Exodus 29:20

20 Then shalt thou kill the ram and take of his blood and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron and upon the tip of the right ears of his sons and upon the thumb of their right hands and upon the great toe of their right feet and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.

Exodus 29:20 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 29:20

Then shall thou kill the ram
As the other:

and take of his blood,
some part of it being received into a basin:

and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of
the right ear of his sons;
according to Jarchi, this is the middle gristle within the ear; but Saadiah more rightly says it is the tender part which joins to the orb of the ear. The blood was put upon this part to sanctify it, and cleanse from sins that come thereby, and to teach the high priest that he ought attentively to listen to what should be said unto him of the Lord, that he might faithfully report it to the people; and as our great High Priest had his ear opened and awakened, to hear as the learned; and happy are his people who have ears to hear the joyful sound, and take pleasure in it, and who are cleansed from their hearing sins, by his precious blood:

and upon the thumb of their right hand;
on the middle joint of it, as Jarchi:

and upon the great toe of the right foot;
the hands and fingers being the instruments of action, and the feet and toes of walking, show that the life and conversation of the priests of the Lord ought to be pure and holy, and so their antitype perfectly was; and whereas there is imperfection in all the actions, and even in the best righteousness of the saints, and their walk and conversation is not without sin, they have need to have them sprinkled with, and their conversation garments washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb:

and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about;
as was done with the blood of the other ram, ( Exodus 29:16 ) .

Exodus 29:20 In-Context

18 And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering on fire unto the LORD.
19 And thou shalt take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.
20 Then shalt thou kill the ram and take of his blood and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron and upon the tip of the right ears of his sons and upon the thumb of their right hands and upon the great toe of their right feet and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.
21 And thou shalt take of the blood that shall be upon the altar and of the anointing oil and sprinkle it upon Aaron and upon his garments and upon his sons and upon their garments, and he shall be sanctified, and his garments and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
22 Then thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the tail and the fat that covers the intestines and the caul above the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them and the right shoulder, for it is a ram of consecrations,
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010