“And the fire of the altar shall be kept burning in it” Leviticus 6:2. Rabbi Pinḥas said: It is not written here: “And the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it,” but rather, “shall be kept burning in it” – the fire was aflame from it.22The altar itself was on fire, but miraculously was not damaged. It is taught in the name of Rabbi Neḥemya: For almost one hundred and sixteen years the fire was aflame from it, [yet] its wood did not burn and its bronze did not melt.
If you say that it was thick, it was taught in the name of Rabbi Hoshaya: It had the thickness of a Gordian dinar. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: The same is true of the incense altar, as it is stated: “You shall craft an altar to burn incense [miktar ketoret]” (Exodus 30:1). It is not written here mitkater baketoret,23That would mean “upon which incense is burned.” but rather, miktar ketoret, the altar would burn the incense.
Rav said: “And in the cattle’s implements the flesh was cooked [nitbashel habasar]” is not written here, but rather, “with the cattle’s implements bishlam habasar” (I Kings 19:21); the flesh was heating the implements.24Although the simple reading of the verse indicates that the ploughshare was used to fuel the fire to cook the cow’s flesh, the midrash interprets the verse to mean that the cow’s flesh actually fueled the fire to heat the ploughshare.