Exodus29
New American Standard
1“Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them to serve as priests to Me: take one bull and two rams without blemish,
2and unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour.
3And you shall put them in one basket, and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams.
4Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.
5And you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod and the breastpiece, and wrap his waist with the skillfully woven band of the ephod;
6and you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban.
7Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head, and anoint him.
8You shall also bring his sons and put tunics on them.
9And you shall wrap their waists with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and fit caps on them, and they shall have the priesthood by a permanent statute. So you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.
10“Then you shall bring the bull in front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull.
11And you shall slaughter the bull before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
12Then you shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.
13And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar.
14But the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
15“You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram;
16and you shall slaughter the ram and take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar.
17Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head.
18And you shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord: it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
19“Then you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.
20And you shall 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 sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar.
21Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
22“You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination),
23and one loaf of bread, and one cake of bread mixed with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before the Lord;
24and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.
25Then you shall take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.
26“Then you shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of ordination, and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion.
27You shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution which was waved and which was offered from the ram of ordination, from the one which was for Aaron and from the one which was for his sons.
28It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the sons of Israel, for it is a contribution; and it shall be a contribution from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, their contribution to the Lord.
29“The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, so that they may be anointed and ordained in them.
30For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his place shall put them on when he enters the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place.
31“Now you shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place.
32Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
33So they shall eat those things by which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration; but a layman shall not eat them, because they are holy.
34And if any of the flesh of ordination or any of the bread remains until morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
35“So you shall do for Aaron and for his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you shall ordain them for seven days.
36Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to consecrate it.
37For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
38“Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one-year-old lambs each day, continuously.
39The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight;
40and there shall be a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with one lamb.
41The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
42It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.
43I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory.
44I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve as priests to Me.
45And I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God.
46And they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Exodus 29.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The sacrifice and ceremony for the consecration of the priests. (1–37). The continual burnt-offerings, God's promise to dwell among Israel. (38–46).
vv1-37
Aaron and his sons were to be set apart for the priest's office, with ceremony and solemnity. Our Lord Jesus is the great High Priest of our profession, called of God to be so; anointed with the Spirit, whence he is called Messiah, the Christ; clothed with glory and beauty; sanctified by his own blood; made perfect, or consecrated through sufferings, Heb 2:10. All believers are spiritual priests, to offer spiritual sacrifices, 1Pe 2:5, washed in the blood of Christ, and so made to our God priests, Re 1:5, 6. They also are clothed with the beauty of holiness, and have received the anointing, 1Jo 2:27. The Spirit of God is called the finger of God, (Lu 11:20, compared with Mt 12:28,) and by him the merit of Christ is applied to our souls. This consecration signifies the admission of a sinner into the spiritual priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
vv38-46
A lamb was to be offered upon the altar every morning, and a lamb every evening. This typified the continual intercession which Christ ever lives to make for his church. Though he offered himself but once for all, that one offering thus becomes a continual offering. This also teaches us to offer to God the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise every day, morning and evening. Our daily devotions are the most needful of our daily works, and the most pleasant of our daily comforts. Prayer-time must be kept up as duly as meal-time. Those starve their own souls, who keep not up constant attendance on the throne of grace; constancy in religion brings in the comfort of it.
Key Words
אֲשֶׁר: who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
עָשָׂה: to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application
קָדַשׁ: to be (causatively, make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally)
כָּהַן: to officiate as a priest; figuratively, to put on regalia
לָקַח: to take (in the widest variety of applications)
אֶחָד: properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first
פַּר: a bullock (apparently as breaking forth in wild strength, or perhaps as dividing the hoof)
בָּקָר: beef cattle or an animal of the ox family of either gender (as used for plowing); collectively, a herd
שְׁנַיִם: two; also (as ordinal) twofold
אַיִל: properly, strength; hence, anything strong; specifically a chief (politically); also a ram (from his strength); a pilaster (as a strong support); an oak or other strong tree
Cross References
Exodus 29The burning of the sin offering bullock outside the camp prefigures Christ's suffering outside the gate.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The historical fulfillment of sprinkling the anointing oil and blood on Aaron and his garments.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Explicit parallel of God's promise to meet and speak with Israel there.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The historical fulfillment and enactment of these very consecration rites by Moses.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Describes the oil poured on Aaron's head, running down his beard, signifying the Spirit's abundance.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The anointing of the priest typifies Christ being anointed with the Holy Spirit for ministry.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Contrast between earthly priests offering daily sacrifices and Christ's once-for-all perfect sacrifice.
Supported by JFB
Jesus references this law, confirming that the altar is what sanctifies the gift placed upon it.
Supported by JFB
The parallel liturgical law detailing the morning and evening continual burnt offerings.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The historical fulfillment where the tabernacle was sanctified by God's glory.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The ultimate eschatological fulfillment of God dwelling with His people.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Paul cites the promise of God dwelling in them to describe the church.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Washing with water signifies the absolute necessity of spiritual cleansing before serving God.
Supported by JFB
Laying hands on the sacrifice's head to confess sin and transfer guilt.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The burnt offering's sweet savor typifies Christ's offering of Himself as a sweet-smelling savor.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Identical ritual of applying blood to the right ear, thumb, and toe for cleansing.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Celebrates the precious anointing oil running down Aaron's head onto his priestly garments.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Moses takes the breast of the ram of consecration as his portion, just as commanded.
Supported by JFB
The general statute reserving the wave breast and heave shoulder of peace offerings for the priests.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Moses executes the command to boil the ram of consecration and eat it at the tabernacle door.
Supported by JFB
The spiritual application of the daily sacrifices, equating prayer with the evening incense and sacrifice.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Daniel refers to the 'evening oblation', showing the continuity of this practice.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The evening sacrifice as a type of the believer's daily prayers.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Confirms the continual burnt offering was ordained in Mount Sinai.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Pentateuchal parallel reiterating the promise to walk and dwell among Israel.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Contrasts the imperfect, sinful Levitical priests who needed sacrifices with our holy, undefiled High Priest.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Unleavened bread signifies sincerity and truth, typified by Christ's freedom from all malice.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Identifies the holy crown placed upon the mitre as the engraved plate of gold.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Explains that according to the law, almost all things are purged and dedicated with blood.
Supported by Matthew Poole, Matthew Henry
The literal transfer of Aaron's holy garments to his son Eleazar at his death.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Confirms that holy food is reserved exclusively for Aaron and his sons to eat in a holy place.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Further instructions on the meeting place before the testimony.
Identifies the tabernacle as the place where God meets with Moses.
Believers are washed in Christ's blood to become a spiritual priesthood.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The foundational covenant formula: 'I will be to you a God'.
Believers are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.