5 And he sent the youths of the children of Israel, and they offered up burnt-offerings, and sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offering of bullocks to Jehovah.
And Jehovah called to Moses and spoke to him out of the tent of meeting, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When any man of you presenteth an offering to Jehovah, ye shall present your offering of the cattle, of the herd and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt-offering of the herd, he shall present it a male without blemish: at the entrance of the tent of meeting shall he present it, for his acceptance before Jehovah. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. And he shall slaughter the bullock before Jehovah; and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood round about on the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And he shall flay the burnt-offering, and cut it up into its pieces. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay wood in order on the fire; and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat, in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar; but its inwards and its legs shall he wash in water; and the priest shall burn all on the altar, a burnt-offering, an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour. And if his offering be of the flock, of the sheep or of the goats, for a burnt-offering, he shall present it a male without blemish. And he shall slaughter it on the side of the altar northward before Jehovah; and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood on the altar round about. And he shall cut it into its pieces, and its head, and its fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar; but the inwards and the legs shall he wash with water; and the priest shall present [it] all, and burn [it] on the altar: it is a burnt-offering, an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour. And if his offering to Jehovah be a burnt-offering of fowls, then he shall present his offering of turtle-doves, or of young pigeons. And the priest shall bring it near to the altar and pinch off its head and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be pressed out at the side of the altar. And he shall remove its crop with its feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east, into the place of the ashes; and he shall split it open at its wings, [but] shall not divide [it] asunder; and the priest shall burn it on the altar on the wood that is on the fire: it is a burnt-offering, an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour.
And if his offering be a sacrifice of peace-offering, -- if he present [it] of the herd, whether a male or female, he shall present it without blemish before Jehovah. And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and slaughter it at the entrance of the tent of meeting; and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood on the altar round about. And he shall present of the sacrifice of peace-offering an offering by fire to Jehovah; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is on the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the net above the liver which he shall take away as far as the kidneys; and Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt-offering which [lieth] on the wood that is upon the fire: [it is] an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour. And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace-offering to Jehovah be of small cattle, male or female, he shall present it without blemish. If he present a sheep for his offering, then shall he present it before Jehovah, and shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and slaughter it before the tent of meeting; and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about. And he shall present of the sacrifice of peace-offering an offering by fire to Jehovah; the fat thereof, the whole fat tail, which he shall take off close by the backbone, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is on the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the net above the liver which he shall take away as far as the kidneys; and the priest shall burn it on the altar: [it is] the food of the offering by fire to Jehovah. And if his offering be a goat, then he shall present it before Jehovah. And he shall lay his hand on the head of it, and slaughter it before the tent of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof on the altar round about. And he shall present thereof his offering, an offering by fire to Jehovah; the fat that covereth the inwards and all the fat that is on the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the net above the liver which he shall take away as far as the kidneys; and the priest shall burn them on the altar: [it is] the food of the offering by fire for a sweet odour. All the fat [shall be] Jehovah's. [It is] an everlasting statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings: no fat and no blood shall ye eat.
And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace-offering, which [a man] shall present to Jehovah. If he present it for a thanksgiving, then he shall present with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and fine flour saturated with oil, cakes mingled with oil. Besides the cakes, he shall present his offering of leavened bread with the sacrifice of his peace-offering of thanksgiving. And of it he shall present one out of the whole offering as a heave-offering to Jehovah; to the priest that sprinkleth the blood of the peace-offering, to him it shall belong. And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offering of thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is presented; he shall not let any of it remain until the morning. And if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or voluntary, it shall be eaten the same day that he presented his sacrifice; on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten; and the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire. And if [any] of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offering be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, it shall not be reckoned to him that hath presented it; it shall be an unclean thing, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity. And the flesh that toucheth anything unclean shall not be eaten; it shall be burned with fire. And as to the flesh, all that are clean may eat [the] flesh. But the soul that eateth the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offering which is for Jehovah, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from his peoples. And if any one touch anything unclean, the uncleanness of man, or unclean beast, or any unclean abomination, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offering, which is for Jehovah, that soul shall be cut off from his peoples.
