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Exodus 38

Ex. 38:4 KJV (With Strong’s)

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4
And he made
`asah (Hebrew #6213)
to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application (as follows)
KJV usage: accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, X certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, + displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, + feast, (fight-)ing man, + finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, + hinder, hold ((a feast)), X indeed, + be industrious, + journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, + officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, X sacrifice, serve, set, shew, X sin, spend, X surely, take, X thoroughly, trim, X very, + vex, be (warr-)ior, work(-man), yield, use.
Pronounce: aw-saw'
Origin: a primitive root
for the altar
mizbeach (Hebrew #4196)
an altar
KJV usage: altar.
Pronounce: miz-bay'-akh
Origin: from 2076
a brazen
nchosheth (Hebrew #5178)
copper, hence, something made of that metal, i.e. coin, a fetter; figuratively, base (as compared with gold or silver)
KJV usage: brasen, brass, chain, copper, fetter (of brass), filthiness, steel.
Pronounce: nekh-o'-sheth
Origin: for 5154
grate
makber (Hebrew #4345)
a grate
KJV usage: grate.
Pronounce: mak-bare'
Origin: from 3527 in the sense of covering (compare 3531)
of network
ma`aseh (Hebrew #4639)
an action (good or bad); generally, a transaction; abstractly, activity; by implication, a product (specifically, a poem) or (generally) property
KJV usage: act, art, + bakemeat, business, deed, do(-ing), labor, thing made, ware of making, occupation, thing offered, operation, possession, X well, ((handy-, needle-, net-))work(ing, - manship), wrought.
Pronounce: mah-as-eh'
Origin: from 6213
resheth (Hebrew #7568)
a net (as catching animals)
KJV usage: net(- work).
Pronounce: reh'-sheth
Origin: from 3423
under the compass
karkob (Hebrew #3749)
a rim or top margin
KJV usage: compass.
Pronounce: kar-kobe'
Origin: expanded from the same as 3522
thereof beneath
mattah (Hebrew #4295)
downward, below or beneath; often adverbially with or without prefixes
KJV usage: beneath, down(-ward), less, very low, under(-neath).
Pronounce: mat'-taw
Origin: from 5786 with directive enclitic appended
unto the midst
chetsiy (Hebrew #2677)
the half or middle
KJV usage: half, middle, mid(-night), midst, part, two parts.
Pronounce: khay-tsee'
Origin: from 2673
of it.

More on:

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Altar,
Compass,
grate,
Net-Work

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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Ex. 38:4• 4And he made for the altar a brazen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it. (Ex. 38:4)
• The altar was three cubits high, and the grate in the midst would therefore be one and a half cubits above the ground, or the height of the mercy-seat. Redemption at the cross and acceptance before God are on one plane. (“The Altar of Burnt-offering” by S. Ridout)
• The “grate.” It was for fire; therefore it must have been within the compass of the altar, not outside of it. But here we have a suggestion as to the “compass,” that it was not something made, but simply the rim. The grating was under this, that is, not level with the rim, but below it; in fact, midway between the top and bottom of the altar. The only difficulty of a mechanical character would be the rings. If the grate was inside the altar and halfway down, how could they receive the staves by which the altar was carried? It is confessed that here is a question, and we can only suggest that these rings might have been passed through holes in the corners of the altar, and thus reached the outside, where they would serve for their intended purpose. This would give security to the altar as it was being carried. (“The Altar of Burnt-offering” by S. Ridout)
• The altar was the place where the fire could burn; and this was upon the grating of copper. On this one spot alone, typically speaking, could the fire of divine holiness and judgment burn without eternal destruction upon its objects. The mountains would “flow down,” and the hills melt like wax” (Isa. 64:1, 2; Psa. 97:5). When at last He does thus take up His creation to purge it according to His nature, “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). (“The Altar of Burnt-offering” by S. Ridout)
• Who could for one moment abide that awful day of the wrath of God? There was one Person, only one place, where that fire could burn and find all abiding, because all was according to His holy nature. The grate-work, where the fire of divine judgment could burn, was the bosom of the Son of God. Here was One who could righteously be the Substitute for guilty sinners. His holy person enabled Him to be the bearer of wrath. The fire of the thrice-holy God could and did burn there, and found nothing to be consumed save the sins which our Lord in grace had taken upon Himself. (“The Altar of Burnt-offering” by S. Ridout)
• God only, who searcheth the heart, knows what it meant. The Son, who bore this judgment, knows the intensity of that fire which burned down into His soul when made “an offering for sin.” The Holy Spirit, through whom He offered Himself without spot unto God, knows what those sufferings meant. (“The Altar of Burnt-offering” by S. Ridout)

J. N. Darby Translation

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4
And he made for the altar a grating of network of copper under its ledge from beneath, to the very middle of it.

W. Kelly Translation

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4
And he made for the altar a grating of network of copper under its ledge from beneath, to the very middle of it.

WK Verse Note

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(Note: Words in italics have been inserted from the J. N. Darby translation where the W. Kelly translation doesn’t exist.)