Vayikra 9:22 – Access to the top of the altar in the courtyard of the mishkan/ ohel moed

ויקרא ט:כב - וישא אהרן את ידו אל העם ויברכם וירד מעשת החטאת והעלה והשלמים

Towards the end of the ceremony of the eighth day, Vayikra 9:22 records that Aharon blessed the people (see our discussion, “The double blessings by the ceremony of the eighth day”) and then he came down after offering the hatta’t, the olah and the shelamim. These sacrifices were offered on the altar in the courtyard of the mishkan/ ohel moed, and then it is presumed that Aharon came down from the outer altar (see Rashi on 9:22). Was Aharon able to stand on the top of the outer altar? How did he ascend and descend from the altar?

Shemot 27:1 records that the dimensions of the outer altar were five amot (cubits) by five amot and the three amot high. An amah (cubit) is an ancient measuring system used by the Egyptians and many societies and is the distance from a person’s elbow to the tip of his/ her middle finger. This is assumed to be around 18 inches to 21 inches (even 24 inches?). This would mean that the height of the altar was from 54 inches (4.5 feet, 137 centimeters) to 63 inches (5.25 feet, 160 centimeters). (The distance from my elbow to my middle finger is 16 inches.)

It could be that an amah is even smaller, and the altar was at a lower height than 54 inches, but we do not know how tall Aharon was. Was he tall enough to work comfortably on the altar when standing on the ground? If he was six feet tall, which would have been tall for those days since today people are taller than in the past, and the altar was 4.5 feet, then he could have reached the top of the altar, but could he have reached the middle section of the altar? Did Aharon have to get to the top of the altar?

Chazal (see Rashi on Shemot 27:5) understand that there was a ramp that led to the altar and then Aharon could go up and down the ramp to reach the altar. This would make it easy to get to the top of the altar, and then Aharon could have come down the ramp in 8:22. However, the Torah never mentions this ramp. The ramp would have been a substantial item. If it existed, it is surprising that it was not mentioned in the construction of the mishkan/ ohel moed and by the transporting of the mishkan/ ohel moed. Yet, if there was no ramp, then how was Aharon able to get to the top of the altar. Was Aharon supposed to jump? Was there a ladder?

My guess is that Aharon did not get to the top of the altar. 8:22 does not record that he descended from the altar, just that he descended. Yet, if he was not on the top of the altar, where was he descending from?

Shemot 27:5 records that around the altar there was a type of mesh or net, and this mesh was below the karkov. The Torah mentions this karkov parenthetically, and it is not clear what it is. Cassuto (1967, p. 364) writes that the karkov was a ledge. He writes, "as we learn from an examination of the ancient altars that have been found in great numbers in Israel and in the neighboring countries, the karkov is a kind of horizontal projection that encompasses the altar on all sides, and is situated a third or a quarter of the way down from the top; its purposes apparently, was purely ornamental." This makes sense to me, except the last point that it was ornamental. 

My guess is that the karkov was a ledge for Aharon to stand on, and then he could access the entire top of the altar. Rashi (on Shemot 27:5) also writes that the karkov was for standing, but he writes that it was on the top of the altar. More likely, partially following Cassuto, it was a ledge on all sides of the altar for Aharon and the priests to stand on when working on the altar. The Torah does not record the width of the karkov, but if it was to support people, then it had to be sufficiently wide and strong for people to stand comfortably.

The height of the karkov is also not recorded in the Torah. Shemot 27:5 records that the mesh was below the karkov and the mesh reached until the halfway point of the altar. The dimensions of the mesh are unknown. If the mesh was three inches, and the height of the altar was 54 inches, then the bottom of the karkov could have been 30 inches up from the ground (27+3). If the depth of the karkov was two inches, then Aharon and all the priests had to climb up about 32 inches, and from that point there would have been another 22 inches to the top of the altar. It is not a simple step to go up 32 inches, but it is not that difficult. Also, maybe some rocks could have placed near the altar to make a step between the ground and the karkov. Note, the parts of the animals that were to be sacrificed on the altar would have to had been hoisted with some of the priests on the ground and some standing on the karkov. 

To return to our question how to understand Aharon’s descent from the altar in 8:22 after he blessed the people and offered sacrifices. The idea here is that when he blessed the people and when he was offering the sacrifices, he was standing on the karkov, and then he jumped down or stepped down carefully.

(I do not think this understanding contradicts Shemot 20:23, which according to the common understanding forbids one to make steps to ascend to an altar, firstly because here there would have been only one step, and secondly, Sarna (1991, p. 117) notes that Shemot 20:23 is in reference to laymen by private alters, who may not have worn underwear, while the official priests had to wear underwear, Shemot 28:42. In fact, my understanding of Shemot 20:23 is that the verse is prohibiting people from standing on platforms on top of the altar if they were not wearing underwear, and then Aharon could have been standing on one of these ledges on the altar since he was wearing underwear.)

Bibliography

Cassuto, Umberto (1883-1951), 1967, A commentary on the book of Exodus, Jerusalem: The Magnes Press.

Sarna, Nahum (1923-2005), 1991, The JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.