Bible Commentaries
Exodus 29

Verses 1-37

Consecration of Aaron and his Sons through the anointing of their persons and the offering of sacrifices, the directions for which form the subject of vv. 1-35. This can only be fully understood in connection with the sacrificial law contained in Lev 1-7. It will be more advisable therefore to defer the examination of this ceremony till we come to Lev 8, where the consecration itself is described. The same may also be said of the expiation and anointing of the altar, which are commanded in Exodus 29:36 and Exodus 29:37, and carried out in Leviticus 8:11.

Verses 38-46

The Daily Burnt-Offering, Meat-Offering, and Drink-Offering. - The directions concerning these are attached to the instructions for the consecration of the priests, because these sacrifices commenced immediately after the completion of the tabernacle, and, like the shew-bread (Exodus 25:30), the daily trimming of the lamps (Exodus 27:20-21), and the daily incense-offering (Exodus 30:7.), were most intimately connected with the erection of the sanctuary.

Exodus 29:38-40

“ And this is what thou shalt make (offer) upon the altar; yearling lambs two a day continually, ” one in the morning, the other between the two evenings (see at Exodus 12:6); to every one a meat-offering ( minchah ) of a tenth of fine wheaten flour ( soleth , see at Leviticus 2:1), mixed with a quarter of a hin of beaten oil ( cathith , see at Exodus 27:20), and a drink-offering ( nesek) of a quarter of a hin of wine. עשּׂרן (a tenth) is equivalent to האיפה עשׂירית , the tenth part of an ephah (Numbers 28:5), or 198-5 Parisian cubic inches according to Bertheau's measurement. Thenius, however, sets it down at 101-4 inches, whilst the Rabbins reckon it as equivalent to 43 hen's eggs of average size, i.e., somewhat more than 2 1/4 lbs. A hin (a word of Egyptian origin) is 330-9 inches according to Bertheau, 168-9 according to Thenius, or 72 eggs, so that a quarter of a hin would be 18 eggs.

Exodus 29:41-46

להּ is to be understood ad sensum as referring to עולה . The daily morning and evening sacrifices were to be “for a sweet savour, a firing unto Jehovah” (see at Leviticus 1:9). In these Israel was to consecrate its life daily unto the Lord (see at Lev 1 and 2). In order that the whole of the daily life might be included, it was to be offered continually every morning and evening for all future time (“throughout your generations” as at Exodus 12:14) at the door of the tabernacle, i.e., upon the altar erected there, before Jehovah, who would meet with the people and commune with them there (see Exodus 25:22). This promise is carried out still further in Exodus 29:43-46. First of all, for the purpose of elucidating and strengthening the words, “I will meet with you there” (Exodus 29:42), the presence and communion of God, which are attached to the ark of the covenant in Exodus 25:22, are ensured to the whole nation in the words, “And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and it (Israel) shall be sanctified through My glory.” As the people were not allowed to approach the ark of the covenant, but only to draw near to the altar of burnt-offering in the sanctuary, it was important to declare that the Lord would manifest Himself to them even there, and sanctify them by His glory. Most of the commentators have taken the altar to be the subject of “shall be sanctified;” but this is certainly an error, not only because the altar is not mentioned in the previous clause, and only slightly hinted at in the להּ in Exodus 29:41, but principally because the sanctification of the altar is noticed by itself afterwards in Exodus 29:44. The correct exegesis is that adopted by Baumgarten and others, who supply the word Israel (viz., regarded as a nation), which they take from the expression “children of Israel” in the previous clause. In Exodus 29:44, the sanctification of the tabernacle and altar on the part of God is promised, also that of His servants, and finally, in Exodus 29:45, Exodus 29:46, the abode of God in the midst of the children of Israel, with an allusion to the blessings that would follow from Jehovah's dwelling in the midst of them as their God (Genesis 17:7).