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Commentary on Exodus 24 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 24
Ex 24:1-18. Delivery of the Law and Covenant.
3, 4. Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord—The rehearsal of the foregoing laws and the ten commandments, together with the promises of special blessings in the event of their obedience, having drawn forth from the people a unanimous declaration of their consent, it was forthwith recorded as the conditions of the national covenant. The next day preparations were made for having it (the covenant) solemnly ratified, by building an altar and twelve pillars; the altar representing God, and the pillars the tribes of Israel—the two parties in this solemn compact—while Moses acted as typical mediator.
5. young men—priests (Ex 19:22), probably the oldest sons of particular families, who acted under the direction of Moses.
oxen—Other animals, though not mentioned, were offered in sacrifice (Heb 9:18-20).
6. Moses took half of the blood … sprinkled—Preliminary to this was the public reading of the law and the renewed acceptance of the terms by the people; then the sprinkling of the blood was the sign of solemn ratification—half on each party in the transaction.
8. Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people—probably on the twelve pillars, as representing the people (also the book, Heb 9:19), and the act was accompanied by a public proclamation of its import. It was setting their seal to the covenant (compare 1Co 11:25). It must have been a deeply impressive, as well as instructive scene, for it taught the Israelites that the covenant was made with them only through the sprinkling of blood—that the divine acceptance of themselves and services, was only by virtue of an atoning sacrifice, and that even the blessings of the national covenant were promised and secured to them only through grace. The ceremonial, however, had a further and higher significance, as is shown by the apostle (see as above).
9. Then went up Moses, and Aaron—in obedience to a command given (Ex 24:1, 2; also Ex 19:24), previous to the religious engagement of the people, now described.
Nadab, and Abihu—the two oldest sons of Aaron [Ex 6:23].
seventy of the elders—a select number; what was the principle of selection is not said; but they were the chief representatives, the most conspicuous for official rank and station, as well as for their probity and weight of character in their respective tribes.
10. And they saw the God of Israel—That there was no visible form or representation of the divine nature, we have expressly intimated (De 4:15). But a symbol or emblem of His glory was distinctly, and at a distance, displayed before those chosen witnesses. Many think, however, that in this private scene was discovered, amid the luminous blaze, the faint adumbrated form of the humanity of Christ (Eze 1:26; compare Ga 3:24).
sapphire—one of the most valuable and lustrous of the precious gems—of a sky-blue or light azure color and frequently chosen to describe the throne of God (see Eze 1:26; 10:1).
11. upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand—The "nobles," that is, the elders, after the sprinkling of the blood, were not inspired with terror in presence of the calm, benign, radiant symbol of the divine majesty; so different from the terrific exhibitions at the giving of the law. The report of so many competent witnesses would tend to confirm the people's faith in the divine mission of Moses.
eat and drink—feasted on the peace offering—on the remnants of the late sacrifices and libations. This feast had a prophetic bearing, intimating God's dwelling with men.
12. I will give thee tables of stone—The ten commandments, which had already been spoken, were to be given in a permanent form. Inscribed on stone, for greater durability, by the hand of God Himself, they were thus authenticated and honored above the judicial or ceremonial parts of the law.
13. Moses went up into the mount of God—He was called to receive the divine transcript. Joshua was taken a little higher, and it would be a great comfort for the leader to have his company during the six days he was in patient waiting for the call on the seventh or sabbath day.
14. he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us—There is a circular valley or hollow a good way up on the brow of Jebel Musa, which was their halting place, while he alone was privileged to ascend the highest peak. The people stood below, as in the "outer court," the elders in the "holy place," Moses, as a type of Christ, in "the holy of holies."
18. Moses went into the midst of the cloud—the visible token of God's presence. Divine grace animated and supported him to enter with holy boldness.
Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights—The six days spent in waiting are not included. During that protracted period he was miraculously supported (De 9:9), on a peak scarcely thirty paces in compass.