9 And put the linen bands round Aaron and his sons, and the head-dresses on them, to make them priests by my order for ever: so you are to make Aaron and his sons holy to me.
And you and your sons with you are to be responsible as priests for the altar and everything on it, and everything inside the veil; you are to do the work of priests; I have given you your position as priests; and any other man who comes near will be put to death.
And he put the other sheep before the Lord, the sheep with which they were made priests; and Aaron and his sons put their hands on the head of the sheep, And he put it to death; and Moses took some of the blood and put it on the point of Aaron's right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the great toe of his right foot. Then he took Aaron's sons, and Moses put some of the blood on the point of their right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet: and Moses put the blood on and round the altar. And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and the fat on the inside parts, and the fat on the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and the right leg; And out of the basket of unleavened bread which was before the Lord he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of bread with oil on it, and one thin cake, and put them on the fat and on the right leg: And he put them all on the hands of Aaron and on the hands of his sons, waving them for a wave offering before the Lord. And Moses took them from their hands, and they were burned on the altar on the burned offering, as a priest's offering for a sweet smell, an offering made by fire to the Lord.
And it is true that there have been a great number of those priests, because death does not let them go on for ever; But this priest, because his life goes on for ever, is unchanging. So that he is fully able to be the saviour of all who come to God through him, because he is ever living to make prayer to God for them. It was right for us to have such a high priest, one who is holy and without evil, doing no wrong, having no part with sinners, and made higher than the heavens: Who has no need to make offerings for sins every day, like those high priests, first for himself, and then for the people; because he did this once and for ever when he made an offering of himself. The law makes high priests of men who are feeble; but the word of the oath, which was made after the law, gives that position to a Son, in whom all good is for ever complete.
Now if it was possible for things to be made complete through the priests of the house of Levi (for the law was given to the people in connection with them), what need was there for another priest who was of the order of Melchizedek and not of the order of Aaron? Because if the priests are changed, it is necessary to make a change in the law. For he of whom these things are said comes of another tribe, of which no man has ever made offerings at the altar. Because it is clear that our Lord comes out of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests from that tribe.
And no man who is not given authority by God, as Aaron was, takes this honour for himself. In the same way Christ did not take for himself the glory of being made a high priest, but was given it by him who said, You are my Son, this day I have given you being:
For he, and his sons after him for ever, have been marked out by the Lord your God from all your tribes, to do the work of priests in the name of the Lord.
Now let Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, come near from among the children of Israel, so that they may be my priests, even Aaron, and Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, his sons.
Then fire came out from the Lord, burning up the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the perfume.
And give orders that Aaron and his sons are to keep their place as priests; any strange person who comes near is to be put to death.
And you are not to go out from the door of the Tent of meeting for seven days, till the days for making you priest are ended; for this will be the work of seven days.
And Moses said, You have made yourselves priests to the Lord this day; for every one of you has made the offering of his son and his brother; the blessing of the Lord is on you this day.
And for Aaron's sons you are to make coats, and bands, and head-dresses, so that they may be clothed with glory and honour. These you are to put on Aaron, your brother, and on his sons, putting oil on them, separating them and making them holy, to do the work of priests to me.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 29
Commentary on Exodus 29 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Consecration of Aaron and his Sons through the anointing of their persons and the offering of sacrifices, the directions for which form the subject of vv. 1-35. This can only be fully understood in connection with the sacrificial law contained in Lev 1-7. It will be more advisable therefore to defer the examination of this ceremony till we come to Lev 8, where the consecration itself is described. The same may also be said of the expiation and anointing of the altar, which are commanded in Exodus 29:36 and Exodus 29:37, and carried out in Leviticus 8:11.
The Daily Burnt-Offering, Meat-Offering, and Drink-Offering. - The directions concerning these are attached to the instructions for the consecration of the priests, because these sacrifices commenced immediately after the completion of the tabernacle, and, like the shew-bread (Exodus 25:30), the daily trimming of the lamps (Exodus 27:20-21), and the daily incense-offering (Exodus 30:7.), were most intimately connected with the erection of the sanctuary.
Exodus 29:38-40
“ And this is what thou shalt make (offer) upon the altar; yearling lambs two a day continually, ” one in the morning, the other between the two evenings (see at Exodus 12:6); to every one a meat-offering ( minchah ) of a tenth of fine wheaten flour ( soleth , see at Leviticus 2:1), mixed with a quarter of a hin of beaten oil ( cathith , see at Exodus 27:20), and a drink-offering ( nesek ) of a quarter of a hin of wine. עשּׂרן (a tenth) is equivalent to האיפה עשׂירית , the tenth part of an ephah (Numbers 28:5), or 198-5 Parisian cubic inches according to Bertheau's measurement. Thenius , however, sets it down at 101-4 inches, whilst the Rabbins reckon it as equivalent to 43 hen's eggs of average size, i.e., somewhat more than 2 1/4 lbs. A hin (a word of Egyptian origin) is 330-9 inches according to Bertheau , 168-9 according to Thenius, or 72 eggs, so that a quarter of a hin would be 18 eggs.
Exodus 29:41-46
להּ is to be understood ad sensum as referring to עולה . The daily morning and evening sacrifices were to be “for a sweet savour, a firing unto Jehovah” (see at Leviticus 1:9). In these Israel was to consecrate its life daily unto the Lord (see at Lev 1 and 2). In order that the whole of the daily life might be included, it was to be offered continually every morning and evening for all future time (“throughout your generations” as at Exodus 12:14) at the door of the tabernacle, i.e., upon the altar erected there, before Jehovah, who would meet with the people and commune with them there (see Exodus 25:22). This promise is carried out still further in Exodus 29:43-46. First of all, for the purpose of elucidating and strengthening the words, “I will meet with you there” (Exodus 29:42), the presence and communion of God, which are attached to the ark of the covenant in Exodus 25:22, are ensured to the whole nation in the words, “And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and it (Israel) shall be sanctified through My glory.” As the people were not allowed to approach the ark of the covenant, but only to draw near to the altar of burnt-offering in the sanctuary, it was important to declare that the Lord would manifest Himself to them even there, and sanctify them by His glory. Most of the commentators have taken the altar to be the subject of “shall be sanctified;” but this is certainly an error, not only because the altar is not mentioned in the previous clause, and only slightly hinted at in the להּ in Exodus 29:41, but principally because the sanctification of the altar is noticed by itself afterwards in Exodus 29:44. The correct exegesis is that adopted by Baumgarten and others, who supply the word Israel (viz., regarded as a nation), which they take from the expression “children of Israel” in the previous clause. In Exodus 29:44, the sanctification of the tabernacle and altar on the part of God is promised, also that of His servants, and finally, in Exodus 29:45, Exodus 29:46, the abode of God in the midst of the children of Israel, with an allusion to the blessings that would follow from Jehovah's dwelling in the midst of them as their God (Genesis 17:7).