Exodus 29:31-34

Context

29:31 “You are to take the ram of the consecration and cook¹ its meat in a holy place.² 29:32 Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that was in the basket at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 29:33 They are to eat those things by which atonement was made³ to consecrate and to set them apart, but no one else⁴ may eat them, for they are holy. 29:34 If any of the meat from the consecration offerings⁵ or any of the bread is left over⁶ until morning, then you are to burn up⁷ what is left over. It must not be eaten,⁸ because it is holy.

[29:31] ¹tn Or “boil” (see Lev 8:31).

[29:31] ²sn The “holy place” must be in the courtyard of the sanctuary. Lev 8:31 says it is to be cooked at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Here it says it will be eaten there as well. This, then, becomes a communion sacrifice, a peace offering which was a shared meal. Eating a communal meal in a holy place was meant to signify that the worshipers and the priests were at peace with God.

[29:33] ³tn The clause is a relative clause modifying “those things,” the direct object of the verb “eat.” The relative clause has a resumptive pronoun: “which atonement was made by them” becomes “by which atonement was made.” The verb is a Pual perfect of כִּפֵּר (kipper, “to expiate, atone, pacify”).

[29:33] ⁴tn The Hebrew word is “stranger, alien” (זָר, zar). But in this context it means anyone who is not a priest (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 324).

[29:34] ⁵tn Or “ordination offerings” (Heb “fillings”).

[29:34] ⁶tn The verb in the conditional clause is a Niphal imperfect of יָתַר (yatar); this verb is repeated in the next clause (as a Niphal participle) as the direct object of the verb “you will burn” (a Qal perfect with a vav [ו] consecutive to form the instruction).

[29:34] ⁷tn Heb “burn with fire.”

[29:34] ⁸tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect negated. It expresses the prohibition against eating this, but in the passive voice: “it will not be eaten,” or stronger, “it must not be eaten.”