H4196 — מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H4196
Original: מִזְבֵּחַ
Transliteration: mizbeach
Pronunciation: miz-bay'-akh
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: זָבַח (zabach, H2076) — to slaughter, sacrifice
Occurrences: 338 unique verses (412 tokens) across 25 books
First Occurrence: Gen 8:20 — "And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H2076 (zabach); an altar — literally "a place of slaughter/sacrifice." The miz- prefix (mem preformative) indicates a place or instrument associated with the root action.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
the altar	133	39.3%
of the altar	48	14.2%
an altar	45	13.3%
altar	35	10.4%
upon the altar	26	7.7%
altars	14	4.1%
the altars	12	3.6%
their altars	10	3.0%
on the altar	8	2.4%
mine altar	6	1.8%
thine altar	5	1.5%
Other (his/your/etc.)	16	4.7%

Virtually uniform translation — "altar" or "altars" in every occurrence. The variation is purely grammatical (articles, prepositions, possessives).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Leviticus	71	8.3
Exodus	51	4.2
2 Chronicles	35	4.3
1 Kings	29	3.6
Numbers	26	2.0
2 Kings	19	2.6
Ezekiel	17	1.3
Joshua	12	1.8
Genesis	11	0.7
Judges	10	1.6
1 Chronicles	8	0.8
Deuteronomy	8	0.8
Isaiah	7	0.5
Psalms	5	0.2
Hosea	5	2.5
1 Samuel	4	0.5
2 Samuel	3	0.4
Amos	3	2.1
Jeremiah	3	0.2
Malachi	3	5.5
Joel	2	2.7
Zechariah	2	0.9
Ezra	2	0.7
Lamentations	1	0.6
Nehemiah	1	0.2

Overwhelmingly a Pentateuchal-cultic word: Leviticus alone has 21% of all uses. Exodus + Leviticus + Numbers = 44% of all occurrences. The Historical Books (1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles) form a second major cluster, reflecting both legitimate and illegitimate altar-building. The Prophets use the word primarily in judgment oracles against pagan altars (Hosea, Amos) or eschatological restoration (Ezekiel 43). Notably sparse in Wisdom literature — only 5 occurrences in Psalms.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Patriarchal Memorial Altars¶

Gen 8:20 — "And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast... and offered burnt offerings on the altar."
Gen 12:7 — "there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him"
Gen 22:9 — "Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar"
Gen 35:7 — "he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel"

These are open-air structures built at sites of divine encounter, serving as markers of covenant relationship.

2. Tabernacle/Temple Altar of Burnt Offering¶

Exo 27:1 — "thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad"
Lev 1:5 — "the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar"
Lev 6:12-13 — "the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out... The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out."
Lev 17:11 — "I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls"

The bronze/brazen altar in the tabernacle courtyard — the central location for all blood sacrifice.

3. Altar of Incense¶

Exo 30:1 — "thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it"
Exo 30:27 — "the altar of incense"
Lev 4:7 — "the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD"
1 Chr 6:49 — "Aaron and his sons offered upon the altar of the burnt offering, and on the altar of incense"

The golden altar inside the tabernacle/temple, distinguished from the altar of burnt offering by context and qualifier.

4. Altar Construction, Dedication, and Sanctification¶

Exo 20:24-25 — "An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me... if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone"
Exo 29:36-37 — "thou shalt cleanse the altar... Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy"
Num 7:10-11 — "the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed"
Ezek 43:26 — "Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves"

5. Pagan/Illegitimate Altars (Judgment Context)¶

Exo 34:13 — "ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves"
Jdg 6:25 — "throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath"
2 Ki 21:4-5 — "he built altars in the house of the LORD... he built altars for all the host of heaven"
Hos 8:11 — "Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin"

Pagan altars are consistently targets of destruction commands or prophetic condemnation.

6. Altar as Place of Refuge/Oath¶

Exo 21:14 — "if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar"
1 Ki 1:50 — "Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar"
1 Ki 2:28 — "Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD; and, behold, he is by the altar"

Grasping the altar horns was an act of seeking sanctuary under divine protection.

7. Worship, Prayer, and Devotion¶

Psalm 26:6 — "I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD"
Psalm 43:4 — "Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy"
Psalm 84:3 — "Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts"
Isa 56:7 — "their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
עֹלָה (olah)	H5930	67x (20%)	burnt offering placed/burned on the altar
כֹּהֵן (kohen)	H3548	59x (17%)	priest ministering at the altar
בָּנָה (banah)	H1129	48x (14%)	"built an altar" — altar construction
קָטַר (qatar)	H6999	48x (14%)	"burn incense/burn upon" the altar
עָלָה (alah)	H5927	41x (12%)	"offered upon" the altar (causative: cause to ascend)
דָּם (dam)	H1818	36x (11%)	blood sprinkled/poured upon/beside the altar
בַּיִת (bayith)	H1004	46x (14%)	altar in/of the house (temple)
אֱלֹהִים (elohim)	H430	42x (12%)	altar of/unto God

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2076 זָבַח (zabach) — to slaughter, sacrifice (128v) — the root verb from which mizbeach is derived
H2077 זֶבַח (zebach) — sacrifice, offering (153v) — the noun for the sacrificial victim itself

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
מַדְבַּח (madbach)	A4056	"altar" (1x, Ezra 7:17)	Aramaic cognate; used only in the Aramaic section of Ezra. Same concept, different language.
אֲרִאֵיל (ariel)	H741	"altar" (1x, Ezek 43:15-16)	Poetic/architectural term for the altar hearth — the upper platform where fire burned.
θυσιαστήριον (thysiastērion)	G2379	"altar" (NT)	The standard Greek translation of mizbeach in the LXX (299x). Parallel derivation pattern.
βωμός (bomos)	G1041	"altar" (Acts 17:23)	Generic Greek for any altar, including pagan. LXX uses it 21x for idolatrous altars.

Semantic Domain¶

[001002008001006] Cult Objects
Other words in domain: אֱלִיל (H457, idol), אֲשֵׁרָה (H842, Asherah pole), גִּלּוּל (H1544, idol), חַמָּן (H2553, incense altar/sun-pillar), מַדְבַּח (A4056, altar — Aramaic)

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
θυσιαστήριον (thysiastērion)	G2379	299x	34.48	Primary — overwhelming dominant rendering
βωμός (bomos)	G1041	21x	17.29	Used when context involves pagan/foreign altars
ἀναφέρω (anaphero)	G399	43x	16.99	"To offer up" — verb co-occurring, not a direct translation
ὁλοκαύτωμα (holokautoma)	G3646	39x	14.45	"Whole burnt offering" — co-occurring sacrificial term

The LXX bridge to G2379 θυσιαστήριον is exceptionally strong (299 co-occurrences, PMI 34.48). This is one of the most consistent Hebrew-to-Greek translation equivalences in the LXX.