cubits in height. Made of setim wood, overlaid with the purest gold
(hence the name "golden altar"), it was encircled by a crown of the
same material; it had likewise a golden brim, and, like unto the altar
of holocaust, four horns and four rings of gold; through the latter two
bars of setim wood, overlaid with gold, served to carry the altar
(Exodus 30:4). When it had to be moved, it was covered with a purple
veil and a ram-skin. Consecrated, like the altar of holocaust, by an
unction of holy oil, this altar served every morning and evening for
the incense offering (Exodus 30:7-8) and in certain ceremonies for the
sin-offerings. Every year during the great Feast of Atonement it was
solemnly purified (Leviticus 16:14-19). In the Temple of Solomon, the
altar of incense was made in shape and dimensions, similar to that of
the tabernacle. The material alone differed; instead of setim wood,
cedar wood was used in its construction. According to a document
attributed to Jeremias, and quoted in II Mach., ii, 5, the prophet,
forewarned from on high of the wreck of the Temple, would have hidden
this altar in a hollow cave on Mount Nebo. Possibly, too, it was taken
away in the spoils gathered by the Babylonian army that ransacked
Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:13-17). The fact is, the second Temple was
furnished like the former, with an altar of incense, destroyed about
168 B.C. by Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), who broke it to take off the gold
plating that covered it. Judas Machabeus had a new one made and
dedicated at the same time as the altar of holocaust. It is by this
altar that the scene described in Luke i, 8-21, took place. Josephus
considered it as one of the three masterpieces contained in the Temple;
it was probably carried of by the Romans, though no mention of it is
made by the Jewish historian among the pieces of the Temple furniture
carried off by Titus.
II. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
The word altar is in the
New Testament frequently applied either to the altar of holocaust or to
the altar of incense. St. Paul, from the part of the sacrifice which
tlae ministers of the altar received, draws an argument to prove that
in like manner the ministers of the Gospel should live by the Gospel (1
Corinthians 9:13-14). In another place, from the participation in the
victim offered at the altar, he argues that in the same way as those
who eat of the sacrifice are partakers of the altar, so also they that
share in the flesh of the pagan victims are partakers of the devils to
whom they are offered, hence he concludes that to partake of the table
of the Lord and of the table of devils would be blasphemy (1
Corinthians 10:21). In conclusion, a few words about the altar
mentioned in the Apocalypse. Its form resembled that of the altar of
incense: like the latter, it was a "golden altar" set up before the
throne of God (viii, 3), and adorned with four horns at the angles (ix,
13). By the fire burning upon it stood an angel holding a golden
censer, "and there was given to him much incense", a figure of the
prayers of the Saints (viii, 3). l under the altar were the "souls of
them that were slain for the word of God" (Revelation 6:9); they had
evidently taken the place of the blood of the victims, which, in the
Old Law, was poured at the foot of the altar, and fulfilled the same
office of praise and atonement.
Publication information
Written by Charles L. Souvay. Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler.
The Catholic Encyclopedia,
Volume I. Published 1907. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil
Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John
Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
