Chapter Twenty-Nine

1–14. Ordinances for the consecration of the chief priests and priests, and sacrifice for them. 15–18. Burnt offering. 19–37. Sacrifice of consecration. 38–44. The daily sacrifices. 45–46. The Lord’s promise to dwell among the sons of Israel.

Exodus 29:1. This is what you shall do to them to consecrate them to serve as priests to me: take one young bull from the cattle and two rams without blemish, Exodus 29:2. and unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened loaves anointed with oil: make them from wheaten flour, Exodus 29:3. and put them in one basket, and bring them in the basket, together with the bull and the two rams. Preparatory actions for the consecration. The presentation of sacrificial animals to the tabernacle: the bull, offered as a sin offering (Exod 29:14), the ram – as a burnt offering (Exod 29:18), and the second ram, intended as a sacrifice of consecration (Lev 8:22). Along with the blood sacrifices, an unbloody offering should be brought in its main forms (Lev 2:16), and accordingly the appropriate material is prepared for it.

Exodus 29:4. Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. Exodus 29:5. And take the holy garments, and clothe Aaron with the tunic and the robe and the ephod and the breastpiece, and bind him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod; Exodus 29:6. and place the turban on his head and attach the crown of sanctity to the turban; Exodus 29:7. and take the anointing oil and pour it on his head, and anoint him. Exodus 29:8. Bring his sons also and clothe them with tunics; Exodus 29:9. and bind them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and tie headdresses on them, and the priestly office shall be theirs as a perpetual statute; and thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons. The first act of consecration – washing with water, clothing, and pouring of oil.

Exodus 29:4. Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. Before each particular instance of service by Aaron and his sons at the tabernacle there was required a washing of hands and feet (Exod 30:18-21). And since the consecration introduced them into service, was the beginning of it, the service in general was preceded by washing, not of the entire body, which would presuppose indecent nudity in the presence of all the people (Lev 8:3), but by analogy with custom – washing of hands and feet. As an indication of the need for bodily purity, it also spoke of that spiritual cleanliness which should distinguish those being consecrated, as servants of God.

Exodus 29:5. And take the holy garments, and clothe Aaron with the tunic and the robe and the ephod and the breastpiece, and bind him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod; Exodus 29:6. and place the turban on his head and attach the crown of sanctity to the turban; Washing precedes the service at the tabernacle; it also requires appropriate garments (Exod 28:3-4). Therefore, as future servants of the tabernacle, first Aaron, and then his sons, are clothed in the garments of sacred service, receive the first signs of their rank.

Exodus 29:7. and take the anointing oil and pour it on his head, and anoint him. The purpose of Aaron’s anointing with specially prepared oil (Exod 30:22-25), generously poured on his head (Ps 132:2), was to “sanctify” the one being anointed (Exod 30:30, Lev 8:12). Just as the anointing oil itself was set apart from the realm of ordinary household objects (Exod 30:32-33), so things and persons anointed with it were sanctified, designated for sacred purposes. The term is used in this sense in the note about the chief priest: “the anointing oil upon his head, and he shall be holy, to clothe himself in the sacred garments” (Lev 21:10, cf. Exod 29:12). According to others, the anointing served as a sign of imparting to Aaron special graces necessary for performing his service. But the Bible gives no grounds for such an understanding.

Exodus 29:8. Bring his sons also and clothe them with tunics; Exodus 29:9. and bind them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and tie headdresses on them, and the priestly office shall be theirs as a perpetual statute; and thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons. Whether the clothing of Aaron’s sons was accompanied by anointing, this is not stated in either this chapter or the parallel chapter 8 of Leviticus. As for other texts that address this question, disagreement is found among them. While some texts indicate – Lev 6:6 (Lev 6:13 Heb.), in Lev 16:32 it speaks of the anointing of Aaron’s sons (Exod 28:41, Lev 10:6-7, Num 3:3). If the first two and the last passage may raise doubt as to whether the anointing of priests is the same as the anointing of the chief priest, the third and fourth leave no room for it. “Anoint them,” it is said in Exod 40:15, “as you anointed their father.” Aaron and his sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, are not to grieve for the dead Nadab and Abihu and go out of the tabernacle, “because the anointing oil of the Lord is upon them” (Lev 10:7).

