מִזְבֵּחַ
altar
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
6 verses where H4196 appears in the Construct state in the Book of 2 Kings. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
2 Kings
- 2 Kings 11:18 מזבחת/ו מִזְבְּחֹתָ֤י/ו הַֽ/מִּזְבְּח֑וֹת n c mp cs + sfx pers 3ms n c mp cs + sfx pers 3ms ptcl def.art + n c mp All the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and broke it down; his altars and his images broke they in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. The priest appointed officers over the house of Yahweh.
- 2 Kings 16:14 הַ/מִּזְבַּ֣ח הַ/מִּזְבֵּ֔חַ הַ/מִּזְבֵּ֖חַ ptcl def.art + n c ms cs ptcl def.art + n c ms ptcl def.art + n c ms The brazen altar, which was before Yahweh, he brought from the forefront of the house, from between his altar and the house of Yahweh, and put it on the north side of his altar.
- 2 Kings 16:15 הַ/מִּזְבֵּ֣חַ וּ/מִזְבַּ֧ח ptcl def.art + n c ms conj + n c ms cs King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meal-offering, and the king's burnt offering, and his meal-offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: but the brazen altar shall be for me to inquire by.
- 2 Kings 18:22 מִזְבְּחֹתָ֔י/ו הַ/מִּזְבֵּ֣חַ n c mp cs + sfx pers 3ms ptcl def.art + n c ms But if you tell me, We trust in Yahweh our God; isn't that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
- 2 Kings 23:9 מִזְבַּ֥ח n c ms cs Nevertheless the priests of the high places didn't come up to the altar of Yahweh in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.
- 2 Kings 23:17 הַ/מִּזְבַּ֥ח ptcl def.art + n c ms cs Then he said, What monument is that which I see? The men of the city told him, It is the tomb of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
מזבח — transliterated mizbêach — is a Hebrew noun carrying the sense “altar.” Its earliest occurrence is Genesis 8:20. Spanning 338 verses in 25 books, it ranks among the common words of the Hebrew Bible. Sharing its root, it stands alongside זבח, דבח and זבח. See the sense tree, 338-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H4196 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 338
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 338 distinct verses.
- 25 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 25 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #123
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 123 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 338 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Leviticus 71 verses 21%
- Exodus 51 verses 15%
- 2 Chronicles 35 verses 10%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 338 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 167 verses · 49%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 119 verses · 35%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 52 verses · 15%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Altar 311×, Altars 49×, Every altar 5×
- American Standard Version: Altar 277×, Altars 43×, Every altar 5×
- Berean Standard Bible: Altar 330×, Altars 49×, Each altar 4×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Altar 278×, Altar of 70×, Altars 48×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H4196 across 402 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 17 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H4196 across 401 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 44 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H4196 across 393 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 8 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 8 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H4196 across 411 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
