Exodus 29

Consecration of the Priests

1 “Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish, ¹

2 along with unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. Make them out of fine wheat flour,

3 put them in a basket, and present them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams.

4 Then present Aaron and his sons at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water.

5 Take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself, and the breastplate. Fasten the ephod on him with its woven waistband.

6 Put the turban on his head and attach the holy diadem to the turban.

7 Then take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head.

8 Present his sons as well and clothe them with tunics.

9 Wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and tie headbands on them. The priesthood shall be theirs by a permanent statute. In this way you are to ordain Aaron and his sons.

The Order of the Sacrifices

10 You are to present the bull at the front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head. ²

11 And you shall slaughter the bull before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

12 Take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

13 Take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.

14 But burn the flesh of the bull and its hide and dung outside the camp; it is a sin offering. ^[a]

15 Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.

16 You are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and splatter it on all sides of the altar.

17 Cut the ram into pieces, wash the entrails and legs, and place them with its head and other pieces.

18 Then burn the entire ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

19 Take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head.

20 Slaughter the ram, take some of its blood, and put it on the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the remaining blood on all sides of the altar.

21 And take some of the blood on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, as well as on his sons and their garments. Then he and his garments will be consecrated, as well as his sons and their garments.

22 Take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the lobe of the liver, both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh (since this is a ram for ordination),

23 along with one loaf of bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD.

24 Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and wave them before the LORD as a wave offering.

25 Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar atop the burnt offering as a pleasing aroma before the LORD; it is a food offering to the LORD.

26 Take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it before the LORD as a wave offering, and it will be your portion.

27 Consecrate for Aaron and his sons the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the heave offering that is lifted up from the ram of ordination.

28 This will belong to Aaron and his sons as a regular portion from the Israelites, for it is the heave offering the Israelites will make to the LORD from their peace offerings.

29 The holy garments that belong to Aaron will belong to his sons after him, so they can be anointed and ordained in them.

30 The son who succeeds him as priest and enters the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place must wear them for seven days.

Food for the Priests

31 You are to take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place.

32 At the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket.

33 They must eat those things by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no outsider may eat them, because these things are sacred.

34 And if any of the meat of ordination or any bread is left until the morning, you are to burn up the remainder. It must not be eaten, because it is sacred.

35 This is what you are to do for Aaron and his sons based on all that I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them.

36 Sacrifice a bull as a sin offering each day for atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.

37 For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will become most holy; whatever touches the altar will be holy.

The Daily Offerings

38 This is what you are to offer regularly on the altar, each day: two lambs that are a year old. ³

39 Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight. ^[b]

40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, ^[c] mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives, ^[d] and a drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.

41 And offer the second lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and drink offering as in the morning, as a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

42 For the generations to come, this burnt offering shall be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, where I will meet you to speak with you.

43 I will also meet with the Israelites there, and that place will be consecrated by My glory.

44 So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests.

God Will Dwell among the People

45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.

46 And they will 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.

Exodus 29 Commentary

Chapter 29

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)

Verses 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, ( Hebrews 2:10 ) . All believers are spiritual priests, to offer spiritual sacrifices, ( 1 Peter. 2:5 ) priests, ( revelation 1:5 revelation 1:6 ) . They also are clothed with the beauty of ( 1 John. 2:27 ) Spirit of God is called the finger of God, ( ( Luke 11:20 ) , compared with ( Matthew 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.

Verses 38-46 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

• 1. (Leviticus 8:1–13)
• 2. (Leviticus 8:22–36)
• 3. (Numbers 28:1–8)

Footnotes

• [a]. Or purification offering; also in verse 36
• [b]. Hebrew between the two evenings; also in verse 41
• [c]. A tenth of an ephah is approximately 2 dry quarts or 2.2 liters (probably about 2.6 pounds or 1.2 kilograms of flour).
• [d]. Hebrew a quarter hin of pressed oil; that is, approximately 0.97 quarts or 0.92 liters

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 29

This chapter gives an account of the form and order of the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priestly office; preparatory to which Moses is ordered to take a young bullock, two rams, bread, cakes, and wafers unleavened, and bring them and Aaron and his sons to the door of the congregation, where the ceremony was to be publicly performed, and which began with washing them, Ex 29:1-4 and then proceeded by putting on the priestly garments directed to be made in the preceding chapter, first on Aaron, who also was anointed, Ex 29:5-7 and then upon his sons, Ex 29:8,9 after which the bullock and the two rams were to be slain, and orders are given what was to be done with their blood, and the several parts of them, as well as with the cakes and wafers, Ex 29:10-23 and directions are given to make these wave and heave offerings, Ex 29:24-28 and that the garments of Aaron's should be his son's that succeeded him, Ex 29:29,30, and that the flesh of the ram of consecration with the bread should be eaten by Aaron and his sons and no other, Ex 29:31-35, the altar also where they were to officiate was to be cleansed, sanctified, and an atonement made for it, Ex 29:36,37 after which two lambs every day, morning and evening, were to be offered on it in all succeeding generations, Ex 29:38-42, and the chapter is closed with a promise that the Lord would meet with the children of Israel at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and would sanctify the tabernacle, and dwell among them, and be their God, Ex 29:43-46.