John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 28:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 28



This chapter informs us of the servants God would have to minister to him in the house, or tabernacle, he had ordered to be made, even Aaron and his sons, Ex 28:1 of the garments they were to wear in their service, Ex 28:2 and first of the garments of the high priest, and particularly of the ephod, with the girdle, on the shoulder pieces of which were to be two onyx stones, with the names of the children of Israel engraved on them, Ex 28:6, and that of the breastplate of judgment, with the Urim and Thummum in it,

Ex 28:15 and of the robe of the ephod, Ex 28:31, and of the mitre, Ex 28:36 and then of the garments of the common priests, Ex 28:40.



Ver. 1. And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him,.... Moses is bid to fetch or send for Aaron and his sons to him: or "cause" them to "draw near" {n} to him, and stand before him, that he might in the name of the Lord, and by his authority, distinguish and separate them



from among the children of Israel: and before them all invest them with the office of priesthood, as it follows:



that they may minister unto me in the priest's office, before this time every master of a family was a priest, and might and did offer sacrifice, and all the Israelites were a kingdom of priests; and Moses, as Aben Ezra calls him, was "a priest of priests"; but now it being enough for him to be the political ruler of the people, and the prophet of the Lord, the priestly office is bestowed on Aaron and his sons; nor might any afterwards officiate in it but such as were of his family; and a great honour this was that was conferred on him, and to which he was called of God, as in Heb 5:4 and it is greatly in the favour of Moses, and which shows him to be an upright and undesigning man, that sought not to aggrandize himself and his family; that though he had so much honour and power himself, he sought not to entail any upon his posterity. It is hinted in the latter part of the preceding chapter, that Aaron and his sons should minister in the sanctuary, and look after the candlestick, and its lamps; and here the design of God concerning them is more fully opened, which was, that they should be his peculiar ministers and servants in his house, to do all the business appertaining to it:



even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons: who were all the sons that Aaron had that we read of; though Aben Ezra thinks it probable that he might have other sons, and therefore the names of those are particularly mentioned, who were to be taken into the priest's office with him; the two first of these died very quickly after this, in a very awful manner, as the sacred story relates; and from the other two sprung all the priests that were in all successive generations.



{n} brqh "appropinquare fac", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.





Exodus 28:2



Ver. 2. And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother,.... Called so, because in these he was to minister in the holy place, and perform holy service; and because typical of the holy human nature of Christ our great High Priest, and of his spotless righteousness, and of the garments of sanctification, both outward and inward, that all believers in him, who are made priests unto God, are arrayed with: Aaron and his sons being appointed priests, their garments are first described before their work and even before their consecration to their office; and there were some peculiar to Aaron, or the high priest, and different from those of his sons, or the common priests; and which are first treated of, as the breastplate, the robe of ephod, and the plate of gold; besides these, there were four more, common to all the priests, as the coat, the breeches, the girdle, and bonnet. Now whereas some of the Heathen priests performed their office, and offered their sacrifices, naked, which was very shameful and abominable, as Braunius {o} from various authors has shown, though this was not done by them all: in opposition to such a filthy practice, and to show his detestation of it, the Lord orders his priests to be clothed, and that in a very splendid manner, with garments



for glory and beauty; that is, with glorious and beautiful ones, and which would make his priests look so: and this was done, partly to point out the dignity of their office to themselves, that they might take care to behave suitable to it, and keep up the honour and credit of it; and partly to make them respectable unto men, and be honoured by them, none being clothed as they were, as Aben Ezra observes; but chiefly because they were typical of the glory and beauty of Christ's human nature, which was as a garment put on, and put off, and on again, and in which he officiated as a priest, and still does; and which is now very glorious, and in which he is fairer than any of the children of men; and of the garments of salvation, and robe of righteousness, in which all his people, his priests, appear exceeding glorious and beautiful, even in a perfection of beauty.



{o} De Vestitu Sacerdot. Heb. l. 1. c. 1. sect. 5. p. 11.





Exodus 28:3



Ver. 3. And thou shall speak unto all that are wise hearted,.... That have knowledge and understanding in mechanic arts, particularly in making garments; and it required men of more than ordinary skill to be employed in making these, because they were uncommon ones, and required a good deal of thought and judgment, and care and application, to make them exactly as they should be:



whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom; for besides a common understanding of things, these required a peculiar gift from God, which some men, as Bezaleel and Aholiab had:



that they may make Aaron's garments, to consecrate him to put upon him at the time of his consecration; and indeed this was one way, by which, as well as by sacrifices, that he was consecrated, see Ex 29:1,



that he may minister unto me in the priest's office for the priests, without having these garments on, might not minister in their office; for when these garments were off, as they were when they were out of their service, they were as other men, as laymen,

See Gill on "Eze 42:14".