Exodus 29:10. Bring the bull to the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull [before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting]; Exodus 29:11. and slaughter the bull before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting; Exodus 29:12. take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour the rest of the blood at the base of the altar; Exodus 29:13. take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar; Exodus 29:14. but the flesh of the bull and its hide and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp: it is a sin offering. Exodus 29:15. Then take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; Exodus 29:16. and you shall slaughter the ram, and shall take its blood and throw it against the altar on all sides; Exodus 29:17. cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails [in water] and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head; Exodus 29:18. and you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. Exodus 29:19. Take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; Exodus 29:20. Then slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears, and on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the altar on all sides; Exodus 29:21. take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his vestments and on his sons and his sons’ vestments with him; then he and his vestments and his sons and his sons’ vestments shall be holy. Exodus 29:22. And take from the ram the fat and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh [because it is a ram of ordination], Exodus 29:23. and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord, Exodus 29:24. put all of these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and raise them as an elevation offering before the Lord; Exodus 29:25. then you shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord. Exodus 29:26. And you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and raise it as an elevation offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. Exodus 29:27. And you shall consecrate the breast that was raised as an elevation offering and the thigh that was raised as an elevation offering from the ram of ordination, from what was Aaron’s and from what was his sons’, Exodus 29:28. and it shall be for Aaron and his sons as a due forever from the Israelites, for it is an elevation offering; an elevation offering from the Israelites from their sacrifices of well-being, their elevation offering to the Lord. The second act of consecration – the offering of sacrifices – introduced Aaron and his sons into the office and rights of the priesthood, for which they had been set apart by the preceding actions. Such significance is connected with it on the basis of the words Exod 29:9: “ordain the hands of Aaron and his sons.” As seen from 1 Chr 29:5 and 2 Chr 29:31, the expression “to ordain hands for the Most High” means: “to acquire what is offered to God.” Aaron and his sons did not themselves acquire “what is offered to the Lord,” the sacrifices in this case, but through Moses: he “ordained their hands,” that is, through him they obtained the sacrifices and received the right to perform them.

Exodus 29:10. Bring the bull to the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull [before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting]; Exodus 29:11. and slaughter the bull before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting; Exodus 29:12. take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour the rest of the blood at the base of the altar; Exodus 29:13. take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar; Exodus 29:14. but the flesh of the bull and its hide and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp: it is a sin offering. The blood of the sin offering – the bull – was not brought into the sanctuary, as was required later (Lev 4:5-7), but only placed on the horns of the altar of burnt offerings. The reason for this lay in the fact that the consecration of Aaron and his sons was not yet complete. He was not yet the chief priest, nor were his sons yet priests. However, the flesh of the sin offering was burned outside the camp, as when the blood of the sacrifice was brought into the sanctuary (Lev 4:11-12). The explanation for this peculiarity is as follows. According to the general rule, the flesh should have been eaten by the one performing the sacrifice, Moses in this case, but he could not eat the flesh of the sin offering, since he was not a priest.

Exodus 29:15. Then take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; Exodus 29:16. and you shall slaughter the ram, and shall take its blood and throw it against the altar on all sides; Exodus 29:17. cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails [in water] and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head; Exodus 29:18. and you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. The burnt offering was performed in accordance with the ordinances prescribed by the law (Lev 1:3 and others).

