Year of the Bible
Exodus 29
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Commentary on the Book of Exodus, Chapter 29:
God has established the basic practices of worship by His people, but no priests are yet ordained. God gives His ordination instructions to Moses to fulfill with Aaron and his sons. The process includes ritual bathing, anointing with oil and blood, grain and animal sacrifices, and a meal. We hear that the priests are holy and that what they receive is not offered to outsiders. In the biblical context, to be holy means to be set apart. For priests, this means being set apart from, or different from, the everyday Jew. For Jews, it means being set apart from the pagan ways of the cultures around them. The holiness of the priests allows them to offer sacrifices to God which help maintain the holiness of all members of the Jewish community. God commands His community to bring sacrifices to the priests each morning and evening. The use of a lamb in sacrifice should remind the people of how God freed them from Egypt, saving them by the blood of a lamb. The daily sacrifice of a lamb also points to our daily sacrifice of the Mass.
The Book of Exodus, Chapter 29:
The Ordination of Priests
29 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3 And you shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams. 4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting, and wash them with water. 5 And you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and belt him with the skilfully woven band of the ephod; 6 and you shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy crown upon the turban. 7 And you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8 Then you shall bring his sons, and put coats on them, 9 and you shall belt them with sashes and bind caps on them; and the priesthood shall be theirs by a perpetual statute. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.
10 “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the bull, 11 and you shall kill the bull before the LORD, at the door of the tent of meeting, 12 and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it upon the horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. 13 And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the appendage of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them upon the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
15 “Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram, 16 and you shall slaughter the ram, and shall take its blood and throw it against the altar round about. 17 Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head, 18 and burn the whole ram upon the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD; it is a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD.
19 “You shall take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram, 20 and you shall kill the ram, and take part of its blood and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron and upon the tips of the right ears of his sons, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the altar round about. 21 Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron and his garments, and upon his sons and his sons’ garments with him; and he and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
22 “You shall also take the fat of the ram, and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails, and the appendage of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), 23 and one loaf of bread, and one cake of bread with oil, and one wafer, out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD; 24 and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. 25 Then you shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar in addition to the burnt offering, as a pleasing odor before the LORD; it is an offering by fire to the LORD.
26 “And you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD; and it shall be your portion. 27 And you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering, and the thigh of the priests’ portion, which is waved, and which is offered from the ram of ordination, since it is for Aaron and for his sons. 28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual debt from the sons of Israel, for it is the priests’ portion to be offered by the sons of Israel from their peace offerings; it is their offering to the LORD.
29 “The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them and ordained in them. 30 The son who is priest in his place shall wear them seven days, when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.
31 “You shall take the ram of ordination, and boil its flesh in a holy place; 32 and Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the tent of meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to ordain and consecrate them, but an outsider shall not eat of them, because they are holy. 34 And if any of the flesh for the ordination, or of the bread, remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
35 “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; through seven days shall you ordain them, 36 and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall offer a sin offering for the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it, to consecrate it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall become holy.
The Daily Offerings
38 “Now this is what you shall offer upon the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. 39 One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer in the evening; 40 and with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a libation. 41 And the other lamb you shall offer in the evening, and shall offer with it a cereal offering and its libation, as in the morning, for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD. 42 It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you. 43 There I will meet with the sons of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory; 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate, to serve me as priests. 45 And I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them; I am the LORD their God.
*Daily Lectio Divina Question:
We have all heard that "the devil is in the details" but in Exodus 29 and the preceding passages we see that our God is a God of details. In this passage detailing the consecration of priests, we are reminded of the specific details we see in the Mass. No detail is without meaning. What details can we recognize God's hand in when we look at our own lives? God, thank you for your blessings and details in my life.
Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan. Join a Catholic Biblical School of Michigan class this September at Holy Family in Grand Blanc or online.
Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
If you're looking for a good Catholic edition of the Bible, look no further.
Éste es el rito que has de seguir
para consagrar a los sacerdotes
en mi honor.
»Toma un novillo y dos carneros sin
defecto, 2 pan ácimo, tortas sin levadura
amasadas con aceite y panes sin levadura
untados en aceite; todo ello hecho
con flor de harina. 3 Lo pondrás todo en
un cesto y lo ofrecerás a la vez que el novillo
y los dos carneros. 4 Mandarás que
Aarón y sus hijos se acerquen a la puerta
de la Tienda de la Reunión y les harás
lavarse con agua. 5 Después, tomando
las vestiduras, revestirás a Aarón con
la túnica, el manto del efod, el efod y
el pectoral, y le ceñirás con el cinto del
efod. 6 Pondrás sobre su cabeza la tiara,
y en la tiara la lámina santa. 7 Tomarás
luego el aceite de la unción y lo derramarás
sobre su cabeza para ungirlo.
8 »A continuación mandarás que se
acerquen sus hijos y los revestirás con
las túnicas, 9 les ceñirás con los cinturones
y les pondrás las tiaras. A ellos pertenece
el sacerdocio por ley perpetua.
Así investirás a Aarón y a sus hijos.
10 »Mandarás traer el novillo ante la
Tienda de la Reunión. Aarón y sus hijos
impondrán sus manos sobre la cabeza
del novillo. 11 Luego lo inmolarás ante
el Señor a la puerta de la Tienda de la
Reunión; 12 y tomando la sangre del novillo,
untarás con tu dedo los cuernos
del altar y derramarás toda la sangre al
pie del altar. 13 Tomarás después toda la
grasa que cubre las entrañas, toda la demás
que cubre el hígado y los dos riñones
con la grasa que hay sobre ellos, y
lo pondrás a arder sobre el altar; 14 pero
la carne del novillo, su piel y sus excrementos,
los quemarás fuera del campamento.
