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Summary
- An altar is a raised place, usually of earth or stone, for worshipping God with sacrifices and offerings; the Hebrew word comes from a verb meaning “slaughter for sacrifice”, and the first altar the Bible names is Noah’s, built after the flood (Genesis 8:20).
- Abraham, Isaac and Jacob built altars where God appeared to them or gave a promise, and there they “called upon the name of the LORD”.
- The tabernacle had two altars: one for burnt offerings, 5 cubits square and 3 high, before its door, and a small golden altar of incense before the veil.
- On Mount Carmel, “the fire of the LORD fell” on the altar Elijah had rebuilt with twelve stones (1 Kings 18:38).
- Hebrews says, “We have an altar” (Hebrews 13:10), and it teaches that Christ “offered one sacrifice for sins for ever”.
- In many churches today the altar is the table of the Lord’s Supper; Catholic, Orthodox and Lutheran churches explain it in their own teaching, and the Westminster Confession speaks of “the Lord’s table”.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture is quoted from the King James Version, via BibleGateway: Genesis 4:3–5; 8:20–21; 12:7–8; 13:18; 22:9, 13–14; 26:25; 33:20; 35:7; Exodus 17:15; 20:24–26; 21:14; 24:4; 27:1–8; 30:1–10; 34:13; 40:6; Leviticus 1:9; 6:13; 9:24; 17:11; Joshua 22:26–27, 34; Judges 6:24–26; 2 Samuel 24:24–25; 1 Kings 1:50; 6:22; 18:19–21, 29–39; 2 Chronicles 3:1, 3; 4:1; Ezra 3:2–3; Psalm 141:2; Isaiah 6:6–7; Ezekiel 41:22; Jeremiah 52:17; Malachi 1:7; Matthew 5:23–24; Luke 1:11; Acts 17:23; Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 10:21; Hebrews 10:10–12; 13:10, 15–16; 1 Peter 2:5; Revelation 6:9; 8:3.
- Blue Letter Bible, Strong’s H4196, mizbēaḥ, and H2076, zāḇaḥ, with the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew lexicon entries (1906); Strong’s G2379, thysiastērion, with Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon (1889).
- M. G. Easton, “Altar”, Illustrated Bible Dictionary (1897).
- “Cubit”, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915).
- Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 55a, William Davidson edition of the Koren Noé Talmud with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, Sefaria.
- Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Hebrews 13 (1706–1710), Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
- Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Philadelphians, chapter 4, translated by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1 (1885); Patrick J. Healy, “St. Ignatius of Antioch”, Catholic Encyclopedia (1910).
- Maurice M. Hassett, “History of the Christian Altar”, Catholic Encyclopedia (1907).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1182, 1367 and 1383, second edition (1997).
- Congregation for Divine Worship, General Instruction of the Roman Missal (2003), nos. 296, 298, 301 and 302.
- Orthodox Church in America, The Orthodox Faith, vol. II, Worship: “Altar Table”, the church’s handbook series.
- Martin Luther, Small Catechism, “The Sacrament of the Altar” (1529), Book of Concord.
- Philip Melanchthon, Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV, “Of the Mass”, Book of Concord.
- The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapter 29, as published by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
- Steven Gertz, “When and why did the custom of conducting altar calls begin?”, Christianity Today, 8 August 2008.
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