Leviticus 8:22-32

8:22 Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination, ¹  and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram 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. 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, ⁵  all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat ⁶ ) and the right thigh, ⁷  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, ⁸  and placed them on the fat parts and on the right thigh. 8:27 He then put all of them on the palms ⁹  of Aaron and his sons, who waved ¹⁰  them as a wave offering before the Lord. ¹¹  8:28 Moses then took them from their palms and offered them up in smoke on the altar ¹²  on top of the burnt offering – they were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was a gift to the Lord. 8:29 Finally, Moses took the breast and waved it as a wave offering before the Lord from the ram of ordination. It was Moses’ share just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Anointing Aaron, his Sons, and their Garments

8:30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. So he consecrated Aaron, his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. 8:31 Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the meat at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and there you are to eat it and the bread which is in the ordination offering basket, just as I have commanded, ¹³  saying, ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it,’ 8:32 but the remainder of the meat and the bread ¹⁴  you must burn with fire.

[8:22]  ¹ tn For “ordination offering” see Lev 7:37

[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.

[8:25]  ⁵ tn See Lev 3:9.

[8:25]  ⁶ tn See Lev 8:16.

[8:25]  ⁷ tn See Lev 7:32-34.

[8:26]  ⁸ tn See Lev 2:4.

[8:27]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ sn See Lev 7:30-31, 34.

[8:28]  ¹² tn Heb “toward the altar” (see the note on Lev 1:9).

[8:31]  ¹³ tn Several major ancient versions have the passive form of the verb (see BHS v. 31 note c; cf. Lev 8:35; 10:13). In that case we would translate, “just as I was commanded.”

[8:32]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “but the remainder in the flesh and in the bread”; NAB, CEV “what is left over”; NRSV “what remains.”