Lech Lecha: Abram's Altars

(6) Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, at the terebinth of Moreh. The Canaanites were then in the land.(7) ה׳ appeared to Abram and said, “I will assign this land to your offspring.” And he built an altar there to ה׳ who had appeared to him.

(1) ויבן שם מזבח AND HE BUILDED THERE AN ALTAR — in thanksgiving for the good tidings that he would have children, and for the good tidings that they would possess the land of Israel.

(1) The sense of the expression, And there he built an altar unto the Eternal, who appeared unto him, is that he gave praise to the Glorious Name and offered unto Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving for His having appeared to him. Until now G-d had not appeared to him neither in a mar’eh nor in a machzeh. Rather, the command, Get thee out of thy country, was said to him in a nocturnal dream or through Ruach Hakodesh. It is possible that the expression, Who appeared unto him, alludes to the mystery of the sacrifice. The one enlightened [in the mysteries of the Torah] will understand.

(8) From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and he built there an altar to ה׳ and invoked ה׳ by name.

(4) ויבן שם מזבח AND HE BUILDED THERE AN ALTAR — He perceived by the gift of prophecy that his descendants would once stumble (fall into sin) there through Achan’s transgression (see, Joshua 7): therefore he prayed there for them (Genesis Rabbah 39:15).

(3) And he proceeded by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been formerly, between Bethel and Ai,(4) the site of the altar that he had built there at first; and there Abram invoked ה׳ by name.

(18) And Abram moved his tent, and came to dwell at the terebinths of Mamre, which are in Hebron; and he built an altar there to ה׳.

(9) They arrived at the place of which God had told him. Abraham built an altar there; he laid out the wood; he bound his son Isaac; he laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

(2) Make its horns on the four corners, the horns to be of one piece with it; and overlay it with copper.

(15) and the height of the altar hearth shall be 4 cubits, with 4 horns projecting upward from the hearth: 4 cubits.