Leviticus 8:19

8:19 and he slaughtered it. ¹  Moses then splashed the blood against the altar’s sides.

Leviticus 9:8

The Sin Offering for the Priests

9:8 So Aaron approached the altar and slaughtered the sin offering calf which was for himself.

Leviticus 8:23

8:23 and he slaughtered it. ²  Moses then took some of its blood and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, ³  on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe ⁴  of his right foot.

Leviticus 9:12

The Burnt Offering for the Priests

9:12 He then slaughtered the burnt offering, and his sons ⁵  handed ⁶  the blood to him and he splashed ⁷  it against the altar’s sides.

Leviticus 8:15

8:15 and he slaughtered it. ⁸  Moses then took the blood and put it all around on the horns of the altar with his finger and decontaminated the altar, ⁹  and he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and so consecrated it to make atonement on it. ¹⁰ 

Leviticus 9:18

9:18 Then he slaughtered the ox and the ram – the peace offering sacrifices which were for the people – and Aaron’s sons handed ¹¹  the blood to him and he splashed it against the altar’s sides.

[8:19]  ¹ tn Aaron probably did the slaughtering (cf. the notes on Lev 8:15-16 above).

[8:23]  ² tn Again, Aaron probably did the slaughtering (cf. the notes on Lev 8:15-16 above).

[8:23]  ³ tn Heb “on the lobe of the ear of Aaron, the right one.”

[8:23]  ⁴ 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.

[9:12]  ³ tn For smoothness in the English translation, “his” was used in place of “Aaron’s.”

[9:12]  ⁴ tn The verb is a Hiphil form of מָצָא, matsa’, “to find” (i.e., causative, literally “to cause to find,” but here the meaning is “to hand to” or “pass to”; see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 117-18, and J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:581-82). The distinction between this verb and “presented” in v. 9 above (see the note there) is that in v. 9 Aaron’s sons held the bowl while Aaron manipulated some of the blood at the altar, while here in v. 12 they simply handed the bowl to him so he could splash all the blood around on the altar (Milgrom, 581).

[9:12]  ⁵ tn For “splashed” (also in v. 18) see the note on Lev 1:5.

[8:15]  ⁴ sn Contrary to some English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT), Aaron (not Moses) most likely slaughtered the bull, possibly with the help of his sons, although the verb is singular, not plural. Moses then performed the ritual procedures that involved direct contact with the altar. Compare the pattern in Lev 1:5-9, where the offerer does the slaughtering and the priests perform the procedures that involve direct contact with the altar. In Lev 8 Moses is functioning as the priest in order to consecrate the priesthood. The explicit reintroduction of the name of Moses as the subject of the next verb seems to reinforce this understanding of the passage (cf. also vv. 19 and 23 below).

[8:15]  ⁵ tn The verb is the Piel of חָטָא (khata’, “to sin”) and means “to de-sin” the altar. This verse is important for confirming the main purpose of the sin offering, which was to decontaminate the tabernacle and its furniture from any impurities. See the note on Lev 4:3.

[8:15]  ⁶ tn Similar to v. 10 above, “and consecrated it” refers to the effect of the blood manipulation earlier in the verse. The goal here was to consecrate the altar in order that it might become a place on which it would be appropriate “to make atonement” before the Lord.

[9:18]  ⁵ tn See the note on Lev 9:12.