Exodus 29:30 Kommentar

Particular orders are given in this chapter, I. Concerning the consecration of the priests, and the sanctification of the altar (v. 1-37). II. Concerning the daily sacrifice (Exo 29:38-41). To which gracious promises are annexed that God would own and bless them in all their services (Exo 29:42, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 29 This chapter gives an account of the form and order of the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priestly office; preparatory to which Moses is ordered to take a young bullock, two rams, bread, cakes, and wafers unleavened, and bring them and Aaron and his sons to the door of the congregation, where the ceremony was to be publicly performed, and which began with washing them, Exo 29:1 and then proceeded by putting on the priestly garments directed to be made in the preceding chapter, first on Aaron, who also was anointed, Exo 29:5 and then upon his sons, Exo 29:8 after which the bullock and the two rams were to be slain, and orders are given what was to be done with their blood, and the several parts of them, as well as with the cakes and wafers, Exo 29:10 and directions are given to make these wave and heave offerings, Exo 29:24 and that the garments of Aaron's should be his son's that succeeded him, Exo 29:29, and that the flesh of the ram of consecration with the bread should be eaten by Aaron and his sons and no other, Exo 29:31, the altar also where they were to officiate was to be cleansed, sanctified, and an atonement made for it, Exo 29:36 after which two lambs every day, morning and evening, were to be offered on it in all succeeding generations, Exo 29:38, and the chapter is closed with a promise that the Lord would meet with the children of Israel at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and would sanctify the tabernacle, and dwell among them, and be their God, Exo 29:43.

And that son that is priest in his stead,.... The Targum of Jonathan is,"who shall rise after him of his sons, not of the Levites;''for the high priest was to be of the family of Aaron, a descendant of his; it was not enough that he was of the tribe of Levi, but he must descend from Aaron, either in the line of Eleazar or of Ithamar: shall put them on seven days; the next successor was to wear the garments seven days running: when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place; to offer sacrifice in the court of the tabernacle, on the altar of burnt offering, and to offer incense on the altar of incense, and to trim the lamps of the candlestick, and to put the shewbread on the table.

Ceremonies to be used in consecrating Aaron and his sons, Exo 29:1-3. They are to be washed, Exo 29:4. Aaron is to be clothed with the holy vestments, Exo 29:5, Exo 29:6; to be anointed, Exo 29:7. His sons to be clothed and girded, Exo 29:8, Exo 29:9. They are to offer a bullock for a sin-offering, Exo 29:10-14; and a ram for a burnt-offering, Exo 29:15-18; and a second ram for a consecration-offering, Exo 29:19-22. A loaf, a cake, and a wafer or thin cake, for a wave-offering, Exo 29:23-25. The breast of the wave-offering and the shoulder of the heave-offering to be sanctified, Exo 29:26-28. Aaron's vestments to descend to his son, who shall succeed him, Exo 29:29, Exo 29:30. Aaron and his sons to eat the flesh of the ram of consecration, Exo 29:31, Exo 29:32. No stranger to eat of it, Exo 29:33. Nothing of it to be left till the morning, but to be burnt with fire, Exo 29:34. Seven days to be employed in consecrating Aaron and his sons, Exo 29:35-37. Two lambs, one for the morning and the other for the evening sacrifice, to be offered continually, Exo 29:38-42. God promises to sanctify Israel with his glory, and to dwell among them, Exo 29:43-46.

Seven days - The priest in his consecration was to abide seven days and nights at the door of the tabernacle, keeping the Lord's watch. See Lev 8:33, etc. The number seven is what is called among the Hebrews a number of perfection; and it is often used to denote the completion, accomplishment, fullness, or perfection of a thing, as this period contained the whole course of that time in which God created the world, and appointed the day of rest. As this act of consecration lasted seven days, it signified a perfect consecration: and intimated to the priest that his whole body and soul, his time and talents, should be devoted to the service of God and his people. The number seven, which was a sacred number among the Hebrews, was conveyed from them down to the Greeks by means of the Egyptian philosophy, from which they borrowed most of their mysteries; and it is most likely that the opinion which the Greeks give is the same that the original framers of the idea had. That there was some mystical idea attached to it, is evident from its being made the number of perfection among the Hebrews. Philo and Josephus say that the Essenes, an ancient sect of the Jews, held it sacred "because it results from the side of a square added to those of a triangle." But what meaning does this convey? A triangle, or triad, according to the Pythagoreans, who borrowed their systems from the Egyptians, who borrowed from the Jews, was the emblem of wisdom, as consisting of beginning (Monad), middle (Duad), and end (Triad itself); so wisdom consists of three parts - experience of the past, attention to the present, and judgment of the future. It is also the most penetrating of all forms, as being the shape of the wedge; and indestructibility is essential to it, as a triangle can never be destroyed. From those three properties it was the emblem of spirit. The square, solid, and tetrad, by the same system were interchangeable signs. Now a square is the representation of a solid or matter, and thus the number seven contains within itself the properties of both the triangle or solid, and the square or tetrad, i.e., is all emblem of body and spirit; comprehends both the intellectual and natural world; embraces the idea of God, the chief of spirits or essences; and all nature, the result of his power; thus a very fit emblem of perfection. It is perhaps in this way that we must explain what Cicero, Tusc. Quest., lib. i., cap. 10, says of the number seven, where he calls it the knot and cement of all things; as being that by which the natural and spiritual world are comprehended in one idea. Thus the ancient philosophers spoke of numbers, themselves being the best judges of their own meaning.

CONSECRATING THE PRIESTS AND THE ALTAR. (Exo. 29:1-35) hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest's office--The act of inaugurating the priests was accompanied by ceremonial solemnities well calculated not only to lead the people to entertain exalted views of the office, but to impress those functionaries themselves with a profound sense of its magnitude and importance. In short, they were taught to know that the service was for them as well as for the people; and every time they engaged in a new performance of their duties, they were reminded of their personal interest in the worship, by being obliged to offer for themselves, before they were qualified to offer as the representatives of the people. this is the thing that thou shalt do--Steps are taken at the beginning of a society, which would not be repeated when the social machine was in full motion; and Moses, at the opening of the tabernacle, was employed to discharge functions which in later periods would have been regarded as sacrilege and punished with instant death. But he acted under the special directions of God.

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 Exo 29:36 and Exo 29:37, and carried out in Lev 8:11.