Exodus 28:4



Ver. 4. And these are the garments which they shall make,.... Some for Aaron and some for his sons, some peculiar to the high priest, and others in common to him and other priests:



a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle; of each of which, with others, there is a more particular account in this chapter, and will be observed in their order:



and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons: as those before mentioned, with some others not mentioned; some for Aaron only, and others that were to be worn by his sons also:



that he may minister unto me in the priest's office; these were absolutely necessary to the execution of the priestly office, and an essential qualification for it, and without which it was not lawful to serve in it.





Exodus 28:5



Ver. 5. And they shall take,.... The Targum of Jonathan adds, out of their substance; that is, those that were wise hearted, and had knowledge and skill in making such garments; these were to take, not out of their own personal substance, but they were to take or receive from Moses what the people freely offered for such service, Ex 36:3,



gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen; pieces of gold, which they beat into thin plates, and drew into wires, and which they worked into stuffs, woollen or linen, or both, of the colours here mentioned; all which were made use of in the ephod, girdle, breastplate, &c. see Ex 39:3 and had a mystical significance in them.





Exodus 28:6



Ver. 6. And they shall make the ephod,.... This was the outermost garment of, all, and was put over the robe; it was a short garment, reaching to the loins, as Kimchi {p}; or to the buttocks, as Abarbinel {q}; and not to the heels or feet, as Jarchi {r}, and Maimonides {s}; for Josephus {t} says it was but a cubit long, which was little more than half a yard; he means that part of it which was distinct from the shoulder pieces, and came down from thence: the hinder part of it covered the back, and reached to the middle of the buttocks; and the forepart covered the breast and belly, and with shoulder pieces under the arm holes was buttoned with onyx stones upon the top of the shoulders, and was girt about the breast with a curious girdle: it had no sleeves, though Josephus {u} says it had, as appears from the make of it; it was different from the linen ephod worn by the common priests and others, and was a symbol of the human nature of Christ, our great High Priest: it was made of



gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work; the stuff of which it was made was interwoven with threads of gold, and threads of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and threads of linen, wrought with divers figures in a curious manner, which looked very beautiful; and was a fit emblem of the glory, excellency, and purity of Christ's human nature; of the various graces of the Spirit in it; of his heavenly original; of his blood, sufferings, and death, and glorious exaltation; and of its being a curious piece of workmanship wrought by the Lord himself, Heb 10:5.



{p} Comment. in 1 Chron. 15. 27. {q} Comment. in loc. {r} Comment. in loc. {s} Hilchot Cele Hamikdash, c. 9. sect. 9. {t} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 7. sect. 5. {u} Ib.





Exodus 28:7



Ver. 7. It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof,.... Which were two pieces that joined to the ephod, reaching from the arm holes to the shoulders both on the right and left, coming from before and behind; and meeting on the shoulders, were buttoned with two onyx stones, and covering the shoulders are called by this name:



joined at the two edges thereof; the two edges of the ephod; not sewed thereunto with a needle, as Maimonides {w} and other Jewish writers think, but were woven along with it, and in the weaving was of the same with it:



and so it shall be joined together; that is, the hinder and fore parts of the ephod in the shoulder pieces of it, shall be joined together by the two onyx stones upon them, hereafter mentioned, with which they were buttoned.



{w} Ut supra. (Hilchot Cele Hamikdash, c. 9. sect. 9.)





Exodus 28:8



Ver. 8. And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it,.... Which was worn along with it, and went out from it like two thongs, as Jarchi says, which girt the ephod close to the back and breast:



shall be of the same; of the same matter as the ephod, and woven in the same manner, and together with it:



according to the work thereof; wrought with the same coloured, curious, and cunning work:



even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; and from the gold in it, it was called a golden girdle, to distinguish it from others, and with it the priest was girt under the arm holes about the paps, to which the allusion is, Re 1:13 and is an emblem of the close union of the human nature of Christ to his divine which is the effect of his love to his people; which, as it is seen in his incarnation, so more especially in his sufferings and death; and it may denote his strength to do his work as a priest, his readiness to perform it, and his faithfulness and integrity in it; righteousness being the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.





Exodus 28:9



Ver. 9. And thou shall take two onyx stones,.... called from the colour of a man's nail, which they to resemble: the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call them stones of beryl, and so the Syriac version; the Septuagint, stones of emerald, and the Arabic version, crystal stones: but, according to Josephus {x}, they were sardonyx stones, and in which Brannius {y} thinks he was right:



and grave on them the names of the children of Israel; the names of the twelve sons of Jacob, six on one stone and six on the other, as often mentioned, for which onyx stones are very fit; and they must be very large to have so many letters graved upon them; for there is no reason to believe the initial letters of their names only were engraved, but their whole names at length. In the Museum at Dresden is an oriental onyx which cost 48,000 dollars; it is of an oval figure, and its longest diameter is almost six inches, and in such an one might easily be engraved so many names: and Wagenseil makes mention of one in the possession of the bishop of Bamberg, in which were represented Christ sitting, and teaching his twelve apostles standing round him, of which he has given the figure {z}: the onyx stone being of the colour observed, was a fit emblem of Christ in his human nature, and if the sardonyx, of him in both his natures; and as the twelve tribes of Israel were a figure of the church, their names being on two stones may denote both the Jewish and Gentile churches; these being precious stones on which they were engraven, may signify how valuable the church and its members are to Christ; and being alike there, their being equally loved of God, chosen in Christ, redeemed by his blood, interested in all the blessings of his grace, and shall enjoy the same glory; and their names being there, the distinct knowledge had of them by name, and being in ouches of gold, their dignity and safety, as afterwards declared.