20 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 20 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1. JE narrate that altars were built by Noah after leaving the ark Gn 8:20; by Abraham at Shechem 12:7, Bethel 12:8, Hebron 13:18, mt. in land Moriah 22:9; by Isaac at Beersheba 26:25; by Jacob at Shechem 33:20 (yet this perhaps mistake for מַצֵּבָה, being obj. of וַיַּצֶּב־שָׁם, not elsewhere with מזבח, cf. also Di), at Bethel 35:7, by Moses at Rephidim Ex 17:15, Horeb 24:4, by Balak at Bamoth Baal, Pisgah, $ Peor Nu 23:1, 14, 29; by Joshua on Mt. Ebal Jos 8:30: the prophetic histories narrate that altars were built by Gideon at Ophra Ju 6:24; by a man of God at Bethel Ju 21:4; by Samuel at Ramah 1 S 7:17; by Saul after Michmash 1 S 14:35; by David on the threshing floor of Ornan 2 S 24:25 = 1 Ch 21:18, 1 Ch 22:1; that Solomon sacrificed on the altar at Gibeon 1 K 3:4 and built altars in the temple at Jerusalem 1 K 6:20; 8:64; that Jeroboam built an altar at Bethel 1 K 12:32 (which was destroyed by Josiah 2 K 23:15); and that Elijah repaired an ancient altar on Carmel 1 K 18:30. An altar in Egypt is predicted Is 19:19. All this accords with the law of the Covenant code Ex 20:24–26 which recognises a plurality of altars and prescribes that they shall be built of אֲדָמָה, or of unhewn stones, and without steps. So אֲבָנִים Dt 27:5 (JE), אֲבָנִים שְׁלֵמוֹת Dt 25:6 Jos 8:31, and twelve stones 1 K 18:31; cf. Is 27:9. The altar was also a place of refuge Ex 21:14 (JE) 1 K 1:50, 51; 2:28. e.g. Genesis 8:20
- 2. D prescribes one central altar Dt 12:5 f., 27; but no attempt to enforce this principle appears before Hezekiah (2 K 18:4, 22), and Josiah, whose reform is more effectual, 2 K 23:8–20. e.g. Deuteronomy 12:5
- 3. P limits sacrifices to the altars of the tabernacle. A great altar was built E. of the Jordan, but it was according to P only as an עֵד after the pattern of the altar before the Tabernacle Jos 22:10–34. P describes two altars: e.g. Joshua 22:10
- a. the מִזְבַּח הָעֹלָה Ex 30:28; 31:9; 35:16; 38:1; 40:6, 10, 29 Lv 4:7, 10, 25(×2), 30, 34 = מ׳ הַנְּחשֶׁת Ex 38:30; 39:39, made of acacia wood plated with brass, 5 × 5 × 3 cubits in size, with four horns and a network of brass, on which all sacrifices by fire were made Ex 27:1–8; 38:1–7; e.g. Exodus 30:28
- b. מ׳ מִקְטַר קְטֹרֶת made of acacia wood plated with gold, 1 × 1 × 2 cubits in size, with four horns and a crown of gold Ex 30:1–6 = מ׳ הקטרת Ex 30:27; 31:8; 35:15; 37:25 = מ׳ הזהב Ex 39:38; 40:5, 26 Nu 4:11 = מ׳ קטרת הַסַּמִּים Lv 4:7; these altars are named elsewhere only in Chr. 1 Ch 6:34; 16:40; 21:29; 2 Ch 1:5, 6. e.g. Exodus 30:1
- 4. Solomon made two altars for the temple at Jerusalem:
- a. מ׳ הַנְּחשֶׁת for the court 1 K 8:64 (which was laid aside by Ahaz 2 K 16:14, 15, who made an altar after the model of one he saw in Damascus 2 K 16:11); in v 14 הַמִּזְבַּח הַנּ׳ (cstr. form c. art.) is erron., read prob. מִזְבַּח cf. Ges§ 127. 4 a ad fin.; this altar, according to Chr, measured 20 × 20 × 10 cubits 2 Ch 4:1; this מזבח (ה)נחשׁת also 7:7 $ Ez 9:2; = מ׳ העולה 2 Ch 29:18, repaired by Asa 2 Ch 15:8; e.g. 1 Kings 8:64
- b. an altar of cedar, plated with gold, in the temple before the דְּבִיר 1 K 6:20, 22; 7:48; = מ׳ הזהב 2 Ch 4:19; = מ׳ הַקְּטֹרֶת 1 Ch 28:18; 2 Ch 26:16. e.g. 1 Kings 6:20
- 5. Ezekiel plans two altars for the new temple:
- a. a table of wood 3 × 2 cubits Ez 41:22; e.g. Ezekiel 41:22
- b. an altar for the court, prob. same dimensions as 4 a, with stairs Ez 43:13–17. e.g. Ezekiel 43:13
- 6. after the return Jeshua built an altar on the ancient site in the court of the temple Ezr 3:2. e.g. Ezra 3:2
- 7. besides these altars used in the worship of Yahweh, Ahab built an altar to Baal in Samaria 1 K 16:32; Ahaz made an altar on the roof of the upper chamber, and other kings of Judah made altars in the two courts, all of which were destroyed by Josiah 2 K 23:12. e.g. 1 Kings 16:32
- 8. the ancient and most common term for making altars was בָּנָה Gn 35:7 (E) 8:20 (J) Dt 27:5, 6 Ex 32:5 (JE) +, implying building material; other vbs. are הֵקִים 2 S 24:18 1 K 16:32 2 K 21:3 1 Ch 21:18 2 Ch 33:3; הֵכִין Ezr 3:3 (sq. עַל־מְכוֹנֹתָו֯); שִׂים Je 11:13; וַיַּצֶּב־ Gn 33:20 (but cf. 1); Nu 23:4 (E) has עָרַךְ arrange, prepare; עָשָׂה Gn 35:1, 3 Ex 20:24 (E) Gn 13:4 (J) Jos 22:28 1 K 12:33; 18:26; this becomes usual in P, Ex 27:1; 30:1; 37:25; 38:1, 30, so 2 Ch 4:1, 19; 7:7; 28:24. e.g. Genesis 35:7
- 9. the dedication of the altar was חֲנֻכַּת המזבח Nu 7:10, 11, 84, 88 2 Ch 7:9; it was anointed with oil מָשַׁח Ex 40:10 Lv 8:11 Nu 7:10 (all P). e.g. Numbers 7:10
- 10. removal of unlawful altars is expr. by נָתַץ Ex 34:13 (JE) Dt 7:5 Ju 2:2; 6:30, 31, 32 2 K 11:18; 23:12, 15; נִתַּץ (Pi) Dt 12:3 2 Ch 31:1; 34:4, 7; נֻתַּץ Ju 6:28; הָרַס Ju 6:25 1 K 19:10, 14; שִׁבַּר 2 Ch 23:17; הֵסִיר 2 K 18:22 = Is 36:7, 2 Ch 14:2; 30:14; 32:12; 33:15. e.g. Exodus 34:13
