Chapter Overview
Summary
Exodus 29 details the priestly consecration (vv. 1–37) and the daily morning-and-evening burnt offering (vv. 38–46). The chapter is dense with LXX atonement vocabulary: washing, clothing, anointing, sacrificial blood on ear/thumb/toe, fire-offerings, ordination-rams, and the concluding indwelling-promise. Hebrews 5–10 builds its entire argument for Christ's superior priesthood against this Aaronic ordination-paradigm.
Notable Variants
The 'pleasing aroma' formula (osmē euōdias) throughout the chapter, cited at Eph 5:2 ('a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God') and 2 Cor 2:15; the blood-on-ear-thumb-toe ordination at 29:20 echoed at Lev 14:14 (cleansed-leper ritual); the 'I will dwell among them' at 29:45 that 2 Cor 6:16 and Rev 21:3 cite as the new-covenant fulfillment; the teleiosis ordination vocabulary at 29:33 that Hebrews applies Christologically to Christ's perfecting.
Structural Notes
LXX Exodus 29 preserves MT's 46-verse structure.
"This is what you shall do to them to consecrate them to serve Me as priests: Take one young bull and two unblemished rams,
The priestly consecration instructions open. One bull and two rams is the sacrificial inventory for ordination.
along with unleavened bread, unleavened loaves mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil — made from wheat flour.
Unleavened bread, loaves, wafers — with oil — track MT.
Place them in a single basket and bring them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams.
Single-basket presentation tracks MT.
Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.
The washing-with-water at the tent-entrance tracks MT. Priestly washing supplies NT baptismal-typology at 1 Cor 6:11 ('you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified') and Titus 3:5 ('the washing of regeneration').
Take the garments and dress Aaron in the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastpiece. Fasten the ephod on him with its waistband.
The five-piece vestment tracks MT.
Place the turban on his head and set the holy diadem on the turban.
Turban-and-diadem placement tracks MT.
Take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him.
Masoretic (WLC)
לָקַחְתָּ אֶת־שֶׁמֶן הַמִּשְׁחָה וְיָצַקְתָּ עַל־רֹאשׁוֹ וּמָשַׁחְתָּ אֹתוֹ
Take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him
Septuagint (LXX)
καὶ λήμψῃ τοῦ ἐλαίου τοῦ χρίσματος καὶ ἐπιχεεῖς αὐτὸ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ χρίσεις αὐτόν
Take anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him
The anointing-oil-and-anointing-verb combination — chrismatos … chriseis — shares the same Greek root as christos ('anointed one'). The Aaronic priestly chrisma is the linguistic ancestor of 'Christ.'
1 John 2:20, 27 ('you have an anointing [chrisma] from the Holy One … the anointing you received from him remains in you') deploys this Aaronic-priestly anointing-vocabulary to describe Christian participation in Christ's anointing.
The NT's chriō / chrisma / christos word-cluster draws its cultic-theological freight from exactly these Exodus-Leviticus priestly-anointing texts.
Bring his sons forward and dress them in tunics.
Aaron's sons' tunics track MT.
Bind sashes on Aaron and his sons and put caps on them. The priesthood shall be theirs as a permanent statute. Then you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.
The permanent-statute priesthood establishes the Aaronic line. The LXX's teleioō ('perfect, consecrate') for Hebrew male yad ('fill the hand, ordain') is the verb Hebrews applies to Christ: Heb 2:10, 5:9, 7:28 ('consecrates forever'). The Aaronic ordination word becomes the Christological perfection word.
Bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the bull's head.
The hand-laying on the bull's head tracks MT. The hand-laying transfers sins to the sacrificial animal — the mechanism Hebrews 13:12 alludes to ('Jesus suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people through his own blood').
Slaughter the bull before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
The bull slaughter tracks MT.
Take some of the bull's blood and apply it to the horns of the altar with your finger. Pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar.
The blood-on-altar-horns ritual tracks MT.
Take all the fat covering the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat on them, and turn them into smoke on the altar.
The fat-on-altar smoke offering tracks MT.
But the flesh of the bull, its hide, and its dung you shall burn outside the camp. It is a purification offering.
Masoretic (WLC)
וְאֶת־בְּשַׂר הַפָּר וְאֶת־עֹרוֹ וְאֶת־פִּרְשׁוֹ תִּשְׂרֹף בָּאֵשׁ מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה
the flesh of the bull, its hide, and its dung you shall burn outside the camp
Septuagint (LXX)
τὰ δὲ κρέα τοῦ μόσχου καὶ τὸ δέρμα καὶ τὴν κόπρον κατακαύσεις πυρὶ ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς
the flesh of the calf and the hide and the dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp
Hebrews 13:11–12 makes a direct theological application: 'the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.'