{x} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 3. c. 7. sect. 5.) {y} De Vestitu Sacerd. Heb. l. 2. c. 18. sect. 4. p. 730. {z} Not. in Misn. Sotah, c. 9. p. 996.





Exodus 28:10



Ver. 10. Six of their names on one stone,.... The names of the six eldest on the stone upon the right shoulder:



and the other six names of the rest on the other stone: the names of the six youngest on the stone upon the left shoulder; for these stones, as afterwards said, were put on the shoulders of the priests,



according to their birth; the order of it; so that upon the first stone were engraven the names of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, and Naphtali; and on the second stone the names of Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin; and so they are disposed by Jarchi, with whom Josephus agrees {a}; though some Jewish writers, and particularly Maimonides {b}, place them otherwise; but this seems most agreeable to the letter and sense of the text.



{a} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 3. c. 7. sect. 5.) {b} Hilchot Cele Hamikdash, ut supra. (c. 9. sect. 9.)





Exodus 28:11



Ver. 11. With the work of an engraver in stone,.... Not in common but precious stones: Moses was not to do this himself, as it could not be supposed he should, but he was to employ an engraver, whose business it was, and one that was capable of doing it in a professional manner:



[like] the engravings of a signet shall thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: as in signets or seals, by which impressions are made on wax, the letters or figures are cut deep, that they might on the wax stand out; so it seems the letters of the names of the children of Israel were cut in these stones: this shows that engraving on precious stones is very old, and the ancients indeed are said to excel in this art:



thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold; in beazils or sockets, such as precious stones in rings are set in; these with the stones in them served as buttons to fasten together the hinder and fore part of the ephod on the shoulder pieces of it.





Exodus 28:12



Ver. 12. And thou shall put the stones upon the shoulders of the ephod,.... That is, the shoulder pieces of it; these stones were put there, the names of the twelve sons of Israel being engraven on them, and they, set in rims or sockets of gold, and serving for buttons to the shoulder pieces: but chiefly the design of them was



for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: not to put the Israelites in mind of the merits of their ancestors, as the Targum of Jonathan; for none of their works were meritorious, and some were not good, and not worthy of remembrance; but rather to put Aaron or the high priest in mind to pray and make intercession for the twelve tribes, whose names were on the stones; or rather to put God himself in remembrance of his promises made unto them, and that they were his dear, special, and peculiar people; just as the rainbow was to be a memorial to the Lord of the covenant he made with all flesh, and which is to be understood after the manner of men:



and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial; signifying his presentation of them to the Lord when he appeared before him on the mercy seat; his intercession for them, and his patient bearing all their infirmities and weaknesses; in which he was a type of Christ, who presents all his people to his divine Father, makes intercession for them, and bears all their burdens, the care and government of them being upon his shoulders, Isa 9:6.





Exodus 28:13



Ver. 13. And thou shalt make ouches of gold. Or sockets of gold, to put the two onyx stones in, Ex 28:11 for of other ouches we read not, excepting the enclosings, in which the twelve stones of the breastplate were set, Ex 28:20 and these are again mentioned because of the chains to be fastened to them, of which in the following verse.





Exodus 28:14



Ver. 14. And two chains of pure gold at the ends,.... The use of which was to hang the breast plate on, after described; one end of them was fastened to rings on the ouches in the shoulder pieces, and the other end to rings on the breastplate, and thus it hung:



of wreathen work shall thou make them; these chains were not made after the manner of circles or ringlets coupled together, as chains usually are, but of golden wires twisted together as a rope is twisted



and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches; to the ouches on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, in which the onyx stones were set, very probably to rings that were in these ouches.





Exodus 28:15



Ver. 15. And thou shall make the breastplate of judgment,.... Called a "breastplate", because worn upon the breast of the high priest; and a breastplate "of judgment", because it was to put him in mind that he should do justice and judgment in the execution of his office, and that he should have at heart the judgment of the people of Israel; and in difficult cases should ask it of God, and faithfully declare it to them: it was, with the twelve stones in it, an emblem of the church and people of God, borne upon the heart of Christ our great High Priest, who are made righteous by him, yea, the righteousness of God in him, and are called by his name, the Lord our righteousness; the judgment or government of whom is committed to him, and which he exercises, by appointing laws and ordinances for them, by constituting and qualifying persons to act under him, to explain those laws, and see them put in execution, by vindicating and protecting them, and by the open justification of them at the last day:



with cunning work, after the work of the ephod thou shall make it; wrought with divers figures in a very curious manner:



of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it; a piece of stuff interwoven with threads of gold, or golden wires, and with threads of yarn, of blue, purple, and scarlet colours, and with threads of fine twined linen six times doubled; all which may signify the beautiful array of the saints, with the several graces of the Spirit; and especially their being clothed with fine linen, called the righteousness of the saints; that raiment of needlework, and clothing of wrought gold, the righteousness of Christ, consisting of his obedience, sufferings, and death, fitly expressed by these various colours.





