Leviticus
Leviticus 9
1On the eighth day, Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; 2and he said to Aaron, “Take a calf from the herd for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without defect, and offer them before Yahweh. 3You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both a year old, without defect, for a burnt offering; 4and a bull and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before Yahweh; and a meal offering mixed with oil: for today Yahweh appears to you.’ ”
5They brought what Moses commanded before the Tent of Meeting. All the congregation came near and stood before Yahweh. 6Moses said, “This is the thing which Yahweh commanded that you should do; and Yahweh’s glory shall appear to you.” 7Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar, and offer your sin offering, and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself, and for the people; and offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as Yahweh commanded.”
8So Aaron came near to the altar, and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. 9The sons of Aaron presented the blood to him; and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar; 10but the fat, and the kidneys, and the cover from the liver of the sin offering, he burned upon the altar, as Yahweh commanded Moses. 11The meat and the skin he burned with fire outside the camp. 12He killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons delivered the blood to him, and he sprinkled it around on the altar. 13They delivered the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head. He burned them upon the altar. 14He washed the innards and the legs, and burned them on the burnt offering on the altar. 15He presented the people’s offering, and took the goat of the sin offering which was for the people, and killed it, and offered it for sin, like the first. 16He presented the burnt offering, and offered it according to the ordinance. 17He presented the meal offering, and filled his hand from there, and burned it upon the altar, in addition to the burnt offering of the morning. 18He also killed the bull and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people. Aaron’s sons delivered to him the blood, which he sprinkled around on the altar; 19and the fat of the bull and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covers the innards, and the kidneys, and the cover of the liver; 20and they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burned the fat on the altar. 21Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh for a wave offering before Yahweh, as Moses commanded. 22Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people, and blessed them; and he came down from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.
23Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and came out, and blessed the people; and Yahweh’s glory appeared to all the people. 24Fire came out from before Yahweh, and consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces.
Commentary
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What others are saying
5 commentators · 45 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry3
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
Orders are here given for another solemnity upon the eighth day; for the newly-ordained priests were set to work immediately after the days of their consecration were finished, to let them know that they were not ordained to be idle: He that desires the…
These being the first offerings that ever were offered by the levitical priesthood, according to the newly-enacted law of sacrifices, the manner of offering them is particularly related, that it might appear how exactly they agreed with the institution. 1…
We are not told what Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle to do, Lev 9:23. Some of the Jewish writers say, "They went in to pray for the appearance of the divine glory;" most probably they went in that Moses might instruct Aaron how to do the service that…
John Gill24
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
And it came to pass on the eighth day,.... When the seven days of consecration were ended, as Ben Gersom, the day following them, so soon was Aaron called to the execution of his office; and so both the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi make it to be the eighth…
And he said unto Aaron,.... In the presence of the people of Israel: take thee a young calf for a sin offering; one not exceeding a year old, as in Leviticus 9:3 but this was not for the sin of making the calf only, to which the Jewish writers restrain it…
And unto the children of Israel thou shalt speak,.... That is, Aaron should speak to them, for being now high priest, Moses had no more to do with the sacrifices of the people, but it was incumbent on Aaron to call upon them to bring them to him such as the…
Adam Clarke8
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
On the eighth day - This was the first day after their consecration, before which they were deemed unfit to minister in holy things, being considered as in a state of imperfection. "All creatures," says Ainsworth, "for the most part were in their uncleanness…
Take thee a young calf, etc. - As these sacrifices were for Aaron himself, they are furnished by himself and not by the people, for they were designed to make atonement for his own sin. See Lev 4:3. And this is supposed by the Jews to have been intended to…
Take ye a kid - In Lev 4:14 a young bullock is commanded to be offered for the sin of the people; but here the offering is a kid, which was the sacrifice appointed for the sin of the ruler, Lev 4:22, Lev 4:23, and hence some think that the reading of the…
Keil & Delitzsch5
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
After everything had been prepared for the solemn ceremony, Moses made known to the assembled people what Jehovah had commanded them to do in order that His glory might appear (see at Exo 16:10). Aaron was to offer the sacrifices that had been brought for the…
Accordingly, he offered first of all the sin-offering and burnt-offering for himself, and then (Lev 9:15-21) the offerings of the people. The sin-offering always went first, because it served to remove the estrangement of man from the holy God arising from…
The burnt-offering was presented according to the general rule (Lev 1:3-9), as in Lev 8:18-21. המציא (Lev 9:12): to cause to attain; here, and in Lev 9:18, to present, hand over. לנתחיה, according to its pieces, into which the burnt-offering was divided (Lev…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown5
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
Aaron . . . went unto the altar, and slew the calf of the sin offering--Whether it had been enjoined the first time, or was unavoidable from the divisions of the priestly labor not being as yet completely arranged, Aaron, assisted by his sons, appears to have…
meat offering . . . wave offering--It is observable that there is no notice taken of these in the offerings the priests made for themselves. They could not bear their own sins: and therefore, instead of eating any part of their own sin offering, as they were…
Aaron lifted up his hand . . . and blessed them--The pronouncing of a benediction on the people assembled in the court was a necessary part of the high priest's duty, and the formula in which it was to be given is described (Num 6:23-27). came down from…
World English Bible — Public domain