ritual
altar
At a glance
In short
Mizbeach is the altar proper, built of many stones (or of plated wood in the Mishkan), square, with four horns. Matzeivah is the single-stone altar or pillar; where no sacrifice is in view it is a pillar or monument. On Rashi's reading it is an altar, beloved in the days of the Avos and forbidden afterwards; Ramban denies it is an altar at all. Bamah is a high place, a private altar away from the central place of worship. The Torah itself contrasts the commanded mizbeach with the hated matzeivah.
Distinctions
Mizbeach (מזבח)
Root ז-ב-ח. The noun zevach is a sacrifice and the verb zoveach is sacrificial slaughtering; the mizbeach is where blood and the other portions of animals, birds, and flour offerings are brought. The Mishkan's was copper-plated shittim wood, the one in the Beis HaMikdash that Shlomo HaMelech built was of stone. The Torah insists it be square, length equal to width, with four "horns" on its corners (Shemos 27:1-2). Two items bear the name: the Mizbeach HaChitzon, the Outer Altar in the courtyard, and the Mizbeach HaPnimi or Mizbeach HaZahav, the Inner or Golden Altar for the daily incense (see the dispute above on why the second carries the name).
The Vilna Gaon (to Divrei HaYamim II 14:2): a mizbeach stands in a fixed place, while a bamah and a matzeivah are ad hoc places of worship. A matzeivah is a single stone and a bamah is built of many. Alternatively, a matzeivah serves only for pouring libations, a bamah only for burnt offerings, and a mizbeach for any offering.
Matzeivah (מצבה)
Root נ-צ-ב, as in netziv, something standing, a pillar. Beyond a single-stone altar it names any commemorative monument, and in ordinary speech a tombstone. Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer explains that nitzav implies a prolonged or continuous standing, and that a matzeivah is so called because it is erected to stand in place for a long time. Devarim 16:22 forbids it outright; Rashi and Ramban part company over what exactly is forbidden (above).
Bamah (במה)
Literally a high place, hence a private altar, since these were commonly built on higher ground; it is related to bimah, the raised platform from which the Torah is read. Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim traces bamah to the biliteral root ב-ם, the conglomeration and meeting point of multiple parties: a bamah is a site at which many people gathered in communal worship, and it also denotes a high place (which many commentators take as the word's original meaning) because such gatherings typically happened at elevated places to increase their visibility. Sacrifices outside the central place of worship are forbidden (Devarim 12:5-18), but the Mishnah (Zevachim 14:6) holds that the prohibition did not apply while the central sanctuary was wholly temporary: until the Beis HaMikdash was built, and outside the 369 years the Mishkan stood at Shiloh, certain offerings were permitted on a private bamah. Much of the First Temple period saw Jews in both kingdoms continue to offer on bamos, which drew them toward outright idolatry.
Rabbi Eliyahu Benamozegh (Eim LaMikra to Bereishis 38:17) sees bamah as the source of Greek bomos, and even relates Latin altar, from altus, high, to bamah as a high place. From Yechezkel 20:29 he suggests bamah is related to biah, coming, a central place people came to worship. The bimah of Chazal is from Greek bomos, and he says Chazal seem not to have realised that their bimah derives in the end from the bamah of Tanach.
Where the authorities disagree
Is a matzeivah an altar?
- Yes, an altar of one stone. Rashi: matzeivah means exactly what mizbeach means, except that a matzeivah is erected from a single stone while a mizbeach is built from several. On this reading Devarim 16:22, "you shall not erect for yourselves a matzeivah, which Hashem your God hates," forbids offering on single-stone altars.
- No, a pillar at the entrance. Ramban objects: if both words meant altar, and the Canaanites served idols on both, why does the Torah command the one and hate the other? He therefore takes matzeivah as the pillar the idolaters set up to mark the entrance of an idolatrous temple, a utilitarian monument rather than a place of offering.
- The Vilna Gaon (to Divrei HaYamim II 14:2): a mizbeach stands in a fixed place, while a bamah and a matzeivah are ad hoc places of worship, the matzeivah of a single stone and the bamah of many. Alternatively, a matzeivah serves only for pouring libations, a bamah only for burnt offerings, and a mizbeach for any offering.