The 'outside the camp' (exō tēs parembolēs) is the exact LXX phrase Hebrews uses. Christ's crucifixion outside Jerusalem's walls fulfills the purification-offering typology.
Hebrews 13:13 continues: 'let us go to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.' The Christian's identification with the outside-the-camp Christ is itself framed in LXX-Exodus-29 vocabulary.
Take the first ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the ram's head.
First-ram hand-laying tracks MT.
Slaughter the ram, collect its blood, and dash it against the sides of the altar.
Blood-dashing on altar-sides tracks MT.
Cut the ram into sections, wash its entrails and legs, and arrange them with the other sections and the head.
Sectioning of the ram tracks MT.
Turn the entire ram into smoke on the altar — it is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, a fire offering to the LORD.
Masoretic (WLC)
רֵיחַ נִיחוֹחַ אִשֶּׁה לַיהוָה
a pleasing aroma, a fire offering to the LORD
Septuagint (LXX)
ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας θυσίασμα κυρίῳ
a fragrance of sweet smell, a sacrifice to the Lord
The 'pleasing aroma' formula (osmē euōdias) is the LXX's consistent rendering of Hebrew reach nichoach. The formula runs through Genesis 8:21, Exodus 29, Leviticus 1–6, Numbers 15 — every sacrificial context.
Ephesians 5:2 ('Christ loved us and gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God,' prosphora kai thysia tō theō eis osmēn euōdias) cites this LXX Exodus 29 phrase verbatim. Christ's self-sacrifice is cast as the LXX's 'fragrant offering' — the ultimate pleasing aroma.
2 Corinthians 2:14–15 ('through us the fragrance of the knowledge of him … we are the aroma of Christ to God') extends the priestly-aroma motif to apostolic ministry. The whole metaphoric field is LXX-sacrificial.
Take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.
Second-ram hand-laying tracks MT.
Slaughter the ram and take some of its blood. Apply it to the lobe of Aaron's right ear, the lobe of his sons' right ears, the thumb of their right hands, and the big toe of their right feet. Dash the remaining blood against the sides of the altar.
Masoretic (WLC)
תְּנוּךְ אֹזֶן אַהֲרֹן וְעַל־תְּנוּךְ אֹזֶן בָּנָיו הַיְמָנִית וְעַל־בֹּהֶן יָדָם הַיְמָנִית וְעַל־בֹּהֶן רַגְלָם הַיְמָנִית
the lobe of Aaron's right ear, the thumb of their right hands, and the big toe of their right feet
Septuagint (LXX)
τὸν λοβὸν τοῦ ὠτίου Ααρων τοῦ δεξιοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς χειρὸς τῆς δεξιᾶς καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τοῦ ποδὸς τοῦ δεξιοῦ
the lobe of Aaron's right ear, the tip of the right hand, and the tip of the right foot
The blood-on-ear-thumb-toe ritual is one of the strangest priestly practices. Leviticus 14:14 applies the identical ritual to the cleansed-leper restoration.
Patristic typology read the three body parts as representing hearing (ear → obedience), doing (hand → action), and walking (foot → conduct) — the three zones of priestly life sanctified by atoning blood.
Take some of the blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and their garments. He and his garments will be consecrated, along with his sons and their garments.
Blood-and-oil sprinkling for garment-consecration tracks MT.
Take from the ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh — for it is the ram of ordination.
The ordination-ram portion-list tracks MT.
Take one round loaf, one loaf of oiled bread, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD.
Bread-loaf-wafer from the basket tracks MT.
Place everything on the palms of Aaron and his sons, and elevate them as a wave offering before the LORD.
Wave-offering on priestly hands tracks MT. The palm-elevation gesture is the ancient Near-Eastern consecration-gesture.
Then take them from their hands and turn them into smoke on the altar, on top of the burnt offering — a pleasing aroma before the LORD, a fire offering to the LORD.
Smoke-offering of the wave-elements tracks MT.
Take the breast of Aaron's ordination ram and elevate it as a wave offering before the LORD. It shall be your portion.
Breast-of-ram wave-offering tracks MT.
Consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution — what was elevated and what was offered — from the ordination ram of Aaron and his sons.
Breast-and-thigh consecration tracks MT.
This shall be a permanent allotment for Aaron and his sons from the Israelites, for it is a contribution — a contribution the Israelites give to the LORD from their peace offering sacrifices.
Permanent-allotment principle tracks MT. 1 Corinthians 9:13 ('those who work in the temple food get their food from the temple … the Lord commanded that those who preach the gospel should get their living by the gospel') cites this principle of priestly-provision-from-sacrifice.
Aaron's sacred garments shall pass to his sons after him, for their anointing and ordination in them.
