And they shall be upon Aaron and upon his sons
Not the linen breeches only, but all the other garments:
when they come into the tabernacle of the
congregation;
even into that part of it where the people assembled, the court
of the tabernacle, and where stood the altar of burnt offering,
on which they offered the sacrifices of the people, but never
without the priestly garments on:
or when they came near unto the altar to minister in the
holy place;
at the altar of incense which stood there; or when they came to
trim the lamps of the candlestick, and set the shewbread on the
table, and take away the old, which candlestick and shewbread
table were both in the holy place,
that they bear not iniquity and die;
be guilty of sin in not having their priestly garments on in time
of service, and so bear the punishment of it and die for it; the
Targum of Jonathan adds, with flaming fire, with fire from
heaven, such as Nadab and Abihu were afterwards consumed with; an
high priest that had not the eight garments on, or a common
priest that had not his four garments, his service was illegal
and rejected, and he was guilty of death by the hand of heaven,
as Maimonides F19 says; that is, he was deserving of
immediate death from the hand of God, and might expect it:
it shall be a statute for ever unto him, and his seed after
him;
as long as the Aaronic priesthood continued, until Christ should
arise, made an high priest, not after the order of Aaron, but
after the order of Melchizedek, and should put an end to the
priesthood of the former, by answering and fulfilling all the
types and shadows of it; this respects all that is said in this
chapter concerning the vestments of the priests, one and another.
F19 Cele Hamikdash, c. 10. sect. 4, 5.