Exodus 28:16



Ver. 16. Four square it shall be, [being] doubled,.... That is, when it was doubled; for the length of it, according to Maimonides {c}, was a cubit, which is two spans, and so, when it was doubled, was but one, and its length and breadth being alike, as follows:



a span [shall be] the length thereof, and a span [shall be] the breadth thereof; a square, which is the measure, the form of the new Jerusalem, the church of Christ, Re 21:16 and may denote the perfection, firmness, and immovableness of it, Ps 125:1. Some have thought that this breastplate was doubled, in order to have something enclosed in it: some imagine, that within this fold were put the Urim and Thummim, which they suppose to be two words engraved on a stone, and different from the twelve stones in it; others, that the name of Jehovah was written and put there, as the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi on Ex 28:30 and other Jewish writers, and others, fancy some little images were put within these folds, the name with the teraphim, and supposed to be the Urim and Thummim; but if these were hid in the folds, they could not be seen when consulted; it is most probable there is nothing put within the double, which was not done for any such use; but most likely that it might be strong to bear the weight of the precious stones, put in ouches of gold upon it.



{c} Cele Hamikdash, c. 9. sect. 6.





Exodus 28:17



Ver. 17. And thou shalt set in it settings of stones,.... Or "fill in it fillings of stones" {d}; which shows that there were in it ouches, or sockets of gold, the hollows of which were to be filled up with precious stones:



even four rows of stones; making a four square, and so filling up the measure of the breastplate:



the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle; about these stones, and those that follow, there is a great variety of interpretations of them, both among Jews and Christians; and they seem to be little known: our translators upon the whole seem to be as right as any in giving the names of them; the first of these, the "sardius", is a red stone of a blood colour, as the "cornelian" or "ruby", and which some have thought is here meant, and has its name either from the place where it has been found, Sardis or Sardinia; or rather from its red colour; for "sered" signifies red in Eze 28:13 as Braunius {e} has observed from Kimchi; and so Odem, which is the word here used, signifies, and undoubtedly intends a stone of such a colour; and it is highly probable that this is the Demium of Pliny {f}, which is one of the three kinds of sardius in India; and the red is so called from its redness, as the same Braunius observes. The second stone, the "topaz", had its name, according to Pliny {g}, from an island in Arabia, in the Red sea, called Topazos; and the best topaz is the topaz of Cush or Arabia, as in Job 28:19. The topaz of the ancients was of a green colour; and so the three Targums call this stone Jarken or Jarketha, which signifies green; hence some have taken this to be the emerald, which is of a fine green colour: the third stone is the "carbuncle", as we render it; whatever stone is meant, it must be a bright and glittering one, like lightning, as the word signifies; wherefore some have taken it to be the emerald, so the Septuagint and Braunius {h}; it being a very radiant and glittering stone, of a grass green, and very refreshing to the sight; but Danaeus {i} says, that the carbuncle is that species of the ruby, which of all is most beautiful and excellent, and darts out light like lightning to those that look at it at a distance, and shines in the middle of the night and darkness, so that it enlightens places near it, as if it were a sun:



[this shall be] the first row; now upon these three stones were engraven the names of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, as both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem agree.



{d} Nba talm wb talmw "et implebis in eo plenitudinem lapidis", Montanus; "vel eum impletione lapidis", Pagninus; "implebis in eo impletione lapidis", Drusius. {e} De Vestitu Sacerd. Heb. l. 2. c. 8. sect. 10. p. 639. {f} Nat. Hist. l. 37. c. 7. {g} Ibid. l. 6. c. 29. {h} Ut supra, (De Vestitu Sacerd. Heb. l. 2.) c. 10. sect. 4. p. 653. {i} Apud De Dieu in loc.





Exodus 28:18



Ver. 18. And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. The first of these stones is by both the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan rendered an "emerald", as by us; and which is described by Pliny {k} as of a green colour, exceeding delightful and pleasant, and to which he gives the third place among precious stones; though by many the stone here called Nophec is thought to be the carbuncle, and is so rendered by the Septuagint; the carbuncle of the ancients is no other than what we call the, "ruby"; and which Braunius {l} thinks is here meant, and so Abarbinel, which is just making an exchange of the last stone of the first row for this; and De Dieu observes, that if any chooses to render the preceding stone an emerald, as Braunius does, he must render this a carbuncle or ruby; and if he renders that a carbuncle, then he must this for an emerald. The next stone is "the sapphire", of which one would think there could be no doubt, it is the very Hebrew word itself that is here used; which Ruaeus {m} says is of a sky colour, and sparkles with golden spots or specks, with which agrees Job 28:6. The third stone of this row is the "diamond" or adamant; and that this stone is meant seems clear from its name Jahalom, which comes from a word which signifies to break; and from hence a hammer has its name, because this stone pierces, cuts, and breaks other stones, but cannot be broken itself. On these three stones were engraved, according to the Jerusalem Targum, the names of the three tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun; but more truly, according to the Targum of Jonathan, the names of the tribes of Judah, Dan and Naphtali, and so Jarchi; for the names here, as on the onyx stones, were according to the order of their birth.



