The Copper Altar

Ritual Objects

The Copper Altar (Mizbeach Hanechoshet) is the altar upon which sacrifices and libations are offered. The Copper Altar is located within the Temple compound but outside the shrine itself.

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The Copper Altar Construction Details

TANAKH

The Torah provides specific instructions for building the Copper Altar, including its dimensions, materials, and design elements.

You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide—the altar is to be square—and three cubits high. Make its horns on the four corners, the horns to be of one piece with it; and overlay it with copper.

Exodus 27:1-2

The Dimensions of the Copper Altar

TANAKH

The Copper Altar's specific dimensions highlight its significance and the scale of offerings in the Temple. II Chronicles provides detailed measurements of the Copper Altar, emphasizing its grandeur and importance in the Temple rituals.

He made an altar of bronze 20 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 10 cubits high.

II Chronicles 4:1

Crafting the Sacred Altar

TANAKH

The construction details of the altar highlight the importance of durability and sacred craftsmanship in the Tabernacle. The Torah provides specific instructions for making the poles of the altar from acacia wood and overlaying them with copper.

And make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with copper.

Exodus 27:6

The Miraculous Fire of the Copper Altar

MIDRASH

The Torah describes the the copper-coated alter and the fire burning on it, along with other sacred implements. The fifth-century midrashic text, Vayikra Rabbah, interprets the particularities of the language of the verses to imply miraculous aspects of the Copper Altar's fire.

“And the fire of the altar shall be kept burning in it” Leviticus 6:2. Rabbi Pinḥas said: It is not written here: “And the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it,” but rather, “shall be kept burning in it” – the fire was aflame from it.
It is taught in the name of Rabbi Neḥemya: For almost one hundred and sixteen years the fire was aflame from it, [yet] its wood did not burn and its bronze did not melt. If you say that it was thick, it was taught in the name of Rabbi Hoshaya: It had the thickness of a Gordian dinar…

Vayikra Rabbah 7:5

Two Altars

MISHNAH

The copper altar, along with the golden altar, is not susceptible to impurity because it is considered like the ground, according to Rabbi Eliezer. The Mishnah, the first codification of Jewish law from the early third-century land of Israel, discusses the purification process for Temple vessels, reflecting the importance of ritual purity in Temple service.

How do they pass all the vessels of the Temple courtyard through a process of purification? They immerse the vessels that were in the Temple. And they say to the am ha’aretz priests who served in the Temple during the Festival: Be careful that you not touch the table of the shewbread. If you defile it by touching it, it would need to be removed for immersion, and this would lead to the temporary suspension of the mitzva of the shewbread, which had to be on the table at all times…

Mishnah Chagigah 3:8

The Ingenious Design of the Altar

COMMENTARY

The altar used by the Israelites was ingeniously designed to be both portable and functional, allowing them to offer sacrifices wherever they encamped. Chizkuni, a 13th-century Torah commentary, details the practical construction of this altar, including its hollow design for easy transport and the method of filling it with earth for use.

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…

Chizkuni, Exodus 27:8:1

The Mystical Altar

KABBALAH

This altar is not just a physical structure but a profound symbol of faith and spiritual connection, linked to the angel Michael and bridging the heavenly and earthly realms. The Zohar delves into the esoteric significance of this sacred object.

R. Abba said: ‘There are two altars below and two altars above. Of the latter one, the innermost of all, is that on which is offered the inner fine incense, which is the bond of faith, and the most high Priest of all offers this incense with the bond of faith. This is called the Altar of Gold, the place where all the threads of faith are bound together. There is another altar called the Altar of Brass, which is more external and on which Michael the great chief brings the pleasing offering of the Holy One, blessed be He…

Zohar, Tzav 11:84

Dimensions of the Altar in the Wilderness

TALMUD

The dimensions of the altar built in the time of Moses are derived from another portable vessel, the golden incense altar, rather than from a permanent edifice like the stone altar in the Temple. Rabbi Yosei's opinion in the Talmudic tractate Chagigah explains the derivation of the dimensions of portable vessels.

And one Sage, Rabbi Yosei, holds that we derive the dimensions of a portable vessel, i.e., the copper altar built in the time of Moses, from the dimensions of another portable vessel, i.e., the golden incense altar built at that time; but we do not derive the dimensions of a portable vessel from the dimensions of an edifice, i.e., the stone altar in the Temple.

Zevachim 60a:8

Sacrifices Without the Temple

TANAKH

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz’s commentary on the returnees to the Land of Israel explains how they built the altar and offered sacrifices based on earlier traditions.

(Ezra 3:1–13)
Building the Altar and Setting the Foundations of the Temple
The returnees to the Land of Israel do not have the capability to rebuild the Temple quickly, as the dimensions of the structure are too large and complex. However, in the meantime they are able at least to build the altar, as they have a tradition that it is permitted to offer sacrifices on the altar even without the Temple, just as the Israelites did in the periods before the First Temple.

Steinsaltz Introductions to Tanakh, Ezra, Section Preface 2

Ritual Precision in Temple Sacrifices

COMMENTARY

The Mishnah outlines the specific actions and dimensions involved in offering the daily burnt-offering.

The limbs of the daily burnt-offering were placed on the half of the ramp [to the altar] downwards on the west side. On the southern side of the altar there was a ramp, 32 cubits long and 16 cubits wide. When the priests would bring the sacrifices up to the altar, they would not bring them all up at once. Rather they would bring them half way up, place them on the west side of the altar, go back down, read the shema and then they would bring them all the way up to the top of the altar.

English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim 8:8:2

Blueprints of the Altar

JEWISH THOUGHT

Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller, in his commentary on Tractate Yoma, meticulously details the spatial dimensions and placement of the altar in the Beit HaMikdash.

In Tractate Yoma, Rabbi Yehudah states that the Altar was situated in the center of the Courtyard. Ten cubits of the Altar’s space were opposite the 10 cubits of the entrance to the Sanctuary, and there were 11 cubits on the north side of the Altar and 11 cubits on the south side of the Altar. Thus the Altar was positioned in front of the Sanctuary and its walls. According to this opinion, it can be postulated that, in the Future, the Sanctuary will be built so that its entrance will be opposite the center of the Altar, as it was in the First Beis HaMikdash…

The Third Beit HaMikdash 43:6

Sacrificial Offerings in the Temple

HALAKHAH

The procedures for sacrificial offerings, including meal-offerings and wine libations, were central to Jewish worship in the Temple. In his 12th-century legal code, the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides meticulously details the requirements and handling of these offerings.

The wine and the fine flour that are brought together with an offering are called accompanying offerings. The fine flour alone is called the accompanying meal-offering. The accompanying meal-offering need not be waved, brought [to the corner of the altar], nor [offered with] frankincense. It requires salt and it is burnt on the outer altar in its entirety.
The wine is poured over the altar. It is not poured over the fire. Instead, the priest should lift up his hands and pour it on [the altar's] base and from there, it descends to the shittin.

Mishneh Torah, Sacrificial Procedure 2:1

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