1 "Bring Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, near to you from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.
You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil; and you shall serve: I give you the priesthood as a service of gift: and the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.
Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up.
Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
Speak to the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods: write you every man's name on his rod. You shall write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi; for there shall be one rod for each head of their fathers' houses. You shall lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. It shall happen, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you. Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. Moses laid up the rods before Yahweh in the tent of the testimony. It happened on the next day, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. Moses brought out all the rods from before Yahweh to all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.
For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. The high priest can deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, because he himself is also surrounded with weakness. Because of this, he must offer sacrifices for sins for the people, as well as for himself. Nobody takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just like Aaron was. So also Christ didn't glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him, "You are my Son. Today I have become your father."
Now it happened, while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his division,
and they withstood Uzziah the king, and said to him, It pertains not to you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for your honor from Yahweh God. Then Uzziah was angry; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy broke forth in his forehead before the priests in the house of Yahweh, beside the altar of incense. Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked on him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out quickly from there; yes, himself hurried also to go out, because Yahweh had struck him. Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and lived in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.
Thes were the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron: Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children: therefore Eleazar and Ithamar executed the priest's office. David with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their ordering in their service. There were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar; and [thus] were they divided: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen, heads of fathers' houses; and of the sons of Ithamar, according to their fathers' houses, eight.
and Johanan became the father of Azariah, (he it is who executed the priest's office in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem),
Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before Yahweh.
You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office.
[seems it but] a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tent of Yahweh, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? and seek you the priesthood also? Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against Yahweh: and Aaron, what is he who you murmur against him?
His division, and those who were numbered of them, were seventy-four thousand six hundred.
Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons who were left, "Take the meal offering that remains of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, and eat it without yeast beside the altar; for it is most holy;
"Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread;
the finely worked garments, for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office.'"
You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office.
I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar: Aaron also and his sons I will sanctify, to minister to me in the priest's office.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 28
Commentary on Exodus 28 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 28
Orders being given for the fitting up of the place of worship, in this and the following chapter care is taken about the priests that were to minister in this holy place, as the menial servants of the God of Israel. He hired servants, as a token of his purpose to reside among them. In this chapter,
Exd 28:1-5
We have here,
Exd 28:6-14
Directions are here given concerning the ephod, which was the outmost garment of the high priest. Linen ephods were worn by the inferior priests, 1 Sa. 22:18. Samuel wore one when he was a child (1 Sa. 2:18), and David when he danced before the ark (2 Sa. 6:14); but this which the high priest only wore was called a golden ephod, because there was a great deal of gold woven into it. It was a short coat without sleeves, buttoned closely to him, with a curious girdle of the same stuff (v. 6-8); the shoulder-pieces were buttoned together with two precious stones set in gold, one on each shoulder, on which were engraven the names of the children of Israel, v. 9-12. In allusion to this,
Exd 28:15-30
The most considerable of the ornaments of the high priest was this breast-plate, a rich piece of cloth, curiously wrought with gold and purple, etc., two spans long and a span broad, so that, being doubled, it was a span square, v. 16. This was fastened to the ephod with wreathen chains of gold (v. 13, 14, 22, etc.) both at top and bottom, so that the breast-plate might not be loosed from the ephod, v. 28. The ephod was the garment of service; the breast-plate of judgment was an emblem of honour: these two must by no means be separated. If any man will minister unto the Lord, and do his will, he shall know his doctrine. In this breast-plate,
Exd 28:31-39
Here is,
Exd 28:40-43
We have here,