You shall make a grating for it of network of bronze. On the net you shall make four bronze rings in its four corners.
Parallel Translations
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You shall make a grating for it of network of bronze. On the net you shall make four bronze rings in its four corners.
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And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof.
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And thou shalt make for it a grating of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Exodus 27:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 25:12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four feet. Two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it.
- Exodus 35:16 the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its vessels, the basin and its base;
- Exodus 38:4-5 He made for the altar a grating of a network of bronze, under the ledge around it beneath, reaching halfway up. He cast four rings for the four corners of bronze grating, to be places for the poles.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Hebrew, net.
Hebrew, net.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 27:4 And thou shalt make for it a…
Exo 27:4 And thou shalt make for it a grate of network [of] brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof.
Ver. 4. A grate.] Which served for a hearth, and represented Christ bearing the fire of his Father’s displeasure.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain A grate of net-work, which was competently strong and…
A grate of net-work, which was competently strong and thick, this being as it were the hearth of the altar, upon which they laid both the wood and the sacrifices, and it was full of holes, through which the blood and ashes might fall down into the place appointed for them.
Upon the net, or rather at, or beside, or under the net, for so the rings were placed, as their use shows, and the Hebrew preposition al is oft so used.
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Four brazen rings, which were either,
1. Peculiar to the grate, which by these was carried apart from the altar, having the perpetual fire kept in it; for had it been carried with the altar, the cloth wherewith the altar was covered, Num 4:13, would have been endangered by the fire. Or,
2. Common to the altar, to which these were fixed on the outside, as on the inside to the grate, that by them the grate might be both kept even and upright, and also carried together with the altar, and that with such caution that the fire included might not hurt the covering-cloth, which was not difficult to do.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And thou shalt, make for it a grate of…
And thou shalt, make for it a grate of network of brass,.... Or "sieve", as in Amo 9:9, it was a plate of brass with holes in it, to let through either the blood that drained from the parts of the sacrifice, or the ashes of it; for this was the focus or hearth, on which the sacrifice and the wood were laid and burnt: this, according to the Targum of Jonathan on Exo 38:4 was to receive the coals and bones which fell from the altar: and so may denote the purity of Christ's sacrifice, which was offered up without spot to God, and the use of him as the altar to sanctify our gifts, and take away the sins of our holy things:
and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof; by which, with chains put into them, the grate was fastened to the four horns of the altar, and the use of them was to let it down and hang in the middle of the altar, and to take it up when there was occasion for it; though some think these rings were not "in" the grate, but "by" it, as the particle may be rendered, a little lower than that, on the sides of the altar; into which the staves after mentioned were put, and with which the altar was carried when removed from place to place.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The grate was set into the hollow of the…
The grate was set into the hollow of the altar, about the middle of it, in which the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burnt; it was made of net-work like a sieve, and hung hollow, that the fire might burn the better, and that the ashes might fall through. Now, this brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins. Christ sanctified himself for his church as their altar, John xvii, 19, and by his mediation sanctifies the daily services of his people. To the horns of this altar poor sinners fly for refuge, and are safe in virtue of the sacrifice there offered.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. Thou shalt make for it a grate]…
Verse 4. Thou shalt make for it a grate] Calmet supposes this altar to have been a sort of box, covered with brass plates, on the top of which was a grating to supply the fire with air, and permit the ashes to fall through into the siroth or pan that was placed below. At the four corners of the grating were four rings and four chains, by which it was attached to the four horns; and at the sides were rings for the poles of shittim wood with which it was carried. Even on this there is a great variety of opinions.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 27:4. Thou shalt make for it a grate…
Exo 27:4. Thou shalt make for it a grate of net-work — This was the principal part of the altar. It was let into the hollow about the middle of it, and here the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burned. It was a broad plate of brass full of holes, like a net or sieve, and partly hollow that the fire might burn the better, and the ashes might fall through to the bottom of the altar, where there was a door on the east side to open and take out the ashes.
Now this brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins. Christ sanctified himself for his church as their altar, (Joh 17:19,) and by his mediation sanctifies the daily services of his people. To the horns of this altar poor sinners flee for refuge, and are safe in virtue of the sacrifice there offered.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain a grate of network of brass--sunk latticework to support…
a grate of network of brass--sunk latticework to support the fire.
four brazen rings--by which the grating might be lifted and taken away as occasion required from the body of the altar.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4, 5. A grate of network — The design…
4, 5. A grate of network — The design of this is not made very clear by the statements of these verses. The compass of the altar is commonly supposed to have been a projecting border or framework running around the outside, and affording a place for the officiating priest to stand, or pass around, when arranging the fire or the victims offered. Accordingly, this network grating has by some been explained as reaching from this border to the ground, and so being beneath it, (Hebrews, from below.) It would thus serve as a support for the border. Others have imagined that it extended horizontally beyond the border, and served to catch coals or any thing else which might fall from the altar. Others, however, have located the grate inside of the altar, so as to serve for a sieve through which ashes might fall, as through a fire grate, into a hollow place within the altar, from whence they were removed by means of the shovels. In this case the four brazen rings at the corners were for the purpose of easily lifting the grate out, or setting it in its place. There appears nothing by which to determine which of these views is correct. If the rings mentioned in Exo_27:7 are identical with those upon the net, then the first view named above would be the most natural explanation. But as the staves to fit into those rings are mentioned as for the altar, while these were for the net, we are not justified in assuming that they were identical. But while the exact location and purpose of this grating are not certainly fixed, the general form and appearance of the altar probably resembled the preceding cut.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. a grating] Exo_35:16, Exo_38:4-5; Exo_38:30, Exo_39:39†. This formed…
4. a grating] Exo_35:16, Exo_38:4-5; Exo_38:30, Exo_39:39†. This formed a vertical support for the ‘ledge’ (v. 5), resting on the ground, and supporting it at its outer edge.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) A grate of network.—Rather, a grating of network.…
(4) A grate of network.—Rather, a grating of network. The position of the grating is doubtful. According to one view, it reached from the middle of the altar to its base, and protected the sides of the altar from the feet of the ministering priests. According to another, it surrounded the upper part of the altar, and was intended to catch any portions of the victims that accidentally fell off. There are no sufficient data to enable us to determine between these views.
Upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings.—The brazen altar, like the ark and the table of shewbread, was to be carried by the priests when the Israelites changed their camping-ground. It therefore required “rings,” like them (Exo_25:12; Exo_25:26). These were, in the case of the altar, to be attached to the network, which must have been of a very solid and substantial character.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Thou shalt make for it a grate. Rather, "a…
Thou shalt make for it a grate. Rather, "a grating." This was probably a protection for the lower part of the altar, and prevented it from being touched by the feet of the ministrant priests. It was outside the altar, and had the rings attached to it, by which the altar was carried when the Israelites journeyed.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.