Succession-of-garments principle tracks MT.
The son who succeeds him as priest shall wear them for seven days when he enters the tent of meeting to serve in the holy place.
Seven-day installation tracks MT.
Take the ordination ram and boil its meat in a holy place.
Ram-boiling in holy place tracks MT.
Aaron and his sons shall eat the ram's meat and the bread from the basket at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Priestly eating of ram and bread tracks MT.
They shall eat the things through which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. No unauthorized person may eat them — they are holy.
Masoretic (WLC)
וְאָכְלוּ אֹתָם אֲשֶׁר כֻּפַּר בָּהֶם לְמַלֵּא אֶת־יָדָם לְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתָם
They shall eat the things through which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration
Septuagint (LXX)
ἔδονται αὐτά ἐν οἷς ἡγιάσθησαν ἐν αὐτοῖς τελειῶσαι τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν ἁγιάσαι αὐτούς
They shall eat those things by which they were sanctified, by which to perfect their hands, to sanctify them
TELEIOŌ. The LXX consistently uses teleioō ('perfect, complete, consecrate') for Hebrew male yad ('fill the hand' — the ordination idiom).
Hebrews 2:10 ('it was fitting that God … should make the founder of their salvation perfect through sufferings,' teleiōsai), Hebrews 5:9 ('being made perfect,' teleiōtheis), Hebrews 7:28 ('a Son who has been made perfect forever,' teteleiōmenon), all apply this LXX-priestly-consecration vocabulary to Christ. Christ's 'perfection' is his priestly 'ordination' — completed forever.
The entire Hebrews Christological perfection-theme traces to this single LXX-Exodus verbal-choice.
If any of the ordination meat or bread remains until morning, burn the remainder in fire. It must not be eaten — it is holy.
Burning of leftover ordination-meat tracks MT.
Do this for Aaron and his sons exactly as I have commanded you. Their ordination shall last seven days.
Seven-day ordination duration tracks MT.
Offer a bull as a purification offering each day for atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.
Daily purification-offering for altar-atonement tracks MT.
For seven days make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. The altar will become most holy — whatever touches it becomes holy.
'Whatever touches it becomes holy' tracks MT. The contagion-of-holiness principle becomes in Hebrews a Christological feature: Christ's touch makes clean rather than making himself unclean (Matt 8:3, Mark 1:41).
"This is what you shall offer on the altar: two year-old lambs each day, regularly.
The daily-burnt-offering of two lambs tracks MT. The tamid offering becomes the constant rhythm of Israelite-priestly life until the Temple destruction of 70 CE.
Offer one lamb in the morning and the second lamb at twilight,
Morning and twilight timing tracks MT. The morning-and-evening hours structure Jewish and early Christian prayer (Ps 55:17, Daniel 6:10, Acts 3:1 'the ninth hour of prayer').
with the first lamb: a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter hin of pressed oil, and a quarter hin of wine as a drink offering.
Flour, oil, wine proportions track MT.
Offer the second lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and drink offering as in the morning — a pleasing aroma, a fire offering to the LORD.
The duplicated evening-offering tracks MT.
This is a perpetual burnt offering throughout your generations, at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD — where I will meet with you to speak with you there.
Perpetual-offering vocabulary tracks MT.
I will meet there with the Israelites, and it will be sanctified by My glory.
'Sanctified by my glory' (hagiasthēsomai en doxē mou) tracks MT.
I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests.
Consecration of tent, altar, priests tracks MT.
I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.
Masoretic (WLC)
וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God
Septuagint (LXX)
καὶ ἐπικληθήσομαι ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς Ισραηλ
I will be invoked among the sons of Israel and will be their God
A revealing LXX-MT divergence. MT: 'I will DWELL among them' (ve-shakhanti). LXX: 'I will BE CALLED UPON among them' (epiklēthēsomai).
The LXX consistently softens indwelling-language. MT's Shekhinah-theology (God's personal presence in the tabernacle) becomes in LXX a call-and-invocation relationship.
Revelation 21:3 ('the dwelling [skēnē] of God is with mankind, and he will dwell [skēnōsei] with them') explicitly cites the MT-style indwelling formula — not the LXX softening. The NT's final tabernacle-theology prefers the MT's bolder dwelling-language.
John 1:14 ('the Word … tabernacled [eskēnōsen] among us') similarly uses the MT-style indwelling verb rather than the LXX's epiklēsis formulation.
They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God."
The knowing-I-am-the-LORD conclusion — 'I am the LORD their God who brought them out of Egypt SO THAT I MIGHT DWELL among them' — reaffirms the dwelling-purpose of the Exodus. The whole chapter closes with the cultic-in-communion purpose: liberation was always for presence.