1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
2 Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments and the anointing oil, and the bullock of the sin-offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened [bread];
3 and gather all the assembly together at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
4 And Moses did as Jehovah had commanded him; and the assembly was collected at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
5 And Moses said to the assembly, This is the thing which Jehovah has commanded to be done.
6 And Moses brought Aaron near, and his sons, and bathed them with water.
7 And he put upon him the vest and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the cloak, and put the ephod on him, and he girded him with the girdle of the ephod, and fastened the ephod on him.
8 And he put the breastplate on it, and put on the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim;
9 and he put the turban upon his head; and upon the turban, on the front of it, he put the golden plate, the holy diadem; as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
10 And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and hallowed them.
11 And he sprinkled thereof on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand, to hallow them.
12 And he poured of the anointing oil on Aaron's head, and anointed him, to hallow him.
13 And Moses brought Aaron's sons near and clothed them with the vests, and girded them with the girdles, and bound the high caps on them, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
14 And he brought near the bullock for the sin-offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bullock for the sin-offering;
15 and he slaughtered [it], and Moses took the blood, and put [it] on the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and cleansed the altar from sin, and the blood he poured at the bottom of the altar, and hallowed it, making atonement for it.
16 And he took all the fat that was on the inwards, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and Moses burned [them] on the altar.
17 And the bullock, and its skin, and its flesh, and its dung he burned with fire outside the camp, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
18 And he presented the ram of the burnt-offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram;
19 and he slaughtered [it]; and Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar round about.
20 And the ram he cut up into its pieces; and Moses burned the head, and the pieces, and the fat;
21 and the inwards and the legs he washed in water; and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar: it was a burnt-offering for a sweet odour, it was an offering by fire to Jehovah; as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
22 And he presented the second ram, the ram of consecration; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram;
23 and one slaughtered [it]; and Moses took of its blood, and put [it] on the tip of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot;
24 and he brought Aaron's sons near, and Moses put of the blood on the tip of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.
25 And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the inwards, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and the right shoulder;
26 and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before Jehovah he took one unleavened cake, and a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and put them on the fat and upon the right shoulder;
27 and he gave all into Aaron's hands, and into his sons' hands, and waved them as a wave-offering before Jehovah.
28 And Moses took them from off their hands, and burned [them] on the altar, over the burnt-offering: they were a consecration-offering for a sweet odour: it was an offering by fire to Jehovah.
29 And Moses took the breast, and waved it as a wave-offering before Jehovah; of the ram of consecration it was Moses' part; as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
30 And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood that was on the altar, and sprinkled [it] on Aaron, on his garments, and on his sons, and on his sons' garments with him; and hallowed Aaron, his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Leviticus 8
Commentary on Leviticus 8 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 8
Le 8:1-36. Moses Consecrates Aaron and His Sons.
2. Take Aaron and his sons—The consecration of Aaron and his sons had been ordered long before (Ex 29:1-46), but it is now described with all the details of the ceremonial, as it was gone through after the tabernacle was completed and the regulations for the various sacrifices enacted.
3-5. gather thou all the congregation together, &c.—It was manifestly expedient for the Israelitish people to be satisfied that Aaron's appointment to the high dignity of the priesthood was not a personal intrusion, nor a family arrangement between him and Moses; and nothing, therefore, could be a more prudent or necessary measure, for impressing a profound conviction of the divine origin and authority of the priestly institution, than to summon a general assembly of the people, and in their presence perform the solemn ceremonies of inauguration, which had been prescribed by divine authority.
6. Moses … washed them with water—At consecration they were subjected to entire ablution, though on ordinary occasions they were required, before entering on their duties, only to wash their hands and feet. This symbolical ablution was designed to teach them the necessity of inward purity, and the imperative obligation on those who bore the vessels and conducted the services of the sanctuary to be holy.
7-9. he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle—The splendor of the official vestments, together with the gorgeous tiara of the high priest, was intended, doubtless, in the first instance, to produce in the minds of the people a high respect for the ministers of religion; and in the next, from the predominant use of linen, to inculcate upon Aaron and his sons the duty of maintaining unspotted righteousness in their characters and lives.
10-12. took the anointing oil, &c.—which was designed to intimate that persons who acted as leaders in the solemn services of worship should have the unction of the Holy One both in His gifts and graces.
14-17. brought the bullock for the sin offering, &c.—a timely expression of their sense of unworthiness—a public and solemn confession of their personal sins and a transference of their guilt to the typical victim.
18-21. brought the ram, &c.—as a token of their entire dedication to the service of God.
22-30. brought the other ram,—&c. After the sin offering and burnt offering had been presented on their behalf, this was their peace offering, by which they declared the pleasure which they felt in entering upon the service of God and being brought into close communion with Him as the ministers of His sanctuary, together with their confident reliance on His grace to help them in all their sacred duties.
33. ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, &c.—After all these preliminaries, they had still to undergo a week's probation in the court of the tabernacle before they obtained permission to enter into the interior of the sacred building. During the whole of that period the same sacrificial rites were observed as on the first day, and they were expressly admonished that the smallest breach of any of the appointed observances would lead to the certain forfeiture of their lives [Le 8:35].