Exodus 29:45-46

29:45 I will reside ¹  among the Israelites, and I will be their God, 29:46 and they will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt, so that I may reside among them. I am the Lord their God.

Exodus 29:1

The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons

29:1 ² “Now this is what ³  you are to do for them to consecrate them so that they may minister as my priests. Take a young ⁴  bull and two rams without blemish; ⁵ 

Exodus 8:27

8:27 We must go ⁶  on a three-day journey ⁷  into the desert and sacrifice ⁸  to the Lord our God, just as he is telling us.” ⁹ 

Psalms 68:18

68:18 You ascend on high, ¹⁰ 

you have taken many captives. ¹¹ 

You receive tribute ¹²  from ¹³  men,

including even sinful rebels.

Indeed the Lord God lives there! ¹⁴ 

Psalms 113:5-6

113:5 Who can compare to the Lord our God,

who sits on a high throne? ¹⁵ 

113:6 He bends down to look ¹⁶ 

at the sky and the earth.

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ¹⁷  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ¹⁸ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 66:1

66:1 This is what the Lord says:

“The heavens are my throne

and the earth is my footstool.

Where then is the house you will build for me?

Where is the place where I will rest?

Acts 7:48-49

7:48 Yet the Most High ²⁰  does not live in houses made by human hands, ²¹  as the prophet says,

7:49 ‘Heaven is my throne,

and earth is the footstool for my feet.

What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,

or what is my resting place? ²² 

Acts 17:24

17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it, ²³  who is ²⁴  Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, ²⁵ 

[29:45]  ¹ tn The verb has the root שָׁכַן (shakan), from which came the word for the dwelling place, or sanctuary, itself (מִשְׁכָּן, mishkan). It is also used for the description of “the Shekinah glory.” God is affirming that he will reside in the midst of his people.

[29:1]  ² sn Chap. 29 is a rather long, involved discussion of the consecration of Aaron the priest. It is similar to the ordination service in Lev 8. In fact, the execution of what is instructed here is narrated there. But these instructions must have been formulated after or in conjunction with Lev 1-7, for they presuppose a knowledge of the sacrifices. The bulk of the chapter is the consecration of the priests: 1-35. It has the preparation (1-3), washing (4), investiture and anointing (5-9), sin offering (10-14), burnt offering (15-18), installation peace offering (19-26, 31-34), other offerings’ rulings (27-30), and the duration of the ritual (35). Then there is the consecration of the altar (36-37), and the oblations (38-46). There are many possibilities for the study and exposition of this material. The whole chapter is the consecration of tabernacle, altar, people, and most of all the priests. God was beginning the holy operations with sacral ritual. So the overall message would be: Everyone who ministers, everyone who worships, and everything they use in the presence of Yahweh, must be set apart to God by the cleansing, enabling, and sanctifying work of God.

[29:1]  ³ tn Heb “the thing.”

[29:1]  ⁴ tn Literally: “take one bull, a ‘son’ of the herd.”

[29:1]  ⁵ tn The word תָּמִים (tamim) means “perfect.” The animals could not have diseases or be crippled or blind (see Mal 1). The requirement was designed to ensure that the people would give the best they had to Yahweh. The typology pointed to the sinless Messiah who would fulfill all these sacrifices in his one sacrifice on the cross.

[8:27]  ⁶ tn The verb נֵלֵךְ (nelekh) is a Qal imperfect of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). Here it should be given the modal nuance of obligation: “we must go.”

[8:27]  ⁷ tn This clause is placed first in the sentence to stress the distance required. דֶּרֶךְ (derekh) is an adverbial accusative specifying how far they must go. It is in construct, so “three days” modifies it. It is a “journey of three days,” or, “a three day journey.”

[8:27]  ⁸ tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive; it follows in the sequence: we must go…and then [must] sacrifice.”

[8:27]  ⁹ tn The form is the imperfect tense. It could be future: “as he will tell us,” but it also could be the progressive imperfect if this is now what God is telling them to do: “as he is telling us.”

[68:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.

[68:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”

[68:18]  ¹² tn Or “gifts.”

[68:18]  ¹³ tn Or “among.”

[68:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “so that the Lord God might live [there].” Many take the infinitive construct with -לְ (lamed) as indicating purpose here, but it is unclear how the offering of tribute enables the Lord to live in Zion. This may be an occurrence of the relatively rare emphatic lamed (see HALOT 510-11 s.v. II לְ, though this text is not listed as an example there). If so, the statement corresponds nicely to the final line of v. 16, which also affirms emphatically that the Lord lives in Zion.

[113:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the one who makes high to sit.”

[113:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the one who makes low to see.”

[57:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[7:48]  ²⁰ sn The title the Most High points to God’s majesty (Heb 7:1; Luke 1:32, 35; Acts 16:7).

[7:48]  ²¹ sn The phrase made by human hands is negative in the NT: Mark 14:58; Acts 17:24; Eph 2:11; Heb 9:11, 24. It suggests “man-made” or “impermanent.” The rebuke is like parts of the Hebrew scripture where the rebuke is not of the temple, but for making too much of it (1 Kgs 8:27; Isa 57:15; 1 Chr 6:8; Jer 7:1-34).

[7:49]  ²² sn What kind…resting place? The rhetorical questions suggest mere human beings cannot build a house to contain God.

[17:24]  ²³ tn Grk “all the things that are in it.” The speech starts with God as Creator, like 14:15.

[17:24]  ²⁴ tn Or “because he is.” The participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) could be either adjectival, modifying οὗτος (Joutos, “who is Lord…”) or adverbial of cause (“because he is Lord…”). Since the participle διδούς (didou") in v. 25 appears to be clearly causal in force, it is preferable to understand ὑπάρχων as adjectival in this context.

[17:24]  ²⁵ sn On the statement does not live in temples made by human hands compare Acts 7:48. This has implications for idols as well. God cannot be represented by them or, as the following clause also suggests, served by human hands.