- 11. ministry at the altar was מִשְׁמֶרֶת הַמּ׳ Nu 18:5 Ez 40:46, cf. Nu 3:31 (P), מְשָֽׁרְתֵי מ׳ Jo 1:13; עָמַד עַל is said of officiating priest 1 K 13:1, עָלָה עַל Ex 20:26 1 S 2:28 1 K 12:33 + (cf. יָרַד Lv 9:22); sacrifices were usually offered עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ Gn 22:9 Dt 12:27 +; v. especially the phrases with זָרַק Ex 29:16, 20 + (v. זרק); הִקְטִיר Lv 4:10 (v. קטר Hiph.); הֶעֱלָה Lv 6:3 + (v. עלה Hiph.) לְבַעֵר Ne 10:35; but בַּמִּזְבֵּחַ Gn 8:20 (J) Nu 23:2, 4, 14, 30 (E); one touching the altar is הַנֹּגֵעַ בַּמּ׳ Ex 29:37 (P); לפני המ׳ of placing, or standing before altar Dt 26:4 1 K 8:22; as acc.loc. הַמִּזְבֵּ֫חָה in phrases especially c. הִקְטִיר Ex 29:13 +, and הֶעֱלָה Lv 14:20. e.g. Numbers 18:5
- 12. the horns of the altar were especially for the application of the blood of the sin-offering in the ritual; sin is represented as graven לְקַרְנוֹת מִזְבְּחוֹתֵיכֶם Je 17:1; therefore of blood for cleansing it was said †נָתַן על קרנות המ׳ Ex 29:12 Lv 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34; 8:15; 9:9; 16:18 (all P). An ancient custom is referred to, ψ 118:27 אִסְרוּ־חַג בַּעֲבֹתִ֑ים עַד־קרנות המזבח bind the festal victim with cords, unto the horns of the altar: Ainsworth paraphrases: ‘that is, all the court over, untill you come even to the hornes of the altar, intending hereby many sacrifices,’ so De; but Che ‘bind the procession with branches, (step on) to the altar-horns,’ that is in sacred procession round the altar. e.g. Jeremiah 17:1
- 13. the יְסוֹד (q.v.) is also referred to in the ritual of the sin-offerings in the phrases יָצַק אל יסוד Lv 8:15; 9:9 $ שָׂפַךְ אל יסוד Ex 29:12 Lv 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34 (all P) יִמָּצֵה אל יסוד Lv 5:9. e.g. Leviticus 8:15
- 14. the altar was קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים Ex 29:37; 40:10 (P); but repeated sin-offerings were necessary to keep it pure and cleanse it from the pollution of the people in whose midst it was situated. This is expressed by חִטֵּא Lv 8:15 (P) Ez 43:22; כִּפֶּר Lv 16:20, 33 (P) Ez 43:26; קִדַּשׂ Ex 29:44; 40:10 Lv 8:15 Nu 7:1 (P); טִהַר 2 Ch 29:18. e.g. Exodus 29:37
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
מִזְבֵּחַ401 n.m. Jos 22:10 altar (Arabic مَذْبَحٌ, place of slaughter, trench made by torrent, Sab. מדֿבח DHMEpigr. Denkm. 24); מ׳ abs. 2 K 18:22 + 223 times, הַמִּזְבֵּ֑חָה Ex 29:13 + 31 times; cstr. מִזְבַּח Ex 20:24 + 76 times, sf. מִזְבְּחִי Ex 20:26 + 7 times, מִזְבַּחֲךָ 1 K 8:31 + 3 times, מִזְבְּחֶ֑ךָ Dt 33:10; מִזְבְּחוֹ Ju 6:31 + 2 times; pl. מִזְבְּחֹת Nu 23:1 + 5 times, מִזְבְּחוֹת 2 K 21:3 + 23 times, sf. מִזְבְּחוֹתֶיךָ ψ 84:4, other sfs. 21 times;—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from זבח (zâbach) (H2076) — to sacrifice.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
מִזְבֵּחַ
- altar. Zeb. V, 1, a. fr. מ׳ החיצון, v. חִיצוֹן Tam. III, 1, a. fr. מ׳ הפנימי the inner altar (in the interior of the Temple).—Gitt. V, 5 מפני תקון המ׳ in order to prevent neglect of the altar. Ib. 55ᵇ שלא יאמרו מ׳ אוכל וכ׳ lest people say, the altar receives stolen goods. Ber. 55ᵃ, v. כָּפַר. Gen. R. s. 80 כמ׳ כן כהניו as the altar, so are its priests; Y. Snh. II, end, 20ᵈ; a. v. fr.—Ab. Zar. 53ᵇ; Tosef. ib. V (VI), 8, a. e. (of an idolatrous altar), v. בִּימוּס.—Pl. מִזְבְּחוֹת. Lam. R. to I, 16 הרי אמנו בנתה שבעה מ׳ וכ׳ behold, our mother built seven altars and offered seven children on one day (as martyrs of their faith). Num. R. s. 20; a. e.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 110 distinct written forms H4196 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 50 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H4196, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 322 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 338 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 8:20
- Exodus 17:15
- Leviticus 1:5
- Numbers 3:26
- Deuteronomy 7:5
- Joshua 9:27
- Judges 2:2
- 1 Samuel 2:28
- 2 Samuel 24:18
- 1 Kings 1:50
- 2 Kings 11:11
- 1 Chronicles 6:49
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