Es un sacrificio por el pecado.
15 »Luego tomarás uno de los carneros.
Aarón y sus hijos impondrán las
manos sobre su cabeza. 16 Inmolarás el
carnero y, tomando su sangre, la derramarán
en torno al altar. 17 Descuartizarás
después el carnero en trozos, lavarás
sus entrañas y sus patas, las colocarás
sobre los trozos y sobre la cabeza; 18 y
pondrás a arder todo el carnero sobre el
altar. Es un holocausto en honor del Señor,
una ofrenda consumida, de suave
aroma en honor del Señor.
19 »Luego tomarás el segundo carnero.
Aarón y sus hijos impondrán las ma
nos sobre su cabeza. 20 Inmolarás el carnero
y, tomando su sangre, untarás con
ella el lóbulo de la oreja derecha de Aarón
y el de sus hijos, y también el dedo
pulgar de la mano derecha y del pie derecho;
y derramarás la sangre restante
en torno al altar. 21 Tomarás después
sangre de la que hay sobre el altar y óleo
de la unción, y ungirás a Aarón y sus
vestiduras, a sus hijos y las vestiduras de
sus hijos; así quedarán consagrados él y
sus hijos, y las vestiduras de ambos.
22 »A continuación, tomarás del carnero
la grasa y la cola, la grasa que cubre
las entrañas, toda la demás que cubre el
hígado, los dos riñones con la grasa que
hay sobre ellos y la pierna derecha. Es
el carnero de la consagración. 23 Del cesto
de panes ácimos que están ante el Señor,
tomarás un pan, una torta amasada
con aceite y una oblea, 24 y los pondrás
sobre las manos de Aarón y las de sus
hijos para que las balanceen ritualmente
ante el Señor. 25 Los recibirás de nuevo
de sus manos y los pondrás a arder en el
altar sobre el holocausto; es suave aroma
en presencia del Señor, una ofrenda
consumida en honor del Señor.
26 »Tomarás el pecho del carnero de
la consagración de Aarón y lo balancearás
ritualmente ante el Señor. Esa será tu
porción. 27 Consagrarás el pecho balanceado
ritualmente y la pierna reservada
ritualmente, es decir, lo que ha sido
balanceado y reservado del carnero de
la investidura de Aarón y de sus hijos.
28 Por ley perpetua esta porción, recibida
de los hijos de Israel, será para Aarón y
para sus hijos, pues es ofrenda reservada.
En los sacrificios de comunión de los
hijos de Israel habrá ofrenda reservada;
es su ofrenda reservada para el Señor.
29 »Las vestiduras sagradas de Aarón
pasarán a sus descendientes para ser
con ellas ungidos y consagrados. 30 Durante
siete días los vestirá aquel de sus
hijos que le suceda y entre en la Tienda
de la Reunión para oficiar en el santuario.
31 »Después tomarás el carnero de la
consagración y cocerás su carne en lugar
santo; 32 Aarón y sus hijos comerán
esa carne con el pan del cesto a la entrada
de la Tienda de la Reunión. 33 Comerán
lo que ha servido de expiación al
investirlos y consagrarlos; ningún profano
podrá comerlo, porque es porción
sagrada. 34 Si sobra algo de la carne de la
consagración o del pan hasta el día siguiente,
lo quemarás. No podrá comerse
porque es porción sagrada.
35 »Harás, pues, con Aarón y con sus
hijos conforme a cuanto te he ordenado.
Siete días durará la consagración.
36 »Cada día ofrecerás sobre el altar
un novillo como sacrificio por el pecado,
como expiación; purificarás el altar
con este sacrificio por el pecado, luego
lo ungirás para consagrarlo. 37 Durante
siete días harás la expiación y la
consagración del altar. Así el altar será
algo santísimo y cuanto lo toque quedará
santificado.
38 »He aquí lo que has de ofrecer sobre
el altar: cada día y de modo perpetuo
dos corderos de un año. 39 El uno lo
ofrecerás por la mañana y el otro al atardecer.
40 Con el primero ofrecerás un décimo
de flor de harina, un cuarto de hin
de aceite de oliva molida y una libación
de un cuarto de hin de vino. 41 El segundo
cordero lo ofrecerás al atardecer con
una ofrenda y una libación como las de
la mañana; es suave aroma y ofrenda
consumida en honor del Señor.
42 »Es holocausto perpetuo que se
hará de generación en generación ante
el Señor a la puerta de la Tienda de la
Reunión; allí me reuniré con vosotros
para hablaros. 43 Me reuniré con los hijos
de Israel en ese lugar que quedará consagrado
con mi gloria. 44 Consagraré la
Tienda de la Reunión y el altar; y a Aarón
y a sus hijos los consagraré para que
sean sacerdotes en mi honor. 45 Habitaré
en medio de los hijos de Israel y seré
su Dios. 46 Y reconocerán que yo soy el
Señor, su Dios, que los saqué de la tierra
de Egipto para habitar en medio de
ellos. Yo, el Señor, su Dios.
Pregunta de Lectio Divina del día de hoy
La Biblia de Navarra
Permiso para usar esta versión de la primera edición de la Biblia de Navarra
para el Año de la Biblia del Obispo
dado por Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A. (EUNSA).