{k} Ut supra, (Nat. Hist. l. 37.) c. 5. {l} Ut supra, (De Vestitu Sacerd. Heb. l. 2.) c. 11. sect. 2, 7. p. 661, 667. {m} De Gemmis, l. 2. c. 2.





Exodus 28:19



Ver. 19. And the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. The first of these stones, the ligure or lyncurius, is said to be so called from the congealed urine of the lynx {n}, but rather from the spots of that creature; for, according to Danaeus {o}, it is the same stone with that called "stellina", from having many specks like stars spread about in it. Braunius {p} takes the "jacinth" stone to be here meant, and so does Ainsworth; see Re 21:20, the second stone, the agate, is well known; and though now of little account, was formerly in great esteem, as Pliny {q} asserts, and therefore may well be thought to have a place among these stones. Pyrrhus king of Epirus had a very famous one, in which, not by art, but by nature, were seen the nine Muses, and Apollo holding an harp; the word for it here is "shebo", which comes from a word which signifies to captivate; because, as De Dieu observes, this stone is easily captivated under the hand of the artificer; there being no stone which so easily admits of engravings as this. The last of this row is the "amethyst"; which stone has its name either from its being of the colour of wine; or, as others, from its being a preservative from drunkenness: the Hebrew word "achlamah" seems to come from a word which signifies to dream; and this stone is supposed to cause persons to dream, as Aben Ezra, from one of their wise men, relates. On these three stones, according to the Jerusalem Targum, were written the names of the tribes of Dan, Naphtali, and Gad; but, according to the Targum of Jonathan, Gad, Asher, and Issachar, which is much better, for a reason before given.



{n} Vid. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 37. c. 3. {o} Apud De Dieu in loc. {p} Ut supra, (De Vestitu Sacerd. Heb. l. 2.) c. 14. sect. 9. p. 699. {q} Nat. Hist. l. 37. c. 10.





Exodus 28:20



Ver. 20. And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper,.... Whatever stone is meant by the first in this row, it must be of a sea green colour; for "tarshish", the word used, signifies the sea; and so the beryl, as Pliny {r} says, imitates the greenness of the pure sea. Braunius {s} takes it to be the chrysolite that is meant; and so does Ainsworth; and it is so rendered by the Septuagint; and this, according to Ruaeus {t}, is of a colour like the greenness of the sea: the "onyx" has its name from its being of the colour of a man's nail, as observed before; but here "shoham" is thought by Braunius {u} to be the "sardonyx", following Josephus, Jerom, and the Vulgate Latin version, which is a compound of the sardian and onyx stones: the last is undoubtedly rightly rendered the jasper, for the Hebrew word is "jaspeh": this stone is sometimes variegated with spots like a panther, and therefore is called by Onkelos "pantere"; the most valuable is the green spotted with red or purple:



they shall be set in gold in their enclosings; or be set and enclosed in ouches or sockets of gold, as the two onyx stones upon the shoulder pieces of the ephod: there were twelve of these ouches or sockets, which might be made out of one piece of gold, into which the twelve above stones were put. These stones were, no doubt, brought out of Egypt by the children of Israel, and were the gifts of their princes.



{r} Nat. Hist. l. 37. c. 5. {s} Ut supra, (De Vestitu Sacerd Heb. l. 2.) c. 17. sect. 7. p. 720. {t} De Gemmis, l. 2. c. 7. {u} Ut supra, (De Vestitu Sacerd Heb. l. 2.) c. 18. sect. 4. p. 730.





Exodus 28:21



Ver. 21. And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names,.... And just so many are reckoned up in the preceding verses, each of which had one or other of the names of the children of Israel engraved on them, according to the order of their names in their birth. Some have thought that Levi's name was omitted, but their reason for it seems not sufficient; for why might not he bear the name of his own tribe, and represent that as well as the rest, since the whole Israel of God is represented by his antitype?



[like] the engravings of a net, everyone with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes; not like the impression of a seal on wax, then the letters indeed would have been protuberant, as some have thought; but these were like the engravings of a seal, in which the letters or figures are cut within it: these twelve stones, with the names on them, represent the twelve tribes of Israel, and they the whole spiritual Israel of God; and being precious stones, show the excellency of the people of God, of what value, and in what esteem they are with God and Christ, being their jewels and peculiar treasure; and their names being in them, denote the special and particular knowledge God has of them, their names being written in heaven in the book of life; and they are called by name by the Lord; and being engraved as a signet, is an emblem of their being set as a seal on the arm and heart of Christ, and of their being as dear and precious to him as a signet on a man's right hand; and being set in ouches and enclosures of gold, express both the dignity and excellency, and the careful preservation of them: these were set in rows, as members of churches are, everyone in his order, rank, and station, 1Co 12:18.





