Leviticus 8:15
Ver. 15. And he slew it,.... Not Aaron, nor any of his sons, who as yet were not fully consecrated and installed into their office, but Moses, as follows:
and Moses took the blood; which was received into a basin when the bullock was slain:
and put [it] upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger; upon the four horns of the altar, which were at the four corners of it, and dipping his finger into the blood, he besmeared the horns with it, and drew it about with his finger here and there; and so is said to be done round about the altar, as these horns were:
and purified the altar; or cleansed it; not from moral guilt and pollution, which it was incapable of, but from all ceremonial pollution it might be supposed to have:
and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar; the rest of the blood he did not use about the horns: and sanctified it; separated it from common to sacred use:to make reconciliation upon it; that it might be fit to have sacrifices offered on it to make atonement and reconciliation for sins; for which reason it was necessary it should itself be pure and holy, in such sense it was capable of being so. Leviticus 8:16Ver. 16. And he took all the fat that was upon the inwards,.... Called the "omentum":and the caul [above] the liver; the lobe upon the liver, as the Septuagint; or "the caul" and "the liver", so says Jarchi; the liver separately, for he took a little of the liver with it, the caul:and the two kidneys, and their fat, and Moses burned [it] upon the altar: the fat of these several parts, which has been often observed was done; and in imitation of which, the same has been done by the Persians and their Magi, as related by Strabo {x} and others {y}; and by the Romans, to which Persius {z} refers; and these several parts are generally covered with fat in fat creatures, and especially sheep, as Aristotle {a} observes.{x} Geograph. l. 15. p. 504. {y} "Omentum in flamma pingue", &c. Catullus. {z} "Tot tibi cum in flammis", &c. Satyr. 2. {a} Hist. Animal. l. 3. c. 17. Leviticus 8:17Ver. 17. But the bullock and his hide, his flesh, and his dung, he burnt with fire without the camp,.... Aben Ezra observes, that some say that he did this himself; and others, that it was done by orders, that is, he ordered others to do it, which seems probable enough:as the Lord commanded Moses; Ex 29:14. Leviticus 8:18Ver. 18. And he brought the ram for the burnt offering,.... One of the two he was ordered to take, Le 8:2and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram; as they had done before on the head of the bullock, see Le 8:14 their right hands, as the Targum of Jonathan, and that at the same time; not first Aaron and then his sons, as a famous grammarian, Aben Ezra makes mention of, thought; but, as he himself says, they laid them on together. Leviticus 8:19Ver. 19. And he killed it,.... That is, Moses killed the ram, as the Septuagint version expresses it:and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about; as he did the blood of the bullock, Le 8:15. Leviticus 8:20Ver. 20. And he cut the ram into pieces,.... Cut off its head and quartered it:and Moses burnt the head, and the pieces, and the fat; even all of it, as the following verse shows. Leviticus 8:21Ver. 21. And he washed the inwards and the legs in water,.... The one being taken out, the other cut off:and Moses burnt the whole ram upon the altar: it [was] a burnt sacrifice for a sweet savour, [and] an offering made by fire unto the Lord; as the Lord commanded Moses; see Ex 29:18. Leviticus 8:22Ver. 22-25. And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration,.... Or "filling" {b}, or "fulnesses"; because, as Jarchi says, these filled and perfected the priests in their priesthood; this was the finishing and consummation of their consecration: what is said in this and the three following verses Le 8:23 is the same as is ordered, Ex 29:19 and needs no further explanation;See Gill on "Ex 29:19" see Gill on "Ex 29:20" see Gill on "Ex 29:21" see Gill on "Ex 29:22".{b} Myalmh "plenitudinum", Montanus; "impletionum, [vel] potius completionum", Drusius; Heb. "impletionum", Piscator. Leviticus 8:23Ver. 23. See Gill on "Le 8:22". Leviticus 8:24Ver. 24. See Gill on "Le 8:22". Leviticus 8:25Ver. 25. See Gill on "Le 8:22". Leviticus 8:26Ver. 26. And out of the basket of unleavened bread,.... Moses was ordered to take, Le 8:2,that [was] before the Lord; being brought to the tabernacle, where now the Lord had taken up his residence:he took one unleavened cake; which had no oil in it or upon it:and a cake of oiled bread; which was mixed and tempered with oil:and one wafer; which was anointed with oil:and put them upon the fat, and upon the right shoulder; of the ram of consecration, which he took from it, and laid the cakes uppermost upon them. Leviticus 8:27Ver. 27. And he put all upon Aaron's hands, and upon his son's hands,.... The fat and the right shoulder, with the cakes upon them:and waved them [for] a wave offering before the Lord;See Gill on "Ex 29:24". Leviticus 8:28Ver. 28. And Moses took them from off their hands,.... After they had been waved before the Lord:and burnt [them] upon the altar, upon the burnt offering; of the other ram; or after that burnt offering, as Jarchi, who observes, that we do not find that the shoulder of peace offerings was offered in any place but this, it belonged to the priest; but this being at the consecration of the priests, it was offered to the Lord by Moses, to whom it seems to have belonged, as the breast also, but that was not burnt, but eaten: and the same writer affirms, that Moses ministered all the seven days of the consecration in a white shirt, or surplice; and that he might wear a linen coat, as priests did, is not improbable, since he now