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On the eighth day, Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel;
Verse 1. Come. From the consecration of the tabernacle, ( Menochius.) and of Aaron.—Israel. The princes of the tribes. Calmet.—They were to offer sacrifice by the hands of their new priests.
and he said to Aaron, “Take a calf from the herd for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without defect, and offer them before the LORD.
Verse 2. Calf. As they had formerly adored a calf, so now they sacrifice one to God. Saint Jerome in Jer. vii.
You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both a year old, without defect, for a burnt offering;
Verse 3. Children. Sam. and Septuagint “the ancients,” or princes of the people, for whom a he-goat is sacrificed.—Old. Not above, though they might be younger.
and a bull and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD; and a meal offering mixed with oil: for today the LORD appears to you.’”
Verse 4. Offering, and so forth Hebrew simply, “and a flour-offering tempered with oil; for,” and so forth Bible.—All these sacrifices were accompanied with an offering of this nature, as they were in imitation of a dinner presented to God. Menochius.—You. By the cloud, resting upon the tabernacle, or by fire proceeding thence. God will manifest his presence by miracles, verse 24.
They brought what Moses commanded before the Tent of Meeting. All the congregation came near and stood before the LORD.
Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD commanded that you should do; and the LORD’s glory shall appear to you.”
Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar, and offer your sin offering, and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself, and for the people; and offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as the LORD commanded.”
Verse 7. Thy sin. Christ needed not daily (as the other priests) to offer sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s. Hebrews 7:27.
So Aaron came near to the altar, and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself.
The sons of Aaron presented the blood to him; and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar;
Verse 9. The altar of holocausts; as he is yet considered only as a private person; afterwards he touches the altar of perfumes. Calmet.
but the fat, and the kidneys, and the cover from the liver of the sin offering, he burned upon the altar, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Verse 10. Burnt, or placed in order to be burnt by the fire sent by God, verse 24. Menochius.
The meat and the skin he burned with fire outside the camp.
Verse 11. Camp. According to the prescriptions given. Calmet. 4:12.
He killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons delivered the blood to him, and he sprinkled it around on the altar.
They delivered the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head. He burned them upon the altar.
He washed the innards and the legs, and burned them on the burnt offering on the altar.
Verse 14. Water. Hebrew adds, “he burnt them upon the holocaust, upon the altar.”
He presented the people’s offering, and took the goat of the sin offering which was for the people, and killed it, and offered it for sin, like the first.
Verse 15. And expiating the altar. Hebrew “he offered it (the goat) for sin, as the first,” for himself, placing the parts of the victim upon his own holocaust. Bible.—The Chaldee says, “he expiated the altar with the blood of the he-goat, as he did before.”
He presented the burnt offering, and offered it according to the ordinance.
He presented the meal offering, and filled his hand from there, and burned it upon the altar, in addition to the burnt offering of the morning.
Verse 17. Holocaust. Which were religiously observed every day. The law respecting the libations was given already, though it be related, Numbers 15:4. Menochius.
He also killed the bull and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people. Aaron’s sons delivered to him the blood, which he sprinkled around on the altar;
and the fat of the bull and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covers the innards, and the kidneys, and the cover of the liver;
and they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burned the fat on the altar.
Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh for a wave offering before the LORD, as Moses commanded.
Verse 21. Elevating them. After which they were used by the priest, Calmet. 7:31. Calmet.—As. Samar. and some Hebrew MSS. read, “as the Lord had commanded Moses.” Kennic.
Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people, and blessed them; and he came down from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.
Verse 22. Hands. Thus representing the form of a cross, on which Christ redeemed us; in memory of which we still make the same sign. Worthington.—Them. The blessing is recorded, Numbers 6:24. And the Lord bless thee, and so forth Menochius.—In blessing an individual, the priest laid his hands upon him; but he stretched them out towards the multitude, as a mark of superiority.
Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and came out, and blessed the people; and the LORD’s glory appeared to all the people.
Verse 23. Testimony. To offer incense, which always preceded the morning holocaust.—Glory; or fire, probably issuing from the tabernacle, and consuming the victims in a moment. Thus God was pleased to shew his approbation of the priests and victims, ( Calmet.) and at the same time, to impress a religious awe upon the minds of the spectators. Bible.—This fire was carefully preserved and nourished by the priests with wood; though the Rabbins say, this was done only to conceal the miracle of its perpetual continuance. A fire of the same nature, came down upon the victims, when Solomon dedicated his temple, (2 Chronicles 7:1,) and was kept burning till the captivity, when it was hidden in a cistern. Being found afterwards, like a muddy water, God rekindled it again, (2 Macc. 1:18. 2:10,) and it was not lost till the persecution of Epiphanes.
Fire came out from before the LORD, and consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces.
Verse 24. The Lord: 2 Maccabees 2:10, explains this text. Fire came down from heaven, appearing like a flash of lightning, in the midst of the victims. Jos. Ant. iii. 9. Calmet.