On Rashi's reading the matzeivos of the Avos pose a difficulty: Hashem was pleased with the one Yaakov set up at Beis El (Bereishis 28:18-22), and later identified Himself to him as the One for whom that matzeivah was set up (Bereishis 31:13). The answer is historical, not lexical: the Sifrei (to Devarim 16) says Hashem originally cherished single-stone altars in the era of the Avos, and that by the time the Jews left Mitzrayim He abhorred them, because the Canaanites had formally adopted them as a medium of idol worship.
Why the Golden Altar is called a mizbeach, though no animal was slaughtered on it. Three views:
- It subdues evil. The Zohar (Vayakhel 219a): the incense offered on it has the power to subdue destructive forces; Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk adds that the offerings on it effectively "slaughter" those forces, so the name from zoveach is exact. Aharon's incense stopping the plague (Bamidbar 17:11-15) is the case in point.
- Borrowed by shape. Rabbi Yonah Ibn Janach and Rabbi Avraham Maimuni: it is called a mizbeach simply because the Inner Altar was made in the same form as the Outer, square and horned (Shemos 30:2), only smaller; on their explanation the name is a borrowed term.
- Blood does reach it. Radak (Sefer HaShorashim): in rare cases, Yom Kippur among them, sacrificial blood is brought to that altar, so the name is literal.
Also discussed in
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ב-מ-ה
Its sense, he says, is known. He files it as weak in its last letter, after Rabbi Yonah, but holds it right to count it weak in its middle letter.
What he cites
וַיִּקָּרֵא שְׁמָהּ בָּמָה (Yechezkel 20:29), its name was called Bamah; רַק הַבָּמוֹת לֹֽא־סָרוּ (Melachim II 12:4), only the high places were not removed; וּבָמוֹת עוֹלָם לְמֽוֹרָשָׁה (Yechezkel 36:2), the ancient high places for a possession; עַל־ בָּמֳותֵי אָרֶץ (Devarim 32:13), on the high places of the earth; אֶעֱלֶה עַל־ בָּמֳתֵי עָב (Yeshayahu 14:14), I will go up above the heights of the cloud; and עַל־ בָּֽמוֹתֵימוֹ תִדְרֹֽךְ (Devarim 33:29), you will tread on their high places. Of all of them he says only ענינם ידוע, their sense is known.
Which letter of the root is weak
He filed the word among those weak in the final heh, as Rabbi Yonah wrote. Rabbi Yaakov ben Elazar filed it among those weak in the middle letter, because of the kamatz under the first root letter in the construct and with a suffix, as in קָמָה, standing grain, בְּקָמוֹת פְּלִשְׁתִּים (Shoftim 15:5), in the standing grain of the Pelishtim. That, Radak says, is the right one, and Rabbi Yonah himself wrote so in another place: better that במה be weak in its middle letter.
וַיִּקָּרֵא שְׁמָהּ בָּמָה (יחזקאל כ, כט), רַק הַבָּמוֹת לֹֽא־סָרוּ (מלכים ב' יב, ד), וּבָמוֹת עוֹלָם לְמֽוֹרָשָׁה (יחזקאל לו, ב), עַל־בָּמֳותֵי אָרֶץ (דברים לב, יג), אֶעֱלֶה עַל־בָּמֳתֵי עָב (ישעיה יד, יד), עַל־בָּֽמוֹתֵימוֹ תִדְרֹֽךְ (דברים לג, כט), ענינם ידוע. ושמתי המלה הזאת מנחי הלמ"ד כמו שכתב רבי יונה. ורבי יעקב בן אלעזר כתבה מנחי העי"ן מפני קמצות פ"א הפעל בנסמך ובכנוי כמו קָמָה, בְּקָמוֹת פְּלִשְׁתִּים (שופטים טו, ה), והוא הנכון וגם רבי יונה כתב כן במקום אחר כי הטוב שיהיה במה עלול העי"ן.
ז-ב-ח
To sacrifice, with זֶבַח, a sacrifice, and מִזְבֵּחַ, the place on which the sacrifices are offered.
The verb
אֲשֶׁר תִּזְבַּח בָּעֶרֶב (Devarim 16:4), what you slaughter at evening, and זְבַח לֵאלֹהִים תּוֹדָה (Tehillim 50:14), sacrifice thanksgiving to Elokim. In the heavy form: זִבַּח אָמוֹן וַיַּֽעַבְדֵֽם (Divrei HaYamim II 33:22), Amon sacrificed, and served them; לָהֶם אֲזַבֵּחַ וְיַעְזְרוּנִי (Divrei HaYamim II 28:23), to them I will sacrifice and they will help me; עַל־רָאשֵׁי הֶהָרִים יְזַבֵּחוּ (Hoshea 4:13), on the tops of the mountains they sacrifice.
