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Exodus 20 forbids steps up to God's altar so that no one's nakedness is exposed. The Letter of Aristeas describes the Jerusalem altar with a gentle slope built for decency and priests robed in linen to their ankles, in keeping with this rule.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 20:26
Hebrew Bible
22 The Lord said to Moses, “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven. 23 You must not make gods of silver alongside me, nor make gods of gold for yourselves. 24 “‘You must make for me an altar made of earth, and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be honored I will come to you and I will bless you. 25 If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it of stones shaped with tools, for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it. 26 And you must not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not exposed.’
Letter of Aristeas 1:87
Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
spectacle from which a man could scarcely tear himself away. The construction of the altar was in keeping with the place itself and with the burnt offerings which were consumed by fire on it, and the approach to it was on a similar scale. There was a gradual slope up to it, conveniently arranged for the purpose of decency, and the ministering priests were robed in linen garments, down to their ankles. The Temple faces the east and its back is toward the west. The whole of the floor is paved with stones and slopes down to the appointed places, so that water may be conveyed to wash away the
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Notes and References
“... Ps.-Aristeas simply notes that the size of the altar was “commensurate to the size of the place” as were the sacrifices proper for the size of the altar. Ps.-Hecataeus gives dimensions for the altar of twenty cubits long and ten high (Josephus, Against Apion 1.198), which are much bigger than those stipulated in Exod 27:1 (5x5x3 cubits) but which agree with the bronze altar that Solomon constructed (2 Chron 4:1). Ps.-Aristeas emphasizes the decorum of the ministrations (cf. 3 Macc 1:10), noting that the priests wore “robes of fine linen” (see note) down to their ankles so that when they went up to the altar they would not expose themselves to those below (cf. Exod 20:26). ...”
Wright, Benjamin G., III
The Letter of Aristeas: ‘Aristeas to Philocrates’ or ‘On the Translation of the Law of the Jews’
(p. 199) De Gruyter, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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