Exodus 28:1

The Clothing of the Priests

28:1 ¹ “And you, bring near ²  to you your brother Aaron and his sons with him from among the Israelites, so that they may minister as my priests ³  – Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

Numbers 16:10

16:10 He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek ⁴  the priesthood also?

Numbers 16:35

16:35 Then a fire ⁵  went out from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered incense.

Numbers 16:40

16:40 It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of ⁶  Aaron should approach to burn incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his company – just as the Lord had spoken by the authority ⁷  of Moses.

Numbers 18:7

18:7 But you and your sons with you are responsible for your priestly duties, for everything at the altar and within the curtain. And you must serve. I give you the priesthood as a gift for service; but the unauthorized person who approaches must be put to death.”

Hebrews 5:4-5

5:4 And no one assumes this honor ⁸  on his own initiative, ⁹  but only when called to it by God, ¹⁰  as in fact Aaron was. 5:5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming high priest, but the one who glorified him was God, ¹¹  who said to him, “You are my Son! Today I have fathered you,” ¹² 

Hebrews 5:10

5:10 and he was designated ¹³  by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek. ¹⁴ 

Hebrews 7:11-14

Jesus and the Priesthood of Melchizedek

7:11 So if perfection had in fact been possible through the Levitical priesthood – for on that basis ¹⁵  the people received the law – what further need would there have been for another priest to arise, said to be in the order of Melchizedek and not in Aaron’s order? 7:12 For when the priesthood changes, a change in the law must come ¹⁶  as well. 7:13 Yet the one these things are spoken about belongs to ¹⁷  a different tribe, and no one from that tribe ¹⁸  has ever officiated at the altar. 7:14 For it is clear that our Lord is descended from Judah, yet Moses said nothing about priests in connection with that tribe.

[28:1]  ¹ sn Some modern scholars find this and the next chapter too elaborate for the wilderness experience. To most of them this reflects the later Zadokite priesthood of the writer’s (P’s) day that was referred to Mosaic legislation for authentication. But there is no compelling reason why this should be late; it is put late because it is assumed to be P, and that is assumed to be late. But both assumptions are unwarranted. This lengthy chapter could be divided this way: instructions for preparing the garments (1-5), details of the apparel (6-39), and a warning against deviating from these (40-43). The subject matter of the first part is that God requires that his chosen ministers reflect his holy nature; the point of the second part is that God requires his ministers to be prepared to fulfill the tasks of the ministry, and the subject matter of the third part is that God warns all his ministers to safeguard the holiness of their service.

[28:1]  ² tn The verb is the Hiphil imperative of the root קָרַב (qarav, “to draw near”). In the present stem the word has religious significance, namely, to present something to God, like an offering.

[28:1]  ³ tn This entire clause is a translation of the Hebrew לְכַהֲנוֹ־לִי (lÿkhahano-li, “that he might be a priest to me”), but the form is unusual. The word means “to be a priest” or “to act as a priest.” The etymology of the word for priest, כֹּהֵן (kohen), is uncertain.

[16:10]  ⁴ tn The verb is the Piel perfect. There is no imperfect tense before this, which makes the construction a little difficult. If the vav (ו) is classified as a consecutive, then the form would stand alone as an equivalent to the imperfect, and rendered as a modal nuance such as “would you [now] seek,” or as a progressive imperfect, “are you seeking.” This latter nuance can be obtained by treating it as a regular perfect tense, with an instantaneous nuance: “do you [now] seek.”

[16:35]  ⁵ tn For a discussion of the fire of the Lord, see J. C. H. Laughlin, “The Strange Fire of Nadab and Abihu,” JBL 95 (1976): 559-65.

[16:40]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the seed of.”

[16:40]  ⁷ tn Heb “hand.”

[5:4]  ⁸ sn Honor refers here to the honor of the high priesthood.

[5:4]  ⁹ tn Grk “by himself, on his own.”

[5:4]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “being called by God.”

[5:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:5]  ¹² tn Grk “I have begotten you”; see Heb 1:5.

[5:10]  ¹³ tn Grk “having been designated,” continuing the thought of Heb 5:9.

[5:10]  ¹⁴ sn The phrase in the order of Melchizedek picks up the quotation from Ps 110:4 in Heb 5:6.

[7:11]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “based on it.”

[7:12]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “of necessity a change in the law comes to pass.”

[7:13]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “shares in.”

[7:13]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “from which no one.”