to cut a horse

During the questions and answers, Ivan calmly, slickly explained away his change of heart by saying, This young man is very persuasive, that an old codger like himself needed fresh ideas to keep himself from getting codgier.

a Tarzanesque shout of exultation and triumph

The argument implies that the recognised, and standing, name for the altar, throughout the Priestly Code, has become the altar of burnt-offering, and that the use of this new name indicates how the burnt-offering had risen to prominence, post-Exilically.