Exodus 28:41

28:41 “You are to clothe them – your brother Aaron and his sons with him – and anoint them ¹  and ordain them ²  and set them apart as holy, ³  so that they may minister as my priests.

Exodus 32:29

32:29 Moses said, “You have been consecrated ⁴  today for the Lord, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today.” ⁵ 

Leviticus 8:22-28

8:22 Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination, ⁶  and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram 8:23 and he slaughtered it. ⁷  Moses then took some of its blood and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, ⁸  on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe ⁹  of his right foot. 8:24 Next he brought Aaron’s sons forward, and Moses put some of the blood on their right earlobes, on their right thumbs, and on the big toes of their right feet, and Moses splashed the rest of the blood against the altar’s sides.

8:25 Then he took the fat (the fatty tail, ¹⁰  all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat ¹¹ ) and the right thigh, ¹²  8:26 and from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one unleavened loaf, one loaf of bread mixed with olive oil, and one wafer, ¹³  and placed them on the fat parts and on the right thigh. 8:27 He then put all of them on the palms ¹⁴  of Aaron and his sons, who waved ¹⁵  them as a wave offering before the Lord. ¹⁶  8:28 Moses then took them from their palms and offered them up in smoke on the altar ¹⁷  on top of the burnt offering – they were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was a gift to the Lord.

Hebrews 7:23-28

7:23 And the others ¹⁸  who became priests were numerous, because death prevented them ¹⁹  from continuing in office, ²⁰  7:24 but he holds his priesthood permanently since he lives forever. 7:25 So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. 7:26 For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 7:27 He has no need to do every day what those priests do, to offer sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this in offering himself once for all. 7:28 For the law appoints as high priests men subject to weakness, ²¹  but the word of solemn affirmation that came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever.

[28:41]  ¹ sn The instructions in this verse anticipate chap. 29, as well as the ordination ceremony described in Lev 8 and 9. The anointing of Aaron is specifically required in the Law, for he is to be the High Priest. The expression “ordain them” might also be translated as “install them” or “consecrate them”; it literally reads “and fill their hands,” an expression for the consecration offering for priesthood in Lev 8:33. The final instruction to sanctify them will involve the ritual of the atoning sacrifices to make the priests acceptable in the sanctuary.

[28:41]  ² tn Heb “fill their hand.” As a result of this installation ceremony they will be officially designated for the work. It seems likely that the concept derives from the notion of putting the priestly responsibilities under their control (i.e., “filling their hands” with work). See note on the phrase “ordained seven days” in Lev 8:33.

[28:41]  ³ tn Traditionally “sanctify them” (KJV, ASV).

[32:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “Your hand was filled.” The phrase “fill your hands” is a familiar expression having to do with commissioning and devotion to a task that is earlier used in 28:41; 29:9, 29, 33, 35. This has usually been explained as a Qal imperative. S. R. Driver explains it “Fill your hand today,” meaning, take a sacrifice to God and be installed in the priesthood (Exodus, 355). But it probably is a Piel perfect, meaning “they have filled your hands today,” or, “your hand was filled today.” This was an expression meant to say that they had been faithful to God even though it turned them against family and friends – but God would give them a blessing.

[32:29]  ⁵ tn The text simply has “and to give on you today a blessing.” Gesenius notes that the infinitive construct seems to be attached with a vav (ו; like the infinitive absolute) as the continuation of a previous finite verb. He reads the verb “fill” as an imperative: “fill your hand today…and that to bring a blessing on you, i.e., that you may be blessed” (see GKC 351 §114.p). If the preceding verb is taken as perfect tense, however, then this would also be perfect – “he has blessed you today.”

[8:22]  ⁶ tn For “ordination offering” see Lev 7:37

[8:23]  ⁷ tn Again, Aaron probably did the slaughtering (cf. the notes on Lev 8:15-16 above).

[8:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “on the lobe of the ear of Aaron, the right one.”

[8:23]  ⁹ tn The term for “big toe” (בֹּהֶן, bohen) is the same as that for “thumb.” It refers to the larger appendage on either the hand or the foot.

[8:25]  ¹⁰ tn See Lev 3:9.

[8:25]  ¹¹ tn See Lev 8:16.

[8:25]  ¹² tn See Lev 7:32-34.

[8:26]  ¹³ tn See Lev 2:4.

[8:27]  ¹⁴ sn The “palms” refer to the up-turned hands, positioned in such a way that the articles of the offering could be placed on them.

[8:27]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he waved.” The subject of the verb “he waved” is Aaron, but Aaron’s sons also performed the action (see “Aaron and his sons” just previously). See the similar shifts from Moses to Aaron as the subject of the action above (vv. 15, 16, 19, 20, 23), and esp. the note on Lev 8:15. In the present translation this is rendered as an adjectival clause (“who waved”) to indicate that the referent is not Moses but Aaron and his sons. Cf. CEV “who lifted it up”; NAB “whom he had wave” (with “he” referring to Moses here).

[8:27]  ¹⁶ sn See Lev 7:30-31, 34.

[8:28]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “toward the altar” (see the note on Lev 1:9).

[7:23]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “they on the one hand” in contrast with “he on the other hand” in v. 24.

[7:23]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “they were prevented by death.”

[7:23]  ²⁰ tn Grk “from continuing” (the words “in office” are supplied for clarity).

[7:28]  ²¹ sn See Heb 5:2 where this concept was introduced.