35 All these things you are to do to Aaron and his sons as I have given you orders: for seven days the work of making them priests is to go on.
The children of Israel did everything as the Lord had given orders to Moses. Then Moses, when he saw all their work and saw that they had done everything as the Lord had said, gave them his blessing.
Then let Aaron and his sons come to the door of the Tent of meeting; and after washing them with water, You are to put on Aaron the holy robes; and you are to put oil on him, and make him holy, so that he may be my priest. And take his sons with him and put coats on them; And put oil on them as you did on their father, so that they may be my priests: the putting on of oil will make them priests for ever, from generation to generation. And Moses did this; as the Lord gave him orders, so he did.
And Moses did as the Lord said, and all the people came together at the door of the Tent of meeting. And Moses said to the people, This is what the Lord has given orders to be done. Then Moses took Aaron and his sons; and after washing them with water, He put the coat on him, making it tight with its band, and then the robe, and over it the ephod, with its band of needlework to keep it in place. And he put the priest's bag on him, and in the bag he put the Urim and Thummim. And on his head he put the head-dress, and in front of the head-dress the plate of gold, the holy crown, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. And Moses took the holy oil and put it on the House and on all the things in it, to make them holy. Seven times he put oil on the altar and on all its vessels, and on the washing-basin and its base, to make them holy. And some of the oil he put on Aaron's head, to make him holy. Then he took Aaron's sons, clothing them with the coats, and putting the bands round them, and the head-dresses on their heads, as the Lord had given him orders. And he took the ox of the sin-offering: and Aaron and his sons put their hands on the head of the ox, And he put it to death; and Moses took the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and round it with his finger, and made the altar clean, draining out the blood at the base of the altar; so he made it holy, taking away what was unclean. And he took all the fat on the inside parts, and the fat on the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, to be burned on the altar; But the ox, with its skin and its flesh and its waste, was burned with fire outside the tent-circle, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. And he put the male sheep of the burned offering before the Lord, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head, And he put it to death; and Moses put some of the blood on and round the altar. And when the sheep had been cut into parts, the head and the parts and the fat were burned by Moses. And the inside parts and the legs were washed with water and all the sheep was burned by Moses on the altar; it was a burned offering for a sweet smell: it was an offering made by fire to the Lord, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. 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 Moses took the breast, waving it for a wave offering before the Lord; it was Moses' part of the sheep of the priest's offering, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. And Moses took some of the holy oil and of the blood which was on the altar and put it on Aaron and on his robes, and on his sons and on his sons' robes; and made Aaron holy, and his robes and his sons and his sons' robes with him. And Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, The flesh is to be cooked in water at the door of the Tent of meeting, and there you are to take it as food, together with the bread in the basket, as I have given orders, saying, It is the food of Aaron and his sons. And that which is over of the flesh and of the bread is to be burned with fire. 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. What has been done this day, has been ordered by the Lord to take away your sin. And you are to keep watch for the Lord at the door of the Tent of meeting day and night for seven days, so that death may not come to you: for so he has given me orders. And Aaron and his sons did all the things about which the Lord had given orders through Moses.
And he who is to be made clean will have his clothing washed and his hair cut and have a bath, and he will be clean. And after that he will come back to the tent-circle; but he is to keep outside his tent for seven days. And on the seventh day he is to have all the hair cut off his head and his chin and over his eyes--all his hair is to be cut off--and he will have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and he will be clean. And on the eighth day let him take two male lambs, without any marks on them, and one female lamb of the first year, without a mark, and three tenth parts of an ephah of the best meal, mixed with oil, and one log of oil. And the priest who is making him clean will put the man who is being made clean, together with these things, before the door of the Tent of meeting.
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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).