Exodus 29:19. Take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; Exodus 29:20. Then slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears, and on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the altar on all sides; The first distinguishing feature of the sacrifice of consecration was the placing of its blood on the lobe of the right ear and on the thumbs of the right hand and the big toes of the right foot of those being consecrated. Through the ear, hand, and foot are anointed the members by which the priests perform their service. The ear is anointed so that it may better hear the law and testimony of God; the hand – so that it may accurately fulfill God’s commandments and priestly duties; the foot – so that it may walk blamelessly in the sanctuary. “They are anointed,” says Cyril of Alexandria, “in all the members of the right side, and as it were in their final parts, that is, at the edges: the edge, it is said, of the ear, and likewise of the foot and hand, because every good deed is noble and right, has nothing as it were crooked or base, and reaches to the edges, that is, to the end or to the whole, for those dedicated to God must be right in sanctification and to the end in endurance, and it is quite foolish to turn back, as if not resolving to carry the good to completion.”

Exodus 29:21. take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his vestments and on his sons and his sons’ vestments with him; then he and his vestments and his sons and his sons’ vestments shall be holy. The second distinguishing feature of the sacrifice of consecration was the sprinkling of those being consecrated and their garments with blood mingled with oil. Garment indicates a certain office, and office indicates a person clothed in a certain way. Together, the person and the garment form the priest. Therefore, the consecration of both must be accomplished at once. At the conclusion of the covenant at Sinai, it was sufficient to sprinkle the people with blood alone, without the addition of oil, since the people were not obligated to fulfill any special office; meanwhile, with the consecration of the priests, a special service was laid upon them; therefore it was necessary to join to the purifying power of blood the sanctifying action of the oil.

Exodus 29:22. And take from the ram the fat and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh [because it is a ram of ordination], Exodus 29:23. and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord, Exodus 29:24. put all of these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and raise them as an elevation offering before the Lord; Exodus 29:25. then you shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord. The placing on the hands of the priests those parts of the sacrificial animal that must be offered to God, as well as the bread offering in three forms (bread, cake, and wafer), and the waving of all of this before burning on the altar means the delivery into the hands of those being consecrated of sacrifices, which they are to offer to the Most High, or – the endowing of them with gifts that they, as priests, will always be obligated to offer to God. Such is the meaning assigned to these ritual actions by the expression Exod 29:22: “[it is a ram of ordination].”

Exodus 29:26. And you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and raise it as an elevation offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. Moses, having performed on behalf of Aaron and his sons the entire rite of sacrifice and representing at this time in his person all of the priesthood, received that portion of the sacrifice which belonged to all priests, namely the breast of the wave offering (Lev 8:29 and others).

Exodus 29:27. And you shall consecrate the breast that was raised as an elevation offering and the thigh that was raised as an elevation offering from the ram of ordination, from what was Aaron’s and from what was his sons’, Exodus 29:28. and it shall be for Aaron and his sons as a due forever from the Israelites, for it is an elevation offering; an elevation offering from the Israelites from their sacrifices of well-being, their elevation offering to the Lord. By the very action of raising and presenting, the breast and thigh are consecrated and removed from common use, from use by laypeople not consecrated. They are presented to the Lord: “it is an elevation offering.” What is offered to the Lord cannot return to the benefit of the laypeople who brought it; God himself gives what is offered to him to his sanctified servants. Therefore, what now came into Moses’ possession was to be given in the future to the high priest Aaron and to his sons – the priests.

Exodus 29:29. The holy vestments of Aaron shall pass down to his sons after him, so that they may be anointed in them and ordained in them; Exodus 29:30. The one among his sons who is priest in his place shall wear them seven days, the one who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place. Just as certain portions of the peace offering come into the possession of not only Aaron and his sons but also all future high priests and priests, so the vestments are designated not for Aaron alone but also for all his successors. In this inherited vestment they are to receive the anointing and ordination to the priesthood throughout the seven days.

Exodus 29:31. Take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place; Exodus 29:32. and Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Exodus 29:33. They themselves shall eat the food by which atonement is made, to ordain and consecrate them, but no one else shall eat of it, for it is holy. Like every peace offering, the sacrifice of consecration concluded with a meal (cf. Lev 7:15 and others). And if the meal expressed the idea of communion, then in this case it indicated that Aaron and his sons were being admitted to a special priestly union with God, in the benefits and blessings of which no one could have a share except those who were sanctified as priests. Therefore, no one else could partake of it.