officiated as one:they [were] consecrated for a sweet savour; acceptable to the Lord, and so the priests, Aaron and his sons likewise, on whose account they were made:it [is] an offering made by fire unto the Lord; the fat, the shoulder, and the cakes. Leviticus 8:29Ver. 29. And Moses took the breast,.... Of the ram of consecration:and waved it for a wave offering before the Lord; this Moses seems to have waved with his own hands, and not upon the hands of Aaron and his sons, putting his under them, as in the wave offering of the fat, shoulder, and cakes, and for which the following words seem to give a reason:[for] of the ram of consecration it was Moses's part; the breast of it was his:as the Lord commanded Moses; see Ex 29:26. Leviticus 8:30Ver. 30. And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar,.... Which was sprinkled upon the altar round about, Le 8:24 and these two seem to be mixed together, since it follows:and sprinkled [it] upon Aaron, &c. See Gill on "Ex 29:21". Leviticus 8:31Ver. 31. And Moses said unto Aaron, and to his sons,.... After he had offered the bullock, the two rams, and cakes of unleavened bread for the consecration of them:boil the flesh at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; the remainder of the flesh of the ram of consecration, which was all but the fat, the shoulder, and the breast:and there eat it with the bread that is in the basket of consecration; what was left of that, there being one cake of a sort taken out of it and burnt:as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it; see Ex 29:32. Leviticus 8:32Ver. 32. And that which remaineth of the flesh and of the bread,.... Until the next morning, which could not be eaten by Aaron and his sons:shall ye burn with fire; that it might not be corrupted, nor put to common nor superstitious uses. Leviticus 8:33Ver. 33. And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation [in] seven days,.... Which was the time of their consecration, so long it lasted; and they had provision enough every day from the ram of consecration, whose flesh they were to boil and eat. The Jewish writers {c} are puzzled where they should ease nature, since the place was holy; but the orders are not to be considered as so strict but that they might go in and out, though they were not to stay long, or to attend to any other business; and it was always necessary there should be some upon the spot, keeping the Lord's charge in their turns; and it was always requisite that they should also sleep alternately; for it cannot be thought that they should be all this time without rest, any more than without food:until the days of your consecration be at an end; which were to continue so long:for seven days shall he consecrate you; that is, Moses, who here speaks of himself in the third person, as appears from Ex 29:35. Aben Ezra observes, that the word "end" is wanting, and that the sense is, at the end of seven days he shall consecrate you, finish their consecration; all the seven days he was doing it, and at the end of the seventh concluded it.{c} Aben Ezra, Hiscuni in loc. Leviticus 8:34Ver. 34. As he hath done this day, [so] the Lord hath commanded to do,.... The same were to be repeated every day until the seven days were ended; so Jarchi and Aben Ezra; the former of these observes, that their Rabbins explain the phrase "to do", in the preceding clause, of the business of the red heifer, and that which follows,to make an atonement for you, of the business of the day of atonement; and say, that it may be learned from hence that the high priest was obliged to be separate (from his own house and family) seven days before that, and so the priest that burned the red heifer; and the same is observed by other Jewish writers {d}: but this refers to neither of these cases, but to the present consecration of Aaron and his sons, and the making atonement by sacrifice for them, and the sanctification of them to minister in the priest's office.{d} Maimon, & Bartenora in Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 1. & in Parah, c. 3. sect. 1. Leviticus 8:35Ver. 35. Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,.... Or rather "within" it, as Noldius renders it, since they were not to go out of the door of it, Le 8:33 whereas our version seems to leave it undetermined whether they abode without the door or within; where they were to continue,day and night, seven days; even the seven days of their consecration:and keep the charge of the Lord, that ye die not; not the charge of the tabernacle, and the service of it committed to them upon their investiture with their office, hereafter to be observed by them; but what was charged upon them to attend unto, during the seven days of their consecration; and the penalty being death in case of failure, was to make them more careful and cautious of transgressing; and which was the more necessary, as they were to be pure and holy at their entrance upon their work: and though this may seem somewhat severe, yet the aggravation of their sin would be the greater, as it was to a sacred and honourable work they were called, and to which they were now consecrating; and as what was required of them was what might easily be complied with: however Moses, to show that this was not of himself, but by divine authority, adds,for so I am commanded; that is, to declare unto them, that if they did not punctually observe the above orders, they must expect to die. Leviticus 8:36Ver. 36. So Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses. They submitted to have them done to them, and for them, what was done on the first day of their consecration, all the rest of the days; and they kept within the tabernacle all that time as was enjoined them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.