Exodus 28:22



Ver. 22. And thou shall make upon the breastplate chains at the ends,.... One end of them to be put to the breastplate, and the other end to the ouches on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, by which the breastplate hung from thence: the Targum of Jonathan renders it, chains of a certain determined size, of length and thickness exactly alike; or terminable ones, as it may be rendered, not circular like a locket, or chain of gold worn about the neck, but that had ends to it: some interpret it chains, made like ropes, in the same manner as cables are, twisted together; and such it is certain they were, by what follows:



of wreathen work of pure gold; not of circles and ringlets of gold coupled together, but of golden wires twisted together, as ropes are.





Exodus 28:23



Ver. 23. And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold,.... On the upper part of it, above, toward the two shoulder pieces of the ephod; these were to put one end of the chains into before mentioned:



and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate; the two upper ends or corners of it, the right and left.





Exodus 28:24



Ver. 24. And thou shalt put two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings,.... This expresses both how many chains were to be made, which is not before said, and the use of them, or where they were to be put, as well as the use of the rings:



[which are] on the ends of the breastplate; the two uppermost ends or corners of it.





Exodus 28:25



Ver. 25. And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two ouches,.... In which the two onyx stones were set on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, and were as buttons to them; probably there were rings to those ouches, into which these ends of the wreathen chains of gold, reaching from the breastplate, were put; or however, by some means or other they were fastened to these ouches or sockets;



and put them in the shoulder pieces of the ephod before it; that is, on the ouches upon them, as before observed: into that part or side of the ouches which was to be the fore part of the ephod; so that the breastplate hung by these chains from the shoulder pieces of the ephod, on the fore part of it, upon the breast of the high priest.





Exodus 28:26



Ver. 26. And thou shall make two rings of gold,....] Two other rings besides those before mentioned:



and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate; on the other two ends or corners of it:



in the border thereof which is in the side of the ephod inward: these were at the two lower ends of the breastplate, towards the ephod on the inside.





Exodus 28:27



Ver. 27. And two other rings of gold thou shalt make,.... This is the third pair of rings ordered to be made, the two other pair were for the four ends or corners of the breastplate, but this pair was for the ephod:



and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod; one on the right and the other on the left:



underneath, towards the fore part thereof; underneath the ephod, yet towards the fore part of it; or rather on the fore part of it, though so as the rings could not be seen:



over against the other coupling thereof; either so as to answer to the other coupling of the breastplate to the shoulder pieces of the ephod above; or to the rings at the ends of the breastplate below, with which these were to be coupled with a lace of blue; and so the word "other" here supplied may be left out:



above the curious girdle of the ephod; just above that these rings in the ephod were, to answer to the rings in the lower ends of the breastplate.





Exodus 28:28



Ver. 28. And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof,.... By the rings at the lower ends of it, as it was by the rings at the upper ends of it to the shoulder pieces of the ephod; or "lift it up", so some interpret it {w} as if it was said, they shall lift up the breastplate to join it with the ephod that is above it:



unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue; this blue lace was put both into the rings of the breastplate and into the rings of the ephod, and so being tied in a knot, fastened them together, as the shoulder pieces of the ephod and the breastplate were coupled above, with wreathen chains of gold put into rings: now this was done,



that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod: that the breastplate might be above it, or else the lace of blue:



and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod: but be kept tight and close to it by the wreathen chains above, and by the knots of blue lace below; which may denote the conjunction of the prophetic and priestly offices in Christ; the former being signified by the breastplate of judgment, in which the Urim and Thummim were, and the latter by the ephod; or else the union of the saints to Christ, the bond of which is everlasting love, from which there can be no separation; this union can never be dissolved, his people can never be loosed from him, they are members of his body, and one spirit with him.



{w} R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 89. 2.





Exodus 28:29



Ver. 29. And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart,.... Their names being engraven on the stones, and the stones put into the breastplate of judgment, and this breastplate hanging down upon the breast and heart of Aaron, he was a representative of the twelve tribes of Israel, as Christ his antitype is the representative of the whole Israel of God; and who lie near the heart of Christ, are set as a seal upon it, are engraven on the palms of his hands, and carried in his bosom, and whom he always presents to his divine Father, and are accepted in him: he represented them in eternity, and in time; in his sufferings and death, in his burial and resurrection from the dead, when they were crucified, buried, and raised with him; and he represents them now in heaven, where they sit together in heavenly places in him, as it here follows in the type:



when he goeth in unto the holy place; to trim the lamps and offer incense, and especially when he went into the most holy place once a year:



for a memorial before the Lord continually; for a memorial to himself, to pray for them when he appeared before the Lord, to put the Lord in remembrance of his covenant with them, and promises to them,

See Gill on "Ex 28:12" see Gill on "Isa 43:26", the Targum of Jonathan is, "for a good memorial": not a memorial for evil, but for good.





