Éxodo 29

VBL · Chapter 29/40

1Así es como debes proceder para dedicarlos y que me sirvan como sacerdotes. Coge un novillo y dos carneros sin defectos.

2Luego, con la mejor harina de trigo, haced lo siguiente sin levadura: pan, pasteles mezclados con aceite de oliva y barquillos espolvoreados con aceite de oliva.

3Ponlos todos en una cesta y tráelos como ofrenda, junto con el toro y los dos carneros.

4Lleva a Aarón y a sus hijos a la entrada del Tabernáculo de Reunión y lávalos con agua.

5Toma los vestidos y pónselos a Aarón: la túnica, el manto del efod, el efod mismo y el pectoral. Ata el efod sobre él con su cinturón.

6Envuelve el turbante en la cabeza y ata la corona sagrada al turbante.

7Luego usa el aceite de la unción para ungirlo, vertiéndolo sobre su cabeza.

8Luego que vengan sus hijos y les pongan las túnicas.

9Ata las fajas alrededor de Aarón y sus hijos y ponles los tocados. El sacerdocio les pertenece para siempre.

10Lleva el toro al frente del Tabernáculo de Reunión, y Aarón y sus hijos deben poner sus manos sobre su cabeza.

11Luego mata el toro en presencia del Señor a la entrada del Tabernáculo de Reunión.

12Toma un poco de la sangre del toro y úntasela con el dedo en los cuernos del altar. Luego vierte el resto de la sangre en la base del altar.

13Tomen toda la grasa que cubre los intestinos, las mejores partes del hígado y los dos riñones con su grasa, y quemadlos en el altar.

14Pero quema la carne del toro, su piel y sus excrementos fuera del campamento, pues es una ofrenda por el pecado.

15A continuación, que Aarón y sus hijos pongan sus manos en la cabeza de uno de los carneros.

16Sacrifiquen el carnero, tomen su sangre y salpicaalrededor del altar.

17Corta el carnero en pedazos, lava los intestinos y las piernas, y ponlos con los otros pedazos y con la cabeza.

18Luego quema todo el carnero en el altar. Es una ofrenda quemada al Señor para ser aceptada por él.

19Entonces haz que Aarón y sus hijos coloquen sus manos sobre la cabeza del otro carnero.

20Luegosacrifica el carnero y pon un poco de su sangre en los lóbulos de las orejas derechas de Aarón y sus hijos, en los pulgares de sus manos derechas y en los dedos gordos de sus pies derechos. Salpica el resto de su sangre alrededor del altar.

21Toma un poco de la sangre del altar y un poco del aceite de la unción y rociadlo sobre Aarón y sus ropas, y sobre sus hijos y sus ropas. Entonces él y sus ropas serán sagradas, así como sus hijos y sus ropas.

22Toma la grasa del carnero, incluyendo la grasa de su amplio rabo, la grasa que cubre los intestinos, las mejores partes del hígado, los dos riñones con su grasa, así como el muslo derecho (porque este es un carnero para la ordenación).

23Toma también una barra de pan, una torta de pan hecha con aceite de oliva y una oblea de la cesta de pan hecho sin levadura que está en la presencia del Señor.

24Dáselos todos a Aarón y a sus hijos para que los mezan ante el Señor como ofrendamecida.

25Luego toma los diferentes panes y quémalos en el altar sobre el holocausto, para que sean agradables para el Señor.

26Toma el pecho del carnero de la ordenación de Aarón y mécelo ante el Señor como ofrenda mecida. Esta es la parte que puedes guardar.

27Separa para Aarón y sus hijos el pecho de la ofrenda mecida y el muslo de la ofrenda mecida, ambos tomados del carnero de la ordenación.

28De ahora en adelante, cuando los israelitas levanten las ofrendas de paz al Señor, estas partes pertenecerán a Aarón y a sus hijos para siempre como una parte regular de los israelitas.

29Las vestiduras sagradas que tiene Aarón serán transmitidas a sus descendientes, para que las lleven cuando sean ungidos y ordenados.

30El descendiente que le suceda como sacerdote y entre al Tabernáculo de Reunión para servir en el Lugar Santo deberá llevarlas durante los siete días de su ordenación.

31Toma el carnero de la ordenación y hierve su carne en un lugar sagrado.

32Aarón y sus hijos comerán la carne del carnero y el pan que está en la cesta, a la entrada del Tabernáculo de Reunión,

33Comerán la carne y el pan que formaban parte de las ofrendas que simbolizaban el perdón requerido para su ordenación y dedicación. Nadie más puede comerlos, porque son sagrados.

34Si alguna de las carnes de la ordenación o algún pan permanece hasta la mañana siguiente, quemen lo que sobre. No debe ser comido, porque es sagrado.

35Este es el proceso que debes seguir para Aarón y sus hijos, observando todas las instrucciones que les he dado. La ordenación durará siete días.

36Cada día debes sacrificar un toro como ofrenda para el perdón por el pecado. Al hacer esto, el altar necesita ser purificado. Úngelo para hacerlo sagrado.

