Exodus 29NKJV
Books
All books

Exodus29

New King James Version

1“And this is what you shall do to them to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests: Take one young bull and two rams without blemish,

2and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil (you shall make them of wheat flour).

3You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams.

4“And Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall wash them with water.

5Then you shall take the garments, put the tunic on Aaron, and the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the intricately woven band of the ephod.

6You shall put the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban.

7And you shall take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him.

8Then you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them.

9And you shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the hats on them. The priesthood shall be theirs for a perpetual statute. So you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.

10“You shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull.

11Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

12You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the base of the altar.

13And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.

14But the flesh of the bull, with its skin and its offal, you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

15“You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram;

16and you shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it all around on the altar.

17Then you shall cut the ram in pieces, wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and with its head.

18And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

19“You shall also take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram.

20Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar.

21And 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, on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him; and he and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

22“Also you shall take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration),

23one loaf of bread, one cake made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord;

24and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and you shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.

25You shall receive them back from their hands and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

26“Then you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion.

27And from the ram of the consecration you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering which is waved, and the thigh of the heave offering which is raised, of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons.

28It shall be from the children of Israel for Aaron and his sons by a statute forever. For it is a heave offering; it shall be a heave offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, that is, their heave offering to the Lord.

29“And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed in them and to be consecrated in them.

30That son who becomes priest in his place shall put them on for seven days, when he enters the tabernacle of meeting to minister in the holy place.

31“And you shall take the ram of the consecration and boil its flesh in the holy place.

32Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

33They shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy.

34And if any of the flesh of the consecration offerings, 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.

35“Thus you shall do to Aaron and his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Seven days you shall consecrate them.

36And you shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it.

37Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it. And the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar must be holy.

38“Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs of the first year, day by day continually.

39One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.

40With the one lamb shall be one-tenth of an ephah of flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of pressed oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering.

41And the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; and you shall offer with it the grain offering and the drink offering, as in the morning, for a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

42This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak with you.

43And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory.

44So I will consecrate the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me as priests.

45I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.

46And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Exodus 29.

Full AI study →

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.

Cross References

Exodus 29
v14Hebrews 13:11-13typology

The burning of the sin offering bullock outside the camp prefigures Christ's suffering outside the gate.

Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB

v21Leviticus 8:30fulfillment

The historical fulfillment of sprinkling the anointing oil and blood on Aaron and his garments.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v42Exodus 25:22thematic

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

v7Psalms 133:2thematic

Describes the oil poured on Aaron's head, running down his beard, signifying the Spirit's abundance.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v7Isaiah 61:1typology

The anointing of the priest typifies Christ being anointed with the Holy Spirit for ministry.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v36Hebrews 7:27typology

Contrast between earthly priests offering daily sacrifices and Christ's once-for-all perfect sacrifice.

Supported by JFB

v37Matthew 23:19allusion

Jesus references this law, confirming that the altar is what sanctifies the gift placed upon it.

Supported by JFB

v38Numbers 28:3-8thematic

The parallel liturgical law detailing the morning and evening continual burnt offerings.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v43Exodus 40:34fulfillment

The historical fulfillment where the tabernacle was sanctified by God's glory.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v45Revelation 21:3fulfillment

The ultimate eschatological fulfillment of God dwelling with His people.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v452 Corinthians 6:16fulfillment

Paul cites the promise of God dwelling in them to describe the church.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v4John 13:8-10typology

Washing with water signifies the absolute necessity of spiritual cleansing before serving God.

Supported by JFB

v10Leviticus 16:21thematic

Laying hands on the sacrifice's head to confess sin and transfer guilt.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v18Ephesians 5:2typology

The burnt offering's sweet savor typifies Christ's offering of Himself as a sweet-smelling savor.

Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB

v20Leviticus 14:14thematic

Identical ritual of applying blood to the right ear, thumb, and toe for cleansing.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v21Psalms 133:2allusion

Celebrates the precious anointing oil running down Aaron's head onto his priestly garments.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v26Leviticus 8:29fulfillment

Moses takes the breast of the ram of consecration as his portion, just as commanded.

Supported by JFB

v28Leviticus 7:34thematic

The general statute reserving the wave breast and heave shoulder of peace offerings for the priests.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v31Leviticus 8:31fulfillment

Moses executes the command to boil the ram of consecration and eat it at the tabernacle door.

Supported by JFB

v39Psalms 141:2thematic

The spiritual application of the daily sacrifices, equating prayer with the evening incense and sacrifice.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v41Daniel 9:21thematic

Daniel refers to the 'evening oblation', showing the continuity of this practice.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v41Psalms 141:2typology

The evening sacrifice as a type of the believer's daily prayers.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v42Numbers 28:6thematic

Confirms the continual burnt offering was ordained in Mount Sinai.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v45Leviticus 26:12thematic

Pentateuchal parallel reiterating the promise to walk and dwell among Israel.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v1Hebrews 7:26contrast

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

v6Exodus 28:36-39thematic

Identifies the holy crown placed upon the mitre as the engraved plate of gold.

Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin

v21Hebrews 9:22typology

Explains that according to the law, almost all things are purged and dedicated with blood.

Supported by Matthew Poole, Matthew Henry

v29Numbers 20:26-28thematic

The literal transfer of Aaron's holy garments to his son Eleazar at his death.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v32Leviticus 24:9thematic

Confirms that holy food is reserved exclusively for Aaron and his sons to eat in a holy place.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v42Exodus 30:36thematic

Further instructions on the meeting place before the testimony.

v42Numbers 17:4thematic

Identifies the tabernacle as the place where God meets with Moses.

v44Revelation 1:5typology

Believers are washed in Christ's blood to become a spiritual priesthood.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v45Exodus 6:7thematic

The foundational covenant formula: 'I will be to you a God'.

v45Ephesians 2:22typology

Believers are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.