The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 2 — Section 278

(ib. xiv. 8). It was also employed for the title of Christ ( or Meesu,h) hccauso ho w11.• p~uific11tion of m~ny minor defilements (ib. "anointed with tho Holy' GhOAt and with x1. 25 ; xv. 5; xvu. 15, etc.). At what. c!Ate power" ( Acts x. 38). U ntler Mosnism t.h is it fim~ came int_o use in the admission of prose- idea WII.B, at most, latent. Uncti0n WIL'I un- lytes 1s uncert111n. Whether the w11.Bhing of derstood to mark (1) Dignit.y, becaru;o the conse~r8:tion extended to tho whole body, or ohve WIL'I_ the first of t~ecs (J udg. ix. 9) ; an,1 was limited to the hll.llds and feet, is also a (2) Contmuance, because oil preserves things point on which critics have disagreed, but one for II long time from corruption. Unetinn of no great importance. (See John xiii. 9, with the holy oil of the sanctulll"J no doubt 10.) further signified consecration to God's service. Vors. 5, 6.-The l1111estiture of Aa1'1m. It WIIB applied n.ot only to the priests, but to the tabernacle, the ark, the table of shew-bread Ver. 5.-Thou ■halt take the garmenta. with its vessels, the seven branched candle- The directions, as here given, a.re incomplete, stick, the altar of incense, the altar of bnmt 11.lld not quite in the right order. In the LXX. offering, and the ]aver, all of which thereupon they a.re still more incomplete. For the foll became" most holy" (eh. xxx. 26-29). process of investiture, we must look to Lev. viii. 7-9. There we find that the process included Vers. 8, 9.-The Imestiture of Aaron'• w,u nine o.cts.-1. The putting on of the linen tunic. 2. The girding with the under-girdle. Ver. 8.-Thou shalt bring his 1011& See 8. The putting on of the robe of the ephod. verse 4. They were to be bronght to the door 4. The putting on of the ephod. 5. The of the tabernacle. Put ooats upon them. The girding with the curious girdle of the ephod. investitnre of the high priest collSist.ed of nine 6. The putting on of the breast-plate. 7. The acts (see the comment on ver. 5); that of the potting into the breast-plate of the Urim and ordinary priests of three only. 1. The putting Thummim. 8. The putting on of the mitre. on of the linen tunics. 2. The girding with 9. The affixing to the mitre of the golden the girdles. 3. The putting on of the cap plate. They do not seem to have been anointed, as The second and seventh are omitted here ; Aaron was, by having the holy oil poured and the order of the fifth and sixth is inverted. upon their heads, but only by having some of Ver. 6.-The holy orown. The plate of it sprinkled upon their garments (ver. 21; gold with its blue ribbon, or lace, formed a Lev. viii. 30). species of diadem, snch as in the East seems Ver 9. -The bonnets. Rather "caps" to have been always regarded as the special There is no article. Thou ahalt oollSeera.te emblem of royalty. An ornament of the kind Aaron and his SODS, Literally, " Thou sbalt seems to have been introduced into Egypt by fill the Land of Aaron and the hand of his Khuenaten or A.menophis IV. It marked the sons." Installation in an office was nsually royal character of the high priest, who, as effected !IJilOllg the Eastern nations by putting the main type of Christ in the Mosaic law, into the hand of the official the insignia which was bonnd to be "Prophet, Priest, and King." marked his functions. In this particnlar case (Compare Lev. viii. 9.) cerl!!.in portions of the offerings were used as the insignia. See ver. 24. Ver. 7.-The Chrism or Anointing. Vers. 10--M.-The CIYlll!eCration Offeri111JB, Ver. 7.-The anointing oil had been men- tioned previonsly in eh. xxv. 6, when "spices" Ver. 10.- Thou ahalt cause a bullook to had been required from the congregation to be brought. Rather, "the bullock,"-i.e., ~orm a portion of it. Its composition is given "the bnllock mentioned in ver. I, which was m eh. xxx. 23-25; a passage from which we to be made ready before the ceremonies com- gather that it WIIB exceedingly rich and costly. menced." Aaron and his sons were to put And pour it npon his head. Compare Ps. their hands upon the head of the bullook, cxxxiii. 2. While ablution is a rite common in order to identify themselves with it, and to many religions, the religious use of unction transfer to it the guilt of their own sins o.nd is peculiar to the Mosaic and the Christian. imperfections, since it was to be a " sin-offer- In the Mosaic it was applied to initiate into ing" (ver. 14; compare Lev. iv. 4). their office the prophet, the priest, and the Ver 12.-Thou ahalt take of the blood. king. In Christianity it was origi.ually a and put it npon the horns of the altar. The rite by which sick persons were miraculously virtue of the altar was regarded as residing cured (Jas. v. 14, 15), from which use it was especially in its horns. Here expiation was afterwards extended by ecclesiastical authority obtained by the blood-" which is the life "- to other important ceremonies. The typical of the victim being first smeared upon the meaning under Christio.nity is clear ; the otl four horns, and then the remainder poured represents the Holy Spirit, and the anointing out at the altar's base. Such was the usuo.1 the outpouring of that Spirit on those who a.re practice with "sin-offerings" (Lev. iv 7) tho objects of it. Christ himself obtaiued his whereof this Will! to be the first exBillple 2!)6 THE BOOK OF EXODUS. [CR. XXIX. 13-2'.?.