Repairing the Destroyed Altar/2
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Repairing the Destroyed Altar
Exegetical Approaches
Old Altar
The altar had been made much earlier, in one of the eras in which it was permitted to erect private altars.
Recent Altar
The altar was built after the Beit HaMIkdash was constructed, but was permitted since the Mikdash was inaccessible to those living in the Northern Kingdom.
New Altar
The altar was erected by Eliyahu himself, earlier in the day, but was destroyed by the Baal prophets.
Sources:Malbim
"וַיְפַסְּחוּ עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה" – Malbim understands this verse to mean that the Baal prophets trampled on Eliyahu's altar (hence the singular "אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה"). He assumes that at the beginning of the contest, both sides erected altars, and when the false prophets failed to get a response after offering their cow, they blamed the presence of Eliyahu's altar and set out to destroy it.
Malbim's reconstruction adds an element of violence to the story, suggesting that the face-down between the two sides was not a peaceful one.
No Altar
Eliyahu's fixing of the destroyed altar is a metaphor for his repairing the nation's relationship with Hashem.