Exodus 28:30



Ver. 30. And thou shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim,.... What these interpreters are at a loss about, both Jewish and Christian; some have confessed their ignorance of them, have conjectured they were only these two words and put in the duplicature of the breastplate; that the name of Jehovah, with other divine were put there and so called; and some have that they were little images, the same with the teraphim, the high priest carried in the folds of breastplate, by which consultation was made; others have thought them to be a work purely divine, of Jehovah's putting there; for my own part I am to follow Josephus {x}, who takes them to be the same with the twelve stones; and it is observable that where the stones are mentioned nothing is said of the Urim and Thummim, and where the Urim and Thummim are observed, no notice is taken of the stones, see Ex 39:10 the use of these was to have the names of the children of Israel engraven upon them, and so be borne on the heart of Aaron when he went into the holy place, as is here said of the Urim and Thummim; and that consultation might be made by them in matters of moment and difficulty, as appears from various other passages of the Scripture,

Nu 27:21 and but in what manner this was done, and in what way the answer was given and understood, are not easily accounted for: some say, by the brightness or protuberance of the letters on the stones; others, by the shining and splendour of the stones, which is more probable; others, by an inward impression on the mind of the priest; and others, by an articulate voice, which seems best of all: the Septuagint render these two words "manifestation and truth"; and Aelianus {y} reports, that the chief and oldest among the Egyptian priests and judges wore an image of a sapphire stone about his neck, which they called "truth": and, according to Diodorus Siculus {z}, this image was of more precious stones than one; for he says, the president in the Egyptian courts of judicature had on his neck, hanging on a golden chain, an image of precious stones, which they called truth: but there is no reason to believe that this custom was as ancient as the times of the Israelites in Egypt, or that they borrowed this from them; but rather, that the Egyptians did this in imitation of what the high priest among the Jews wore, which they might learn from the Jews in Solomon's time, or in later ages; the words Urim and Thummim signify "lights and perfections", agreeably to which is the paraphrase of Jonathan;



"Urim, which enlighten their words, and manifest the hidden things of the house of Israel, and Thummim, which perfect their works, by the high priest, who seeks instruction from the Lord by them:''



they were typical of Christ, in whom all lights and perfections are; all light is in him; the light of nature and reason is from him, as the Creator, and is given to every man that comes into the world; the light of grace is with him, and communicated to all his people at conversion, and in all the after degrees and supplies of it; all light and knowledge in divine things is from him, the knowledge of God, of himself, and of the Gospel, and the truths of it; and the light of glory will be from him: all the perfections of deity, the whole fulness of the Godhead, all human perfections, which make him as man in all things like unto us, but far exceeding us; as Mediator, all the blessings and promises of the covenant are in him; all the gifts of the Spirit, and a fulness of all grace; there are in him perfect righteousness, perfect holiness, all light, life, strength, wisdom, joy, and comfort {a}: and these stones, or Urim and Thummim, may be an emblem also of the saints, being made light and perfect righteousness in Christ, from whom they have both:



and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the Lord; either into the holy or into the most holy place, just as the names of the children of Israel on the stones are said to be,

See Gill on "Ex 28:29",



and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually; not only bear their names and remember their cases, make intercession for them, and represent their persons, in all which he was a type of Christ, but bear their judgment, have that at heart, and administer it unto them; and in all doubtful and difficult cases inquire of God what was fit and right to do for them, or for them to do: so Christ has the government of his people both at heart and in his hands; all judgment is committed to him, and he is the righteousness of his people now, and will be their Judge hereafter.



{x} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 7. sect. 5. {y} Var. Hist. l. 14. c. 34. {z} Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 68. {a} See a Discourse of mine, called Levi's Urim and Thummim, found with Christ, &c. published in 1725.





Exodus 28:31



Ver. 31. And thou shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. This was a different garment from the ephod, was longer than that, and was under it, and of different materials: that was made of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen; this only of linen, and wholly of a blue colour, without any curious figures upon it, as were on that: in

Ex 39:22, it is said to be of woven work; it was woven from top to bottom, and had no seam in it: so Josephus says {b},



"the coat did not consist of two parts, nor was it sewed upon the shoulder, nor on the side, but was one long piece of woven work;''



and such was the seamless coat our Lord Jesus Christ wore, literally understood, Joh 19:23 and both were an emblem of his perfect righteousness, which has nothing of the works of men joined to it, to justify them before God, and make them acceptable to him: for this robe signifies the robe of Christ's righteousness, the best robe; it has its name from a word which signifies prevarication or sin, because it covers the sins of God's people; the matter of it was linen, and so fitly points at the fine linen, that is the righteousness of the saints, and being blue or sky coloured may denote heaven and happiness, which that entitles to, see Mt 5:20, the Septuagint version calls it a garment down to the feet, using the same word as in Re 1:13 and fitly agrees with that righteousness with which all Christ's members are covered and justified, Isa 45:24.



