translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: LEV

label: NET study note

text: is the fulfillment account of the ordination legislation recorded in , and is directly connected to the command to ordain the tabernacle and priesthood in Exod 40:1-16 as well as the partial record of its fulfillment in Exod 40:17-38 .


text: For “tent of meeting” see the note on Lev 1:1 above.


text: Here Moses actually clothes Aaron (cf. v. 13 below for Aaron’s sons). Regarding the various articles of clothing see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 111-12 and esp. J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:501-13.


text: The term “tunic” refers to a shirt-like garment worn next to the skin and, therefore, put on first (cf. Exod 28:4, 39-40; 29:5, 8; 39:27 ). Traditionally this has been translated “coat” (so KJV, ASV), but that English word designates an outer garment.


text: The robe was a long shirt-like over-garment that reached down below the knees. Its hem was embroidered with pomegranates and golden bells around the bottom ( Exod 28:4, 31-35; 29:5; 39:22-26 ).


text: The ephod was an apron like garment suspended from shoulder straps. It draped over the robe and extended from the chest down to the thighs ( Exod 28:4, 6-14, 25-28; 29:5; 39:2-7 ).


text: The decorated band of the ephod served as a sort of belt around Aaron’s body that would hold the ephod closely to him rather than allowing it to hang loosely across his front ( Exod 28:8, 27; 29:5; 39:5, 20 ).


text: The breastpiece was made of the same material as the ephod and was attached to it by means of gold rings and chains on its four corners ( Exod 28:15-30; 29:5; 39:8-21 ). It had twelve stones attached to it (representing the twelve tribes of Israel), and a pocket in which the Urim and Thummim were kept (see following).


text: The Urim and Thummim were two small objects used in the casting of lots to discern the will of God (see Exod 28:30 ; Num 27:21 ; Deut 33:8 ; 1 Sam 14:41 in the LXX and 28:6 ; Ezra 2:63 and Neh 7:65 ). It appears that by casting them one could obtain a yes or no answer, or no answer at all ( 1 Sam 28:6 ; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 111-12). See the extensive discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:507-11.


text: The gold plate was attached as a holy diadem to the front of the turban by means of a blue cord, and had written on it “Holy to the Lord ” ( Exod 28:36-37; 39:30-31 ). This was a particularly important article of high priestly clothing in that it served as the main emblem indicating Aaron’s acceptable representation of Israel before the Lord ( Exod 28:38 ).


text: The expression “and consecrated it” refers to the effect of the anointing earlier in the verse (cf. “to consecrate them/him” in vv. 11 and 12 ). “To consecrate” means “to make holy” or “make sacred”; i.e., put something into the category of holy/sacred as opposed to common/profane (see Lev 10:10 below). Thus, the person or thing consecrated is put into the realm of God’s holy things.


text: See Lev 4:3-12 above for the sin offering of the priests. In this case, however, the blood manipulation is different because Moses, not Aaron (and his sons), is functioning as the priest. On the one hand, Aaron and his sons are, in a sense, treated as if they were commoners so that the blood manipulation took place at the burnt offering altar in the court of the tabernacle (see v. 15 below), not at the incense altar inside the tabernacle tent itself (contrast Lev 4:5-7 and compare 4:30 ). On the other hand, since it was a sin offering for the priests, therefore, the priests themselves could not eat its flesh ( Lev 4:11-12; 6:30 [23 HT]), which was the normal priestly practice for sin offerings of commoners ( Lev 6:26 [19], 29[22]).


text: 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 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).


text: See Lev 3:3-4 for the terminology of fat and kidneys here.


text: See Lev 4:11-12, 21; 6:30 [23 HT].


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


text: See Lev 7:30-31, 34 .