Exodus 29:9

29:1-37 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,

And thou shalt gird them with girdles (Aaron and his sons),.... Aaron with the girdle of the ephod, and with the girdle of needlework, and his sons with common girdles made for them; all which showed what strength, diligence, and expedition were necessary for the discharge of their office: and put the bonnets on them; upon their heads, which differed only from the high priest's mitre in the manner of rolling or wrapping, as has been observed on Exodus 28:39, and the priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute; that is, shall descend from father to son in Aaron's family throughout all generations, until the Messiah should come; who would be a priest of another order, and put an end to the Aaronic priesthood, by fulfilling what that was a type of, and so abolishing it: and thou shall consecrate Aaron and his sons; or "fill the hand of them"; that is, with sacrifices to offer for themselves and others; see Gill on Exodus 28:41. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan are,"shall offer the offering of Aaron, and the offering of his sons,''of which there is an after account, and was one part of their consecration.

Verse 9. - The bonnets . Rather "caps." There is no article. Thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons. Literally, "Thou shalt fill the hand of Aaron and the hand of his sons." Installation in an office was usually effected among the Eastern nations by putting into the hand of the official the insignia which marked his functions. In this particular case certain portions of the offerings were used as the insignia. See ver. 24. Exodus 29:9

41 . An anticipation of Exodus 29:1 a, 5–9, not very exactly expressed; for the garments for Aaron and his ‘sons’ were not in all cases the same ( v. 40). The words, and shalt anoint them , are probably a later addition; for Exodus 29:7 , like Leviticus 8:12 , speaks only of Aaron himself, and not his ‘sons’ also, as being anointed: see on Exodus 30:30 . consecrate them ] install them would be a more distinctive rendering. The Heb. is lit. fill their hand , a technical term for install or institute to a priestly office—originally, perhaps, meaning to fill the priest’s hand with the first sacrifices (cf. Exodus 29:24 ; and see Moore, Judges , p. 380)—occurring also Jdg 17:5 ; Jdg 17:12 , Exodus 32:29 (fig.), Ezekiel 43:26 (fig. of altar ); Exodus 29:9 ; Exodus 29:29 ; Exodus 29:33 ; Exodus 29:35 , Leviticus 8:33 ; Leviticus 16:32 ; Leviticus 21:10 , Numbers 3:3 (all P); 2 Chronicles 13:9 ; also (fig.) 1 Chronicles 29:5 , 2 Chronicles 29:31 . Cf. also Exodus 29:22 ‘the ram of installation ’ (lit. of filling ).

4-9. Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle—as occupying the intermediate space between the court where the people stood, and the dwelling-place of Israel's king, and therefore the fittest spot for the priests being duly prepared for entrance, and the people witnessing the ceremony of inauguration. wash them with water. And … take the garments—The manner in which these parts of the ceremonial were performed is minutely described, and in discovering their symbolical import, which indeed, is sufficiently plain and obvious, we have inspired authority to guide us. It signified the necessity and importance of moral purity or holiness (Isa 52:11; Joh 13:10; 2Co 7:1; 1Pe 3:21). In like manner, the investiture with the holy garments signified their being clothed with righteousness (Re 19:8) and equipped as men active and well-prepared for the service of God; the anointing the high priest with oil denoted that he was to be filled with the influences of the Spirit, for the edification and delight of the church (Le 10:7; Ps 45:7; Isa 61:1; 1Jo 2:27), and as he was officially a type of Christ (Heb 7:26; Joh 3:34; also Mt 3:16; 11:29).

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 Leviticus 1-7 . It will be more advisable therefore to defer the examination of this ceremony till we come to Leviticus 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 Exodus 29:36 and Exodus 29:37 , and carried out in Leviticus 8:11 .

26 . The ceremonial of consecrating the altar lasts seven days. On to “purge” cf. Ezekiel 43:20 . consecrate themselves ] consecrate it , i.e. the altar, lit. fill its hand (or, hands). The phrase is properly said of the priests, to install; here of the altar, to inaugurate it. Originally the expression had probably a literal meaning, to put the things to be offered into the hands of the priests ( Leviticus 8:25 seq .), but later it came to be used generally in the sense of initiate, consecrate ( Exodus 28:41 ; Exodus 29:9 ; Exodus 29:29 ; Exodus 29:33 ; Exodus 29:35 ; Leviticus 7:37 ; Numbers 3:3 ; Jdg 17:5 ; Jdg 17:12 ), cf. Exodus 32:29 . Wellh. Hist . p. 152, argues that the priest’s hand was originally “filled” with money (Judges 17). The phrase “fill the hand” of one appears also in the general meaning “to invest with office” in Assyrian; Fd. Del. Heb. Lang . p. 20, Prolegomena , p. 48. In all the above passage it is the altar not the priests that is consecrated. The consecration of the altar appears to carry with it that of the whole sanctuary. The altar needs atonement not because it is a work of human hands, but because it belongs to the things of the world. The sin of the world has defiled all things, penetrating even to the precincts of that where Jehovah abides as he is in himself ( Hebrews 9:23 ).

Verse 31. - Ye have consecrated yourselves . The Hebrew text is (with the margin of both Authorized and Revised Versions), "have filled your hands to Jehovah." Our somewhat awkward and somewhat misleading reproduction in English of the Hebrew text is, nevertheless, on the whole defensible. The phrase occurs some seventeen times ( Exodus 28:41 ; Exodus 29:9, 29, 33, 35 ; Exodus 32:29 ; Leviticus 8:33 ; Leviticus 16:32 ; Leviticus 21:10 ; Numbers 3:3 ; Judges 17:5, 12 ; 1 Kings 13:33 ; 1 Chronicles 29:5 ; 2 Chronicles 13:9 ; Ezekiel 43:26 ), and in some of these instances is most conveniently represented by the rendering "consecrate." The plural noun הַמִּלֻאִים , or חַמִּלוּאִיִם , is found thirteen times, in three of which places it is spoken of "stones to be set," as e.g. "for" or "in the ephod" ( Exodus 25:7 ; Exodus 35:9, 27 ; 1 Chronicles 29:2 ); and in the other ten, of "consecration," as e.g. "a ram of consecration," "the ram of Aaron's consecration" ( Exodus 29:22, 26, 27, 31, 34 ; Leviticus 7:37 ; Leviticus 8:22, 28, 29, 31, 33 ). Some think our text, "Now ye have consecrated yourselves," glances at the sacrifices of a propitiatory sort, which had just been completed; others, that the reference is by anticipation - to the fact that the people invited to draw near had, in an honourable, holy, and sincerely devoted way, armed themselves with worthy offerings.