Exodus 20:25

And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
make	תַּֽעֲשֶׂה ta.'a.seh-	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
altar	מִזְבַּ֤ח miz.Bach	H4196	an altar · noun, common masculine singular construct
stone	אֲבָנִים֙ 'a.va.Nim	H68	a stone · noun, common feminine plural absolute
build	תִבְנֶ֥ה tiv.Neh	H1129	to build (literally and figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
stone	גָּזִ֑ית ga.Zit	H1496	something cut · noun, common feminine singular absolute
up	הֵנַ֥פְתָּ he.Naf.ta	H5130	to quiver (i.e. vibrate up and down · verb, hiphil perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
tool	חַרְבְּךָ֛ char.be.Kha	H2719	drought · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
polluted	וַתְּחַֽלְלֶֽהָ va.te.Cha.Le.ha	H2490	properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 27:5-6 And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them.
Joshua 8:31 As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stone…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 20:22–end

Moses having gone into the thick darkness, where God was, God there spoke in his hearing only, privately and without terror, all that follows hence to the end of ch. 23, which is mostly an exposition of the ten commandments; and he was to transmit it by word of mouth first, and afterwards in writing, to the people. The laws in these verses related to God's worship. I. They are here forbidden to make images for worship (Exo 20:22, Exo 20:23): You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven (such was his wonderful condescension, much more than for some mighty prince to talk familiarly with a company of poor beggars); now you shall not make gods of silver. 1. This repetition of the second…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 20:25

thou shalt not build it of hewn stone, &c.--that is, carved with figures and ornaments that might lead to superstition.

Adam Clarke on Exodus 20:25

Thou shalt not build it of hewn stone - Because they were now in a wandering state, and had as yet no fixed residence; and therefore no time should be wasted to rear costly altars, which could not be transported with them, and which they must soon leave. Besides, they must not lavish skill or expense on the construction of an altar; the altar of itself, whether costly or mean, was nothing in the worship; it was only the place on which the victim should be laid, and their mind must be attentively fixed on that God to whom the sacrifice was offered, and on the sacrifice itself, as that appointed by the Lord to make an atonement for their sins.

John Gill on Exodus 20:25

And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone,.... If they chose instead of an earthen one to make one of stone, as they might in rocky places, where they came, and in such an one where they now were, Mount Sinai, under which hill an altar was built, Exodus 24:4, thou shall not build it of hewn stone; which would require time and occasion expense, to hew and polish them in an artificial way; but it was to be built of rude and unpolished stones, just as they were taken out of the quarry, or found lying by the way, and which were laid up in an heap one upon another, and was done with little trouble, and without any ornament, and easily separated and thrown down, when become useless: the reason o…

Dictionary and topics

Altar — (Heb. mizbe’ah, from a word meaning “to slay”), any structure of earth (Ex. 20:24) or unwrought stone (20:25) on which sacrifices were offered. Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places…
Knife — (1.) Heb. hereb, “the waster,” a sharp instrument for circumcision (Josh. 5:2, 3, lit. “knives of flint;” comp. Ex. 4:25); a razor (Ezek. 5:1); a graving tool (Ex. 20:25); an axe (Ezek. 26:9). (2.)…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Altar · Mosaic commandments prescribing the construction of — Mosaic commandments prescribing the construction of
Altars · To be made of earth, or unhewn stone — To be made of earth, or unhewn stone
Art · .Of the stonecutter — .Of the stonecutter
Arts Of The · Stone cutter — Stone cutter
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Moral law given — Moral law given

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 20:25

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 20:22–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 20:25

Adam Clarke on Exodus 20:25

John Gill on Exodus 20:25

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 20:25

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 20:22–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 20:25

Adam Clarke on Exodus 20:25

John Gill on Exodus 20:25

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 20:24-25

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 20:24–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 20:22-26

Rashi on Exodus 20:23