The altar was a significant part of Old Testament worship, serving as a place for ritual sacrifices and symbolizing the presence of God. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ fulfilled and superseded Old Testament sacrifices by his sacrifice on the cross.
The English word altar, which is derived from the Latin altare and probably related toaltus (“high”), is defined in Webster’s dictionary as “a raised structure or place on which sacrifices are offered or incense is burned in worship.” It is possibly rooted in the Latin verb adolere (“to worship,” “to burn or cause to go up in smoke”), so that the word came to signify “a place of sacrifice.”
In the classical world and the ancient Near East, the altar was a place where gifts were offered to the gods; it was a symbol of the hidden presence of the divine. The gods were invited to consume the gifts which were often transformed or transferred, through burning, from the material to the spiritual realm. The most primitive altars consisted simply of a large stone or pile of rocks; in some areas, they were mere mounds of earth strewn with special grass.
Israelite Religion
The function of the altar for the Israelites was basically the same as it was for the ancient Near Eastern peoples, but there were some significant differences. The Hebrew word for altar is mizbeah (a place of sacrificial slaying), which is rooted in the word zabah, meaning “to slaughter as a sacrifice.” In addition to animals and birds, other objects offered on the altar were wine, grain, and incense. At times altars served non-sacrificial roles, such as witness (Josh. 22:26–29) and as a place of refuge after one had committed a crime (1 Kings 1:50–53). For the Israelites the altar was above all a symbol of divine presence. People built altars to remember that God had intervened in human history in a special way at a particular time and place; hence they served as memorials of divine favor (Gen. 33:20, 35:1–7; Judg. 6:24). Altars were also the place of libations and sacrifices. If at one time or another simple stones were used as altars (Judg. 6:20; 13:19), most of the time the people built actual altars with care so they were satisfactorily adapted to their proper purpose (Exod. 20:24–26).
Abraham and Jacob built altars to commemorate a special revelation of God’s presence and activity (Gen. 13:18; 35:7). At the altar, renewed communion with God was achieved. Gifts were removed from the human sphere and transferred to the divine by being placed on the altar. The gifts symbolized the people who offered the gifts; the altar itself symbolized God. Hence gifts placed on the altar symbolized the union of the people with their God. This union was explicitly expressed by blood rituals. Blood itself was the primary symbol of life which had its source in God. The blood was sprinkled on both the altar and the people. Because God and the people shared in the same blood, they shared in the same life and so were in union with each other.
Some of the altars, including the altar of holocausts and the Altar of Incense in the Temple of Jerusalem, had horns at each corner. Their original purpose is unclear, but they came to be looked upon as a sign of God’s protective presence, thus affording sanctuary to those who took hold of them (1 Kings 2:28). For the Israelites, however, the altar, at least in its early stages of development, was less a utilitarian object than it was a sacred symbol of the encounter between humankind and God. But for the descendants of the patriarchs, the altar as a place of worship tended to take on more value than the memories of the theophanies which were at the origin of the altars. This primacy of place over memorial is reflected in the fact that ancient places of pagan worship such as Bethel (Gen. 35:7) and Shechem (Gen. 33:19) were taken over by the Israelites without any reference to a special encounter with God. Although the law required that pagan altars be demolished (Exod. 34:13, Deut. 7:5, Num. 33:52), the Israelites often simply consecrated them to the true God by means of their own sacrificial offerings (1 Kings 3:4).
By concentrating so much attention on their altars the Israelites often forgot that the altar was not holy in and of itself, but only because it was a symbol of the living God. They likewise often failed to distinguish carefully between their use of altars and that employed by their pagan contemporaries. Solomon, Ahab, Ahaz, and Manasseh even went to far as to tolerate pagan altars (1 Kings 11:7–8; 16:10–16; 16:32; 21:5). The prophets for their part scolded the people for multiplying altars (Amos 2:6–8, Hos. 8:11; Jer. 3:6).
The primacy of God was strongly reasserted when the worship of the chosen people was centralized at Jerusalem (2 Kings 23) where the altar of holocausts in the temple focused on the religious life of Israel. The Psalms bear witness to the fond place the altar held in the hearts of the people (Psa. 26:6, 43:4; 84:1–4; 118:27).
Among the Israelites, many of the priestly functions were closely associated with altars. The priests were above all men of the sanctuary, for their primary role was to offer sacrifices. As special mediators between God and the people, they presented to God the offerings of the people and they transmitted to the people the blessings of God. Their distinctive role was exemplified by Moses, who offered the sacrifice of the covenant (Exod. 24:4–8), and by Levi, who became the head of the whole line of priests (Deut. 28:38–42). On the Day of Atonement, the high priest carried out his role as supreme mediator by offering sacrifice to obtain the pardon for all the people’s sins (Lev. 16). The priests became exclusively ministers of the altar while the Levites took care of the purely material chores (Num. 3:6–10).
New Testament
That Jesus acknowledged the special holiness of the altar is indicated by his calling down woe on the Pharisees for their attempt to discourage oaths sworn by the temple or the altar and shifting the oaths to less important things such as the gold of the temple or the gifts on the altar (Matt. 23:18–21). It is by the altar and ultimately by God symbolized by the altar that the gifts are sanctified. To approach the altar for sacrifice is to draw near to God; if one’s worship is to be worthy, this cannot be done with anger in one’s heart (Matt. 5:23–24).
Jesus not only purified the worship of the Israelites, but he also put an end to it. His own body was and still is the new temple (John 2:19–21); he himself is our altar. He is also the prefect victim offered to God; likewise, he is the perfect priest who offers the victim. In Jesus, the temple, altar, victim, and priest are all one.
In writing to the Corinthians, Paul affirmed that when Christians partake of the body and blood of the Lord they partake at the altar which is the Lord; they share his table (1 Cor. 10:16–21). There is no reference to the traditional altars in his letter. Likewise, the author of the letter to the Hebrews makes no reference to an altar for the eucharistic sacrifice. When he says, “We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat” (Heb. 13:10), he is either referring to the cross or to the very person of Jesus.
There are a number of references to altars in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 6:9; 8:3, 5; 9:13; 14:18; 16:7). Above all the author speaks of the heavenly altar under which rest the martyrs slain for the Word of God (Rev. 6:9) and on which flames cause abundant fragrant smoke to rise to God (Rev. 8:3, 5). These flames symbolize Christ who is the one altar of sacrifice whose fragrance is perfectly pleasing to God. As the author of the letter to the Hebrews asserts, Christ is the one who “offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins … For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Heb. 10:12, 14).
In the New Testament, the significance of the traditional altar of the Israelites is eclipsed by Christ, for in the new Jerusalem there is neither temple nor altar. The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple in the heavenly city (Rev. 21:22).