37Durante siete días purificarás el altar y lo consagrarás. Entonces el altar se volverá completamente santo, y todo lo que toque el altar se volverá santo.

38Ofrecerás dos corderos de un año en el altar, diaria y continuamente.

39Por la mañana ofrece un cordero y por la tarde, antes de que oscurezca, ofrece el otro.

40Con el primer cordero ofrece también una décima parte de una efa de harina de la mejor calidad, mezclada con un cuarto de hin de aceite de oliva, y una libación de un cuarto de hin de vino.

41Entonces ofrece el segundo cordero por la tarde, con las mismas ofrendas de grano y bebida que por la mañana, un holocausto al Señor y aceptado por él.

42Estos holocaustos se harán continuamente por todas las generaciones a la entrada del Tabernáculo de Reunión en presencia del Señor. Allí me reuniré para hablar con ustedes.

43Me reuniré con los israelitas allí, y ese lugar será sagrado por mi gloria.

44De esta manera dedicaré el Tabernáculo de Reunión y el altar, y dedicaré a Aarón y sus hijos a servirme como sacerdotes.

45Entonces viviré con los israelitas y seré su Dios.

46Ellos sabrán que soy el Señor su Dios, que los sacó de Egipto, para poder vivir con ellos. Yo soy el Señor su Dios.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Detailed instructions are given for the ceremony consecrating Aaron and his sons as priests, including ritual washings, vestments, specific sacrifices, and the institution of the continual daily sacrifice at the altar.

Explanation

This chapter describes the elaborate, symbolic process by which Aaron and his sons would be formally set apart for priestly service, a process involving physical purification (washing), special vestments, anointing with sacred oil, and multiple sacrifices with distinct purposes — one for the atonement of sin, another as a whole burnt offering of total dedication, and a third specifically called the 'ram of consecration.' The detail of applying blood to the right ear lobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe (v. 20) symbolized the priest's complete consecration: his ears to hear God's word, his hands for sacred service, and his feet to walk in divine paths. The institution of the continual daily sacrifice of two lambs (morning and evening) established a constant rhythm of worship that would mark Israel's religious life for centuries, culminating in the promise that God would dwell continually among his people (v. 45-46), the true purpose of this whole elaborate ritual structure.

