Exodus 29

1 And these are the things which thou shalt do to them: thou shalt sanctify them, so that they shall serve me in the priesthood; and thou shalt take one young calf from the herd, and two unblemished rams;
2 and unleavened loaves kneaded with oil, and unleavened cakes anointed with oil: thou shalt make them fine flour of wheat.
3 And thou shalt put them on one basket, and thou shalt offer them on the basket, and the young calf and the two rams.
4 And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons to the doors of the tabernacle of testimony, and thou shalt wash them with water.
5 And having taken the garments, thou shalt put on Aaron thy brother both the full-length robe and the ephod and the oracle; and thou shalt join for him the oracle to the ephod.
6 And thou shalt put the mitre on his head; and thou shalt put the plate, the Holiness, on the mitre.
7 And thou shalt take of the anointing oil, and thou shalt pour it on his head, and shalt anoint him,
8 and thou shalt bring his sons, and put garments on them.
9 And thou shalt gird them with the girdles, and put the tires upon them, and they shall have a priestly office to me for ever; and thou shalt fill the hands of Aaron and the hands of his sons.
10 And thou shalt bring the calf to the door of the tabernacle of witness; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the calf, before the Lord, by the doors of the tabernacle of witness.
11 And thou shalt slay the calf before the Lord, by the doors of the tabernacle of witness.
12 And thou shalt take of the blood of the calf, and put it on the horns of the altar with thy finger, but all the rest of the blood thou shalt pour out at the foot of the altar.
13 And thou shalt take all the fat that is on the belly, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and shalt put them upon the altar.
14 But the flesh of the calf, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp; for it is an of sin.
15 And thou shalt take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.
16 And thou shalt kill it, and take the blood and pour it on the altar round about.
17 And thou shalt divide the ram by his several limbs, and thou shalt wash the inward parts and the feet with water, and thou shalt put them on the divided parts with the head.
18 And thou shalt offer the whole ram on the altar, a whole burnt-offering to the Lord for a sweet-smelling savour: it is an offering of incense to the Lord.
19 And thou shalt take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.
20 And thou shalt kill it, and take of the blood of it, and put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot, and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the great toes of their right feet.
21 And thou shalt take of the blood from the altar, and of the anointing oil; and thou shalt sprinkle it upon Aaron and on his garments, and on his sons and on his sons' garments with him; and he shall be sanctified and his apparel, and his sons and his sons' apparel with him: but the blood of the ram thou shalt pour round about upon the altar.
22 And thou shalt take from the ram its fat, both the fat that covers the belly, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder, for this is a consecration.
23 And one cake with oil, and one cake from the basket of unleavened bread set forth before the Lord.
24 And thou shalt put them all on the hands of Aaron, and on the hands of his sons, and thou shalt separate them as a separate offering before the Lord.
25 And thou shalt take them from their hands, and shalt offer them up on the altar of whole burnt-offering for a sweet-smelling savour before the Lord: it is an offering to the Lord.
26 And thou shalt take the breast from the ram of consecration which is Aaron's, and thou shalt separate it as a separate offering before the Lord, and it shall be to thee for a portion.
27 And thou shalt sanctify the separated breast and the shoulder of removal which has been separated, and which has been removed from the ram of consecration, of the portion of Aaron and of his sons.
28 And it shall be a perpetual statute of the children of Israel to Aaron and his sons, for this is a separate offering; and it shall be a special offering from the children of Israel, from the peace-offerings of the children of Israel, a special offering to the Lord.
29 And the apparel of the sanctuary which is Aaron's shall be his son's after him, for them to be anointed in them, and to fill their hands.
30 The priest his successor from among his sons who shall go into the tabernacle of witness to minister in the holies, shall put them on seven days.
31 And thou shalt take the ram of consecration, and thou shalt boil the flesh in the holy place.
32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the loaves in the basket, by the doors of the tabernacle of witness.
33 They shall eat the offerings with which they were sanctified to fill their hands, to sanctify them; and a stranger shall not eat of them, for they are holy.
34 And if be left of the flesh of the sacrifice of consecration and of the loaves until the morning, thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, for it is a holy thing.
35 And thus shalt thou do for Aaron and for his sons according to all things that I have commanded thee; seven days shalt thou fill their hands.
36 And thou shalt sacrifice the calf of the sin-offering on the day of purification, and thou shalt purify the altar when thou dost perform consecration upon it, and thou shalt anoint it so as to sanctify it.
37 Seven days shalt thou purify the altar and sanctify it; and the altar shall be most holy, every one that touches the altar shall be hallowed.
38 And these are the offerings which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two unblemished lambs of a year old daily on the altar continually, a constant offering.
39 One lamb thou shalt offer in the morning, and the second lamb thou shalt offer in the evening.
40 And a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil, and a drink-offering the fourth part of a hin of wine for one lamb.
41 And thou shalt offer the second lamb in the evening, after the manner of the morning-offering, and according to the drink-offering of the morning lamb; thou shalt offer it an offering to the Lord for a sweet-smelling savour,
42 a perpetual sacrifice throughout your generations, at the door of the tabernacle of witness before the Lord; wherein I will be known to thee from thence, so as to speak to thee.
43 And I will there give orders to the children of Israel, and I will be sanctified in my glory.
44 And I will sanctify the tabernacle of testimony and the altar, and I will sanctify Aaron and his sons, to minister as priests to me.
45 And I will be called upon among the children of Israel, and will be their God.
46 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, to be called upon by them, and to be 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.

Footnotes 9

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.

Exodus 29 Commentaries

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.