Exodus 29:34. If any of the flesh for the ordination, or of the bread, remains until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy. The command to burn the remaining flesh and bread was to be carried out by those being consecrated themselves (Lev 8:32). The reason for which the prohibition is made against eating the remainder on the next day of the flesh of the ram of ordination and of the bread is stated in the words: “because it is holy.” Remaining until the next day might, either from accidental neglect in preservation or from the action of air and so forth, undergo some alteration or decay, improper care (Lev 7:19 and others). By the command to burn the remnants, the holy thing was protected from such contingencies.

Exodus 29:35. And you shall do all that I have commanded you concerning Aaron and his sons; in seven days you shall consecrate them. In order that the consecration be complete and perfect, Aaron and his sons were to remain constantly at the tabernacle for seven days (Lev 8:33). All of them were days of consecration, and on each of them the same rites took place that occurred on the first day (Lev 8:33-34).

Exodus 29:36. Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purge the altar, when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it, to consecrate it. Exodus 29:37. For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall become holy. The offering of a bull as a sin offering of those being consecrated (Exod 29:1) had also another significance – it served as a means of cleansing and consecrating the altar. It will be cleansed and consecrated, first, by the very offering of sacrifice upon it, and second, by its anointing with oil (Lev 8:10-11). Anointing with sacred oil set everything apart from the realm of ordinary household matters (Exod 30:29). The cleansing and consecration of the altar, like the consecration of Aaron, was to be accomplished throughout seven days.

Exodus 29:38. Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old [without blemish] regularly [as a regular offering]; Exodus 29:39. one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer in the evening, Following the command to consecrate the altar comes the instruction as to what sacrifices are to be offered daily on the altar, as soon as it and the holy persons receive their consecration. For the regular daily burnt offering (Exod 29:42), two yearling lambs are appointed (cf. Num 28:3 and others); one is to be offered in the morning, at the beginning of the day, around the seventh hour, the other in the evening (“between the two evenings” (Exod 12:6)). Both the beginning of the day and the end are consecrated by the expression of complete devotion to God.

Exodus 29:40. and a tenth of an ephah of choice flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of beaten oil, and a quarter of a hin of wine for a drink offering, for each lamb; Exodus 29:41. and you shall offer the other lamb in the evening, with a grain offering like the one in the morning, and with a drink offering like the one in the morning, for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the Lord. According to the general law Num 15, the blood offering is joined with a grain offering, for which a tenth of an ephah of wheaten flour, a quarter of a hin of pressed oil, and the same amount of wine are appointed. The materials of the unbloody sacrifice serve the chief gifts given by the Creator (Ps 103:14) for the sustenance of human life and for earthly well-being, and therefore in it is found the complete, most vivid expression of the fundamental idea of sacrifice – the thought of self-surrender.

Exodus 29:42. This shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there; The strict observance of the law concerning the daily burnt offerings is again commanded as an everlasting obligation upon the Hebrew people, and the reason for this is indicated. It lies in the fact that in the tent of meeting the Lord will manifest his special presence, will reveal himself and speak. Reverent regard for his presence should be expressed, among other things, in the unfailing offering to him of daily sacrifices.

Exodus 29:43. there I will meet with the Israelites, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. Such reverent regard is all the more necessary because the tabernacle serves as a place of revelation of the Lord not to Moses alone, but also to the other sons of Israel. The constant manifestation of God’s glory will sanctify the tabernacle, will make it a holy place.

Exodus 29:44. I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate, to serve me as priests. If God himself will sanctify the tabernacle by his dwelling, will sanctify those who serve him, then the sons of Israel must unfailingly manifest their reverence for the deity dwelling in their sanctuary by offering the appointed sacrifices, as a gift of love, gratitude, and obedience.