Leviticus 8 Footnotes

8:1 Nearly every verse in chap. 8 is an adaptation of commands given in Ex 29. The family of Aaron needed to maintain a level of purity and ceremonial cleanness beyond that of their fellow worshipers, although Israel as a whole was to be “my kingdom of priests and my holy nation” (Ex 19:6; see 1Pt 2:9).

8:8 The “Urim and Thummim” are mentioned in Scripture in only six other places (Ex 28:30; Nm 27:21; Dt 33:8; 1Sm 28:6; Ezr 2:63; Neh 7:65). They may have been flat stones, similar to the puru used in Mesopotamia, and attested in Hebrew as purim (“lots”) in Esther (see Est 9:24-26). Archaeological excavations have recovered such objects from non-Israelite sanctuary sites. The Urim and Thummim may have functioned like dice in determining God’s will. Rabbinic tradition dates the cessation of their use to the time of David and Solomon.