{b} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 7. sect. 4.





Exodus 28:32



Ver. 32. And there shall be a hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof,.... At the neck of it, for the high priest to put his head through when he put it on:



it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it; a large hem or selvage, perhaps of the same kind of woven stuff the robe itself was made of, and this was done to strengthen it:



as it were the hole of an habergeon; a corslet or coat of mail;



that it be not rent; when the high priest put it on; or through the weight of the ephod and the ouches of gold on the shoulder pieces of it, and the breastplate hanging down from thence; this may denote the strength and duration of Christ's righteousness, which is an everlasting one.





Exodus 28:33



Ver. 33. And beneath upon the hem of it,.... Or the skirts of it, at the bottom of the robe:



thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; these were figures made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, in the form of pomegranates: Jarchi says they were round and hollow, and made like hens' eggs, about the size of them, and of an oval form:



and bells of gold between them round about; according to some, the bells were put into the pomegranates, which is supposed to be the meaning of the phrase "between them", or, "in the midst of them"; and so Aben Ezra observes, that some say the bells did not appear, they were only in the midst of the pomegranates, and there they caused their sound to be heard: but according to our version and others, the bells were placed between the pomegranates, between every pomegranate and pomegranate there was a golden bell; and this seems to be plainly the sense of the following verse.





Exodus 28:34



Ver. 34. A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate,.... First a golden bell and then a pomegranate, then a bell and then a pomegranate again, and so on:



upon the hem of the robe round about; all round the hem or skirts of the robe were they placed in this manner: the Targum of Jonathan says, the sum or number of them were seventy one; but Maimonides {c} says there were seventy two, thirty six in each skirt; and so says R. Levi Ben Gersom; but Clemens of Alexandria {d} has increased the number to three hundred and sixty six, according to the days of the year, and thinks they signified the acceptable year of the Lord proclaiming and resounding the great appearance of the Saviour: "golden bells" may denote either the intercession of Christ in heaven, which if not vocal, as on earth, has a speech or sound in it, which is understood: his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, call aloud for peace and pardon, and it is a sound that is always heard with delight; the matter of them being gold may denote the preciousness and excellency of Christ's intercession, and the duration of it; and being on the hem of the robe shows that Christ's righteousness is that on which his intercession depends, and from whence it has its efficacy: or else these bells may be an emblem of the Gospel, as preached by Christ himself, and by his apostles and ministers, compared to "bells" for sound; the sound of the Gospel being a sound of love, grace, mercy, peace, pardon, righteousness, life, and salvation; a joyful sound, like that of the jubilee, an even and certain one, different from that of the law, and exceeding musical and delightful; and to "golden" bells for the preciousness of it, and its truths, and for its duration; and being on the hem of the robe may signify that in the Gospel the righteousness of Christ is revealed and pointed at, and that faith in this righteousness comes hereby; "the pomegranates" on Aaron might be an emblem of his priesthood, and of the ceremonial law, and of the good things they were shadows and types of; and of Christ himself, and of the virtue, odour, and fragrancy of his sufferings, sacrifice, and intercession; and also of the church, called an orchard of pomegranates, So 4:13 consisting of various members, as the pomegranate of various grains; the juice of which the blood of Christ may resemble, in which those members swim and are washed; and who are of a grateful odour to God, and are surrounded by his power and love; and their hanging upon the hem of the robe may signify the acceptableness of them through the righteousness, sacrifice, and mediation of Christ, and the fruits of good works, which both the righteousness of Christ and the Gospel produce; and particularly the bells and pomegranates may signify that sound doctrine and a savoury life and conversation should go together in the priests of the Lord, in the ministers of his word.



{c} Hilchot Cele Hamikdash, c. 9. sect. 4. {d} Stromat. l. 5. p. 564.





Exodus 28:35



Ver. 35. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister,.... That is, the robe before described shall be put upon him, that he might minister in the priest's office, for without this, as well as the other garments, he might not:



and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out; by means of which the priests would have notice that they might depart, and he be alone in his ministrations; or rather, that the people might know his going out and coming in, and so give themselves up to prayer, while he was offering incense, see Lu 1:9 though the instance of Zacharias is not of an high priest, but of a common priest:



that he die not the Targum of Jonathan adds, with flaming fire. This is added, to make him, and all succeeding priests, careful that this robe, nor any other of the priestly garments, were wanting, when they ministered before the Lord; should any be wanting, it would be highly resented by the Lord: and such an one would be in danger of being cut off by death from the immediate hand of God, as Nadab and Abihu were for offering strange fire to the Lord; for, according to the Jewish writers {e}, a priest not rightly attired, either with more or fewer garments than he should have, his service was illegal, and he was as a stranger, and his service strange service, unacceptable to God, yea, provoking to him; and so Jarchi on the text says, if he wanted one