22 And Aaron, lifting up his hands to the people, gave them a blessing; and he came down from offering the sin-offering, and the burned offering, and the peace-offerings.
Then the priests, the sons of Levi, are to come near; for they have been marked out by the Lord your God to be his servants and to give blessings in the name of the Lord; and by their decision every argument and every blow is to be judged:
And he took them out till they were near Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he gave them a blessing.
Say to Aaron and his sons, These are the words of blessing which are to be used by you in blessing the children of Israel; say to them, May the Lord send his blessing on you and keep you: May the light of the Lord's face be shining on you in grace: May the Lord's approval be resting on you and may he give you peace. So they will put my name on the children of Israel, and I will give them my blessing.
And Melchizedek, king of Salem, the priest of the Most High God, took bread and wine, And blessing him, said, May the blessing of the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth, be on Abram: And let the Most High God be praised, who has given into your hands those who were against you. Then Abram gave him a tenth of all the goods he had taken.
At that time the Lord had the tribe of Levi marked out to take up the ark of the Lord's agreement, to be before the Lord and to do his work and to give blessings in his name, to this day.
The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was made separate and holy, he and his sons for ever, for the care of the most holy things and the burning of offerings before the Lord, to do his work and give blessings in his name for ever.
Then, turning his face about, the king gave a blessing to all the men of Israel; and they were all on their feet together.
And he took them in his arms, and gave them a blessing, putting his hands on them.
To you, first, God sent his servant, blessing you by turning every one of you from his sins.
But this man, who was not of their family, took the tenth from Abraham, and gave a blessing to him to whom God had given his undertaking. But there is no doubt that the less gets his blessing from the greater.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Leviticus 9
Commentary on Leviticus 9 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 9
Aaron and his sons, having been solemnly consecrated to the priesthood, are in this chapter entering upon the execution of their office, the very next day after their consecration was completed.
Lev 9:1-7
Orders are here given for another solemnity upon the eighth day; for the newly-ordained priests were set to work immediately after the days of their consecration were finished, to let them know that they were not ordained to be idle: He that desires the office of a bishop desires a good work, which must be looked at with desire, more than the honour and benefit. The priests had not so much as one day's respite from service allowed them, that they might divert themselves, and receive the compliments of their friends upon their elevation, but were busily employed the very next day; for their consecration was the filling of their hands. God's spiritual priests have constant work cut out for them, which the duty of every day requires; and those that would give up their account with joy must redeem time; see Eze. 43:26, 27. Now,
Lev 9:8-22
These being the first offerings that ever were offered by the levitical priesthood, according to the newly-enacted law of sacrifices, the manner of offering them is particularly related, that it might appear how exactly they agreed with the institution.
Lev 9:23-24
We are not told what Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle to do, v. 23. Some of the Jewish writers say, "They went in to pray for the appearance of the divine glory;' most probably they went in that Moses might instruct Aaron how to do the service that was to be done there-burn incense, light the lamps, set the show-bread, etc., that he might instruct his sons in it. But, when they came out, they both joined in blessing the people, who stood expecting the promised appearance of the divine glory; and it was now (when Moses and Aaron concurred in praying) that they had what they waited for. Note, God's manifestations of himself, of his glory and grace, are commonly given in answer to prayer. When Christ was praying the heavens were opened, Lu. 3:21. The glory of God appeared, not while the sacrifices were in offering, but when the priests prayed (as 2 Chr. 5:13), when they praised God, which intimates that the prayers and praises of God's spiritual priests are more pleasing to God than all burnt-offerings and sacrifices.
When the solemnity was finished, the blessing pronounced, and the congregation ready to be dismissed, in the close of the day, then God testified his acceptance, which gave them such satisfaction as was well worth waiting for.