John Calvin Commentary Leviticus 8:10

"And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them." — Leviticus 8:10 (ASV)

And Moses took the anointing oil. I have stated why God commanded that the priest himself, as well as all the vessels, should be consecrated with oil, namely, because without the influence of the Spirit, all the sacrifices would be unsavory.

It is by the operation of the same Spirit that Christ was made the peacemaker between God and men, because this dignity would not otherwise belong to flesh and human nature.

Aaron was therefore anointed, together with his sons, before he was admitted to the priestly office. For it is afterwards added that "the bullock for sin"⁴⁰⁵ was brought, upon which Aaron laid his hands.

Now, although even then he began to discharge his office, Moses still occupied the first place and performed, as it were, the final act. This is why he sprinkled the horns of the altar with the blood, poured the remainder at its base for expiation, and burned the sacrifice upon the altar.

The imposition of hands in the sacrifices was not only a symbol of presentation but also a testimony of guilt transferred to the victim. However, since this last statement may be unclear due to its brevity, I will explain it more clearly.

If any private individual offered a victim, the imposition of hands signified that he transferred the guilt of his sin to the victim. Hence the name of piaculum,⁴⁰⁶ because it sustained the curse of God and was substituted in the sinner's place, who unburdens himself upon it of whatever exposed him to the judgment of God.

But since common hands were unworthy to consecrate a victim to God, the priestly office intervened. This is the reason why Aaron and his sons put their hands on each of the sacrifices, so that this kind of atonement (piaculi) might be the beginning of their consecration. This consecration was completed in the second ram, with whose blood Moses stained their right ears, the thumbs of their right hands, and the great toes of their right feet.

A multitude of questions arises here: Why was only one side of the priests consecrated, as if their left side remained polluted? Why was consecration not also imparted to their eyes, and especially to their mouth, which was to be the organ of the Holy Spirit?

But this warning must always be kept in mind: we should be soberly wise on those points where certain knowledge cannot be drawn from Scripture. For our curiosity is not only frivolous but also perverse and harmful when we desire to know more than God has revealed.

However, the conjecture is probable that the whole body was consecrated through the right side. We have already seen elsewhere⁴⁰⁷ that the hands and feet designate the whole life and actions of men.

In this view, the cleanness of the heart and the purity of the hands encompass all that is internal and external in humanity, like the root and the fruit. As for the feet, the metaphor of walking is well-known; and the feet are said to run to evil and to be swift to shed blood when the wicked and the despisers of God resort to evil deeds.

Besides, since this consecration was not for the office of teaching but for that of intercession, the ear rather than the tongue is stained with blood, because the chief virtue that obtains grace in the sacrifices is obedience. To this the passage in Psalm 40:6 refers: Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou bored:⁴⁰⁸ to which the words of Jeremiah correspond:

Did I command anything respecting sacrifices, and not rather that your fathers should obey my voice?⁴⁰⁹ (Jeremiah 7:22–23).

And so Moses began the consecration at the ear, in order to devote the priest to God for obedience. Paul shows how this was fulfilled in Christ, where he celebrates His obedience in the sacrifice of His death, in order to reconcile His Father to us (Romans 5:19). I have spoken elsewhere of the kind of wave-offering which they called tnupha.⁴¹⁰

⁴⁰⁵ “For the sin-offering.” — A. V.

⁴⁰⁶ “Et voyla pourquoy les bestes ont porte le nom d’offense;” and behold wherefore the beasts bore the name of offence. — — Fr. “ “Piaculum; sacrum piaculare, et quicquid ad piandum et purgandum pertinet. ; sacrum piaculare, et quicquid ad piandum et purgandum pertinet. Metonymice, ipsa res, qum piaculi causa adhibetur; sic ipsa res, qum piaculi causa adhibetur; sic AEn. 6:153.En. 6:153.

⁴⁰⁷ See ante, vol. 2, p. 211..

⁴⁰⁸ A. V., “Mine ears hast thou opened.” Margin, “Heb., digged.” See “Mine ears hast thou opened.” Margin, “Heb., digged.” See C.’s translation and note. Cal. Soc. edit., translation and note. Cal. Soc. edit., vol. 2, p. 99..

⁴⁰⁹ This quotation is much abbreviated. C.’s exposition of the passage, (Cal. Soc. edit., exposition of the passage, (Cal. Soc. edit., vol. 1, p. 393,) and Mr. Owen’s ,) and Mr. Owen’s note, are worthy of consultation., are worthy of consultation.

⁴¹⁰ Heb., תנופה, thenuphah. See ante, vol. 2, p. 132, and note