What Does Ezekiel 43:15 Mean in the King James?

So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward shall be four horns.

Ezekiel 43:15 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The Hebrew word for “horn” also names a ray, so the altar’s four raised corners hold both images at once.

THE MEANING

The altar hearth measures four cubits, and four horns rise above it. Its form has a measured center and four points that extend upward from its corners. The image gives the altar both a defined shape and a visible reach.

THE ROOT

קְרָנוֹת

qərānōt

GROWS FROM

קרן

The word names a horn; a related form names a ray sent outward.

The consonants ⁨ק־ר־ן⁩ connect the horn with the image of a projecting ray. English “horns” preserves the altar’s shape, while the Hebrew word family also carries the image of something extending outward.

ALSO GROWS

qeren: Horn; also a ray or beam.

קֶרֶן

The same noun holds the altar’s raised corner and the image of a beam in one word.

qāran: To send out rays; to shine.

קָרַן

This related verb shows how the horn’s projecting form also belongs to the language of radiance.

לְמַעְלָה

ləmaʿlāh

GROWS FROM

עלה

To go up, rise, or ascend.

The word for “upward” shares its root with the verb “rise” and with ⁨עֹלָה⁩, the name of an offering that ascends. The verse’s upward movement and its altar setting therefore share a language of rising.

ALSO GROWS

ʿālāh: To go up or ascend.

עָלָה

This verb gives the direction named in “upward” its basic movement: rising from a lower point.

ʿōlāh: That which ascends; a whole burnt offering.

עֹלָה

This offering name comes from the same root, linking the altar’s rising form with the language of ascent.

THE PATTERN

The altar’s horns make its corners points where its force can be grasped or its voice can issue.

And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.

Exodus 27:2 · KJVThe four horns are built into the altar’s corners, as in Ezekiel’s measured form.

And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

1 Kings 1:50 · KJVThe horns are points a person can grasp, making the altar’s raised corners places of direct encounter.

And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

Revelation 9:13 · KJVHere a voice issues from the altar’s horns, extending the image from raised corners to speaking points.

THE THREAD

And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

Exodus 34:29 · KJV

The Hebrew verb translated “shone” is ⁨קָרַן⁩ (qāran), sharing the consonants ⁨קרן⁩ with ⁨קֶרֶן⁩ (qeren), “horn.” The link carries the image of a horn and a ray in the same word family, adding a hidden echo of radiance to the altar’s four horns.

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