Fun facts

  • The continual sacrifice, offered every morning and evening 'throughout your generations' (v. 42), would continue to be practiced in the Jerusalem temple for over a thousand years, until its destruction by the Romans in 70 A.D., making it one of the most enduring rituals in world religious history.
  • The application of blood to the priest's right ear, hand, and foot (v. 20) is a rite of complete bodily consecration with no exact known parallel in other cultures of the ancient Near East, suggesting a specific and unique theological symbolism developed within Israel's own tradition.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Éxodo 29:1Describes the ceremony consecrating Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, starting with the choice of animals: one young bull and two rams without physical blemish.
  2. Éxodo 29:2Besides the animals, the ceremony required different kinds of unleavened bread, all made with fine wheat flour mixed with olive oil.
  3. Éxodo 29:3These loaves were placed in a basket and presented together with the animals at the moment of consecration.
  4. Éxodo 29:4Before putting on any sacred garment, Aaron and his sons went through a full ritual washing at the entrance of the tabernacle.
  5. Éxodo 29:5After the washing, Aaron was dressed piece by piece in the complete priestly garb, in the order described here: tunic, robe, ephod, breastplate, and sash.
  6. Éxodo 29:6The turban and the holy crown, probably the gold plate mentioned in chapter 28, completed the garb on Aaron’s head.
  7. Éxodo 29:7Pouring oil on the head was the gesture that officially sealed someone’s consecration for a sacred role, here the start of Aaron’s priesthood. That is where the idea of “anointed” comes from, someone set apart and authorized by that ritual.
  8. Éxodo 29:8After Aaron, it was his sons’ turn to put on their own priestly tunics, simpler than the high priest’s.
  9. Éxodo 29:9Sashes and caps completed the garb of Aaron’s sons, formalizing their priesthood as something permanent, passed down through the following generations.
  10. Éxodo 29:10Laying hands on the animal’s head before the sacrifice was a gesture of identification: it represented the symbolic transfer of whatever needed to be dealt with, such as guilt or impurity, from the person to the animal that would be offered in his place.
  11. Éxodo 29:11The bull was slaughtered right at the entrance of the tabernacle, a place charged with meaning as the point of access to the sacred space.
  12. Éxodo 29:12Applying blood to the “horns,” the points at the altar’s four corners, was part of the ritual purifying the altar itself before it was used. The blood symbolized life given up, used here to make the altar fit for sacred service.
  13. Éxodo 29:13The fat surrounding the bull’s internal organs, including the liver and kidneys, was set apart specifically to be burned on the altar.
  14. Éxodo 29:14Unlike other sacrifices, whose meat was eaten by the priests or by the one offering it, this “sin offering” was entirely burned outside the camp, with nothing from it kept for use. This marked the particular gravity of this kind of offering, tied to the purifying of guilt.
  15. Éxodo 29:15After the bull, the first of the two rams went through the same gesture of the laying on of hands, symbolically transferring something from Aaron and his sons to the animal.
  16. Éxodo 29:16The blood of this first ram was sprinkled all around the sides of the altar, unlike the bull’s blood, which went straight to the base.
  17. Éxodo 29:17The ram was cut into pieces, and its inner parts and legs were washed before being put back together with the rest of the animal for burning.
  18. Éxodo 29:18A “burnt offering” is a sacrifice in which the entire animal was burned, with nothing left over to be eaten. The phrase “sweet savour” is not about the smell itself, but an old way of saying the offering was acceptable, properly fulfilling its function.
  19. Éxodo 29:19The second ram, called the ram of consecration, received the same initial gesture of the laying on of hands as the other animals.
  20. Éxodo 29:20Applying blood to the ear and to the thumb of the right hand and the right foot was part of the priests’ consecration ceremony. The general idea behind the gesture was to set apart those parts of the body, hearing, acting, walking, for sacred service, though the text does not spell out the exact meaning of each point chosen.
  21. Éxodo 29:21A mixture of blood from the altar and anointing oil was sprinkled on Aaron, his sons, and their very garments, consecrating both people and clothes at the same time.
  22. Éxodo 29:22Specific parts of the second ram, including the fat tail and the right shoulder, were set apart precisely because it was the ram of consecration, given different treatment from ordinary sacrifices.
  23. Éxodo 29:23One loaf of bread, one cake kneaded with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread completed the specific offering of this ritual.
  24. Éxodo 29:24These portions of meat and bread were placed in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and waved ritually before God as a formal presentation of the offering.
  25. Éxodo 29:25After this gesture of presentation, the offering was taken from their hands and burned on the altar together with the rest of the sacrifice.
  26. Éxodo 29:26The breast of the ram of consecration, after going through that same ritual waving motion, was set aside as Moses’s personal portion in this ceremony.
  27. Éxodo 29:27Determines that both the breast and the shoulder ritually presented in this ceremony had to go on being consecrated as special portions from then on.
  28. Éxodo 29:28These specific portions of the peace offering would permanently become part of the support reserved for the priests, given by the people of Israel themselves.
  29. Éxodo 29:29Aaron’s sacred garments did not stay with him alone: they would be inherited by the sons who succeeded him in the office of high priest.
  30. Éxodo 29:30Each new high priest would wear these garments for seven straight days on taking office, a period of consecration before fully carrying out the role.
  31. Éxodo 29:31The meat of the ram of consecration was boiled, not roasted like other sacrifices, and prepared specifically within the tabernacle’s sacred space.
  32. Éxodo 29:32Aaron and his sons ate this meat together with the bread from the basket, a ritual meal reserved exclusively for them at the entrance of the tent.
  33. Éxodo 29:33The meat and bread used in this consecration ritual could only be eaten by Aaron and his sons, the priests themselves. No one outside the priestly family was allowed to eat it, even an ordinary Israelite, because it was a meal reserved specifically for those being consecrated.
  34. Éxodo 29:34Any leftover of this sacred meal by the next day had to be burned, never eaten, because it was considered too holy to become ordinary food once the time had passed.
  35. Éxodo 29:35Sums up that this whole consecration process had to be repeated for seven straight days, following exactly the instructions God gave Moses.
  36. Éxodo 29:36During each of these seven days, a new bull would be sacrificed as a sin offering, a purification ritual repeated daily for the altar itself.
  37. Éxodo 29:37At the end of the seven days of purification, the altar would become so holy that anything touching it would also come to be considered holy.
  38. Éxodo 29:38Besides the seven-day consecration ritual, a permanent daily offering is established here: two year-old lambs sacrificed every day, without exception.
  39. Éxodo 29:39One lamb was offered in the morning and the other in the evening, marking the beginning and end of the day with a constant sacrifice.
  40. Éxodo 29:40Each lamb was accompanied by a portion of flour mixed with olive oil and a quantity of wine, supplementing the main offering of meat.
  41. Éxodo 29:41The evening lamb followed exactly the same pattern as the morning one, keeping the daily offering always identical at both times.
  42. Éxodo 29:42This continual daily sacrifice had to be kept up by all of Israel’s future generations, marking the entrance of the tabernacle as the meeting place between God and the people.
  43. Éxodo 29:43God promises to meet with the people at exactly this point of constant sacrifice, and His own glory would be what made that place holy.
  44. Éxodo 29:44Holiness would extend through the whole system: the tabernacle, the altar, and the priests themselves, all consecrated specifically for service to God.
  45. Éxodo 29:45The final goal of this whole elaborate structure is stated directly here: God dwelling physically in the midst of the people of Israel themselves.
  46. Éxodo 29:46Closes the chapter by linking this dwelling of God among the people to the same deliverance from Egypt told at the start of the book, the underlying reason for the whole covenant.

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