Later text
The ledge shall also be square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, with a rim of half a cubit and a gutter of a cubit all around it. The steps of the altar shall face east."
Intertextuality Pair
Ezekiel 43:17 → Exodus 20:26
Echo
Earlier text
Exodus 20:26BSB
And you must not go up to My altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.'
Significance
Exodus 20:26 prohibits steps on God's altar "lest your nakedness be exposed on it," protecting the sanctity of priestly approach. Ezekiel 43:17 describes the visionary altar with steps (מַעֲלוֹתֵהוּ, ma'alotehav) facing east—an apparent tension with the Exodus prohibition. This development reflects the change from simple earth/stone altars requiring no ascent to the massive temple altar that demanded a ramp or staircase for practical access. The concern for priestly modesty expressed in Exodus 20:26 was later addressed by priestly garments (Exod 28:42-43, linen undergarments), which made the original prohibition of steps unnecessary while preserving the underlying principle of reverent approach to sacred space.
- Found via
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- Reference Type
- Echo
- Connection Method(s)
- Redemptive-Historical Progression — the altar law develops across the history of the cult: Exodus 20:26 forbids ascending the simple early altar by steps "lest your nakedness be exposed on it," while Ezekiel 43:17's visionary altar has steps facing east, the modesty concern having been met within the law itself by the priests' linen undergarments (Exod 28:42-43). The institution progresses from earthen altar to visionary temple altar while the principle of reverent approach to holy space is preserved — development within the one cultic order, not contradiction and not inversion.