Altar (Bible)

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Altars (Hebrew: מִזְבֵּחַ, mīzbēaḥ, "a place of slaughter or sacrifice")^[1] in the Hebrew Bible were typically made of earth (Exodus 20:24) or unwrought stone (20:25). Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places (Genesis 22:9; Ezekiel 6:3; 2 Kings 23:12; 16:4; 23:8). The first time the word altar is mentioned and recorded in the Hebrew Bible is that it was erected by Noah, although it does not specify that there was an altar in (Genesis 4:3–4). Other altars were erected by Abraham (Genesis 12:7; 13:4; 13:18;22:9), by Isaac (Genesis 26:25), by Jacob (33:20; 35:1–3), by Moses (Exodus 17:15), and by Saul (1 Samuel 14:35).

After the theophany on biblical Mount Sinai, in the Tabernacle, and afterwards in the Temple in Jerusalem, only two altars are mentioned: the Altar of Burnt Offering and the Altar of Incense.