Exodus 29:10-11

29:10 “You are to present the bull at the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to put ¹  their hands on the head ²  of the bull. 29:11 You are to kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting

Exodus 29:3

29:3 You are to put them in one basket and present ³  them in the basket, along with ⁴  the bull and the two rams.

Exodus 29:12

29:12 and take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar ⁵  with your finger; all the rest of ⁶  the blood you are to pour out at the base of the altar.

Exodus 29:14

29:14 But the meat of the bull, its skin, and its dung you are to burn up ⁷  outside the camp. ⁸  It is the purification offering. ⁹ 

[29:10]  ¹ tn The verb is singular, agreeing with the first of the compound subject – Aaron.

[29:10]  ² sn The details of these offerings have to be determined from a careful study of Leviticus. There is a good deal of debate over the meaning of laying hands on the animals. At the very least it identifies the animal formally as their sacrifice. But it may very well indicate that the animal is a substitute for them as well, given the nature and the effect of the sacrifices.

[29:3]  ³ tn The verb קָרַב (qarav) in the Hiphil means to “bring near” to the altar, or, to offer something to God. These gifts will, therefore, be offered to him for the service of this ritual.

[29:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and with.”

[29:12]  ⁵ sn This act seems to have signified the efficacious nature of the blood, since the horns represented power. This is part of the ritual of the sin offering for laity, because before the priests become priests they are treated as laity. The offering is better described as a purification offering rather than a sin offering, because it was offered, according to Leviticus, for both sins and impurities. Moreover, it was offered primarily to purify the sanctuary so that the once-defiled or sinful person could enter (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB]).

[29:12]  ⁶ tn The phrase “rest of” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[29:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “burn with fire.”

[29:14]  ⁸ sn This is to be done because there is no priesthood yet. Once they are installed, then the sin/purification offering is to be eaten by the officiating priests as a sign that the offering was received. But priests could not consume their own sin offering.

[29:14]  ⁹ sn There were two kinds of “purification offering,” those made with confession for sin and those made without. The title needs to cover both of them, and if it is called in the traditional way “the sin offering,” that will convey that when people offered it for skin diseases, menstruation, or having babies, they had sinned. That was not the case. Moreover, it is usual to translate the names of the sacrifices by what they do more than what they cover – so peace offering, reparation offering, and purification offering.