Albert Barnes Commentary Leviticus 8:14-36

"And he brought the bullock of the sin-offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock of the sin-offering. And he slew it; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement for it. And he took all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat; and Moses burned it upon the altar. But the bullock, and its skin, and its flesh, and its dung, he burnt with fire without the camp; as Jehovah commanded Moses. And he presented the ram of the burnt-offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. And he killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about. And he cut the ram into its pieces; and Moses burnt the head, and the pieces, and the fat. And he washed the inwards and the legs with water; and Moses burnt the whole ram upon the altar: it was a burnt-offering for a sweet savor: it was an offering made by fire unto Jehovah; as Jehovah commanded Moses. And he presented the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood thereof, and put it upon the tip of Aaron`s right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. And he brought Aaron`s sons; and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot: and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about. And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right thigh: and out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before Jehovah, he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat, and upon the right thigh: and he put the whole upon the hands of Aaron, and upon the hands of his sons, and waved them for a wave-offering before Jehovah. And Moses took them from off their hands, and burnt them on the altar upon the burnt-offering: they were a consecration for a sweet savor: it was an offering made by fire unto Jehovah. And Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave-offering before Jehovah: it was Moses` portion of the ram of consecration; as Jehovah commanded Moses. And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons` garments with him, and sanctified Aaron, his garments, and his sons, and his sons` garments with him. And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Boil the flesh at the door of the tent of meeting: and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of consecration, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it. And that which remaineth of the flesh and of the bread shall ye burn with fire. And ye shall not go out from the door of the tent of meeting seven days, until the days of your consecration be fulfilled: for he shall consecrate you seven days. As hath been done this day, so Jehovah hath commanded to do, to make atonement for you. And at the door of the tent of meeting shall ye abide day and night seven days, and keep the charge of Jehovah, that ye die not: for so I am commanded. And Aaron and his sons did all the things which Jehovah commanded by Moses." — Leviticus 8:14-36 (ASV)

Moses as the mediator of the covenant of the Law (Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 8:6) was called to perform the priestly functions, in consecrating those on whom from then on those functions were to devolve, and in inaugurating the legal order of sacrifices. See the note on Exodus 40:23. The sin-offering was now offered for the first time. The succession in which the sacrifices followed each other on this occasion—first the sin-offering, then the burnt-offering, and lastly the peace-offering—is based on the meaning of each sacrifice, and became the established custom in later ages. The worshipper passed through a spiritual process.

He had transgressed the Law, and he needed the atonement signified by the sin-offering: if his offering had been made in truth and sincerity, he could then offer himself as an accepted person, as a sweet savour, in the burnt-offering; and in consequence, he could enjoy communion with the Lord and with his brothers in the peace-offering.

See the marginal references. The flesh of the sin-offering could not be eaten by any but a legally consecrated priest (see the note on Leviticus 6:25). Moses therefore could not eat of it himself, though he was, for the occasion, performing the duties of a priest. Those whom he was consecrating could not eat it, not only because they were not yet duly installed, but because the sacrifice was offered on their behalf, and the body of the victim stood to them in the same relation as that of the regular sin-offering afterward stood to the high priest (Leviticus 8:14–17).

Purified the altar ... sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it — The altar had been sanctified by the anointing oil (Leviticus 8:11) like the priests who were to officiate at it; it was now, like them, sanctified by blood, in acknowledgment of the alienation of all nature, in itself, from God, and the need of a reconciliation to Him of all things by blood (Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 9:21–22). See Leviticus 17:11; Exodus 28:38. (Leviticus 8:15)

Atonement having been made, Aaron and his sons were now permitted, by the laying on of their hands, to make themselves one with the victim, which was to be sent up to Yahweh as a burnt sacrifice for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the Lord. All was done strictly according to the ritual (Leviticus 1:3–9), except that Moses performed the duties of the priest (Leviticus 8:18–21).

The ram of consecration — The sacrifice of this ram was by far the most unique part of the whole ceremony. The words may be literally rendered “the ram of the fillings,” and the name has been supposed to have reference to the ceremony in which Moses filled the hands of the priests; see Leviticus 8:27. The offering was in the highest sense “the sacrifice of completion or fulfilling,” as being the central point of the consecrating rite. The final perfection of the creature is consecration to the Lord (Leviticus 8:22).

Before sprinkling the blood around the altar in the usual manner, Moses took a portion of the blood and put some of it on the right extremities of each of the priests. This, being performed with the blood of the peace-offering, has been supposed to figure the readiness of the priest who is at peace with Yahweh to hear with the ear and obey the divine word, to perform with the hand the sacred duties of his office, and to walk with the feet in the way of holiness (Leviticus 8:23, Leviticus 8:24).

In the rite of filling the hands of the priests, Moses took the portions of the victim which usually belonged to the altar, with the right shoulder (or leg); he placed upon them one cake of each of the three kinds of unleavened bread contained in the basket (see the note on Leviticus 8:2), and then put the whole first upon the hands of Aaron and in succession upon the hands of his sons: in each case, according to Jewish tradition, he put his own hands under the hands of the priest, moving them backwards and forwards, so as to wave the mass to and fro (Leviticus 8:25–28).

In this remarkable ceremony the gifts of the people appear to have been made over to the priests, as if in trust, for the service of the altar. The articles were presented to Yahweh and solemnly waved in the hands of the priests, but not by their own act and deed. The mediator of the Law, who was expressly commissioned on this occasion, was the agent in the process.

The rump — See the note on Leviticus 3:9. (Leviticus 8:25)

The heave-shoulder was the ordinary allotted share of the officiating priest, but the wave-breast appears to have been awarded to Moses as the servant of Yahweh now especially appointed for the priestly service (Leviticus 8:29).

The sprinkling was on their garments as well as their persons, because it belonged to them in reference to the office with which they had been formally invested by putting on the garments. (See the note on Exodus 28:3.) The union of the two symbols of the atoning blood and the inspiring anointing appears to be a fit conclusion of the entire rite (Leviticus 8:30).

The rites of consecration were to last a whole week, and thus, like the longer of the annual festivals, were connected in an emphatic manner with the sabbatical number of the covenant. During this period the priests were not to leave the holy precinct for the sake of any worldly business; and the whole series of ceremonies, including the sacrifice of the Ram of consecration, was to be gone through on each day. Compare the marginal references (Leviticus 8:33–36).

Rather, you shall not go away from the entrance of the tent. With this agree Cranmer, the Geneva Bible, etc. The meaning is evidently that they were not to go out of the court, as is more clearly expressed in Leviticus 8:35 (Leviticus 8:33).

That you die not — See the note on Exodus 28:35. (Leviticus 8:35)