The noun and its plurals
וַיִּזְבַּח יַֽעֲקֹב זֶבַח בָּהָר (Bereishis 31:54), and Yaakov offered a sacrifice on the mountain, the noun taking a segol. For many, זְבָחִים שְׁלָמִים (Shemos 24:5), peace sacrifices; with a heh added, זִבְחָה, a sacrifice, and its plural זְבָחוֹת, as וְיֵבֹשׁוּ מִזִּבְחוֹתָֽם (Hoshea 4:19), and they will be ashamed of their sacrifices.
Why the incense altar is a מזבח
The place on which the sacrifices are offered is the מִזְבֵּחַ. וְעָשִׂיתָ מִזְבֵּחַ מִקְטַר קְטֹרֶת (Shemos 30:1), and you shall make an altar for burning incense, is called a מזבח although no sacrifices were offered upon it, because the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on it once in the year.
אֲשֶׁר זָבַח לַי"י בָּקָר (מלכים א' ח, סג), וְזָבַחְנוּ לַֽי"י אֱלֹהֵינוּ (שמות ח, כג), אֲשֶׁר תִּזְבַּח בָּעֶרֶב (דברים טז, ד), זְבַח לֵאלֹהִים תּוֹדָה (תהלים נ, יד), לִזְבֹּחַ לַֽי"י אֱלֹהֶיךָ בַּגִּלְגָּֽל (שמואל א' טו, כא). והכבד [פִּעֵל] זִבַּח אָמוֹן וַיַּֽעַבְדֵֽם (דברי הימים ב' לג, כב), לָהֶם אֲזַבֵּחַ וְיַעְזְרוּנִי (דברי הימים ב' כח, כג) עַל־רָאשֵׁי הֶהָרִים יְזַבֵּחוּ (הושע ד, יג). והשם וַיִּזְבַּח יַֽעֲקֹב זֶבַח בָּהָר (בראשית לא, נד) בסגול. ולרבים זְבָחִים שְׁלָמִים (שמות כד, ה). ובתוספת ה"א זִבְחָה, והקבוץ זְבָחוֹת, וְיֵבֹשׁוּ מִזִּבְחוֹתָֽם (הושע ד, יט). ושם המקום שמקריבים עליו הזבחים מִזְבֵּחַ, וְעָשִׂיתָ מִזְבֵּחַ מִקְטַר קְטֹרֶת (שמות ל, א), אף על פי שלא היו מקריבים עליו זבחים נקרא מזבח לפי שהיה מזה עליו דם הזבח אחת בשנה.
נ-צ-ב
What is set up or stands: נְצִיב, a mound of salt or a governor; מַצֵּבָה, a stone set up to be worshipped; הַנִּצָּב, a knife's handle. Most of it may belong to יָצַב.
What is set up
נְצִיב מֶלַח (Bereishis 19:26) he glosses as a mound of salt. The stone set up to be served is a מַצֵּבָה; and the man set over a people is a נְצִיב, as נְצִיב פְּלִשְׁתִּים (Shmuel I 13:3), the governor of the Pelishtim, and שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר נִצָּבִים (Melachim I 4:7), twelve officers set over the people. לְבַד מִשָּׂרֵי הַנִּצָּבִים (Melachim I 5:30) he reads in two ways: besides officers who were set over, the mem of the plural being missing; or besides the officers of those set over, for there were officers over those set over, and those set over were over the rest of the people.
Edom without a king
וּמֶלֶךְ אֵין בֶּאֱדוֹם נִצָּב מֶלֶךְ (Melachim I 22:48), and there was no king in Edom, a governor was king: in Yehoshafat's day Edom had no king of its own, and the governor whom the kings of David's house set over them served them as king. The pasuk tells it here, he says, because Yehoshafat walked in the way of Hashem, so that Edom did not rebel under him; under his son Yehoram, who did evil, Edom rebelled at once and set a king over itself.
