Exodus 20:25 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, &c.— The Lord will have an altar of turf, or natural stone, not put together with much art. For if thou lift up thy tool upon it, it is added, thou hast polluted it: i.e. thou hast rendered it unfit for my use and worship; it must be no longer considered as an altar consecrated to me. This is all that the original word חלל chilel can import, which is used in a sense directly opposite to קדשׁ kidesh; that is, holy, or set apart to sacred uses. See Leviticus 10:10. It is impossible to suppose that the workman's tool could convey any actual pollution or uncleanness to the altar: the whole meaning, therefore, is, that God requiring an altar of natural and unhewn stone, the application of any tool to form or polish it, being directly contrary to his commandment, made such altar utterly unfit for his service. The word rendered polluted is often used to denote an application to one's own or to common use. See marginal translation of Deuteronomy 20:6; Deuteronomy 28:30 in our Bibles compared with Leviticus 19:23-24. It is remarkable, that Plato, in his Book of Laws, (l. 12 p. 955.) orders that all things, belonging to the service of God, should be very simple and plain, without any cost or ornament; and therefore forbids gold, silver, or ivory, because they were things too apt to raise envy.