Standing still, and the haft
הַנִּצָּבָה לֹא יְכַלְכֵּל (Zecharyah 11:16), the one that stands he will not sustain: the sick ewe standing in her place and unable to stir. And הַנִּצָּב (Shoftim 3:22) is the haft of the knife, which holds the blade so that there is a handle to cut with. So too וּלְהַצִּיב הַדָּֽרְבָֽן (Shmuel I 13:21), and to set the goad, is setting the goad up: that is, all these tools were mended with the פצירה פים, a sharpening tool, and the goad was set in it to be sharpened and polished with it.
Perhaps another root
Most of what is written here may belong to the root יָצַב, where he has set down their like; nothing decides between the two.
נְצִיב מֶֽלַח (בראשית יט, כו), פירוש תל מלח. וכן נקראת האבן שמעמידין אותה לעובדה וּפֶסֶל וּמַצֵּבָה (ויקרא כו, א). וכן נקרא נציב העם והממונה בהם נְצִיב פְּלִשְׁתִּים (שמואל א' יג, ג), וַיִּתֵּן נְצִיבִים בְּאֶרֶץ יְהוּדָה (דברי הימים ב' יד, ב). שְׁנֵֽים־עָשָׂר נִצָּבִים (מלכים א' ד, ז), ממונים ונצבים על העם. לְבַד מִשָּׂרֵי הַנִּצָּבִים (מלכים א' ה, ל), פירוש משרים הנצבים ומ"ם הרבים חסרה. והדומים לו כתבנו בחלק הדקדוק או פירושו משרי הנצבים שהיו שם שרים על הנצבים והנצבים על שאר העם. וּמֶלֶךְ אֵין בֶּֽאֱדוֹם נִצָּב מֶֽלֶךְ (שם א' כב, מח), פירוש בימי יהושפט לא היה מלך באדום אבל הַנִּצָב היה להם מלך, פירוש הנציבים שהיו מעמידים להם מלכי בית דוד, כי תחת ידם היו בימי דוד כמו שכתוב וַיָּשֶׂם בֶּֽאֱדוֹם נְצִיבִים וַיִּֽהְיוּ כָל־אֱדוֹם עֲבָדִים לְדָוִיד (דברי הימים א' יח, יג). והטעם שהזכיר ענין זה בזה הפסוק רוצה לומר לפי שהלך יהושפט בדרך י"י ויתר הקדש אשר נשאר בימי אסא אביו בער מן הארץ (מלכים א' כב, מז), לפיכך לא פשע אדום מתחת ידו, ועוד בימיו אין מלך באדום אך הנצב שהקים הוא היה להם מלך, אבל בימי יהורם בנו שעשה הרע בעיני י"י מיד מרד בו אדום כמו שכחוב בימיו פשע אדום מחחה יד יהודה וימלכו עליהם מלך (שם ב, ח, כ. דברי הימים ב' כא, ח). הַנִּצָּבָה לֹא יְכַלְכֵּל (זכריה יא, טז), פירוש השה החולה העומדת במקומרה שלא תוכל לזוז. וַיָּבֹא גַם־הַנִּצָּב אַחַר הַלַּהַב (שופטים ג, כב) הוא יד הסכין שהוא מעמיד הסכין להיות לן יד לחתוך בו. וכן וּלְהַצִּיב הַדָּֽרְבָֽן (שמואל א' יג, כא) פירוש ולהעמיד הדרבן כלומר כי בפצירה פים היה מתקן כל הכלים האלה והיה מעמיד בו הדרבן שהיה מחדרו ומלטשו בו. ויתכן רוב אלה שכתבנו הנה משרש יָצַב כמו שכתבנו שמה דומיהם אלא שאין הכרע.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Stones and High Altars," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 25 November 2017.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Sort of Siblings," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 21 August 2021.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Parshas Bo: Please Stand Up," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 28 January 2023.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Stoned and High Altars," What's in a Word? Synonyms in the Hebrew Language (book manuscript).
Cited in the essay: Shemos 27:1-2 and 30:2; Devarim 12:5-18 and 16:22; Bereishis 28:18-22 and 31:13; Bamidbar 17:11-15; Sifrei to Devarim 16:22; Zohar Vayakhel 219a; Radak, Sefer HaShorashim; Mishnah Zevachim 14:6; Vilna Gaon to Divrei HaYamim II 14:2; Benamozegh, Eim LaMikra to Bereishis 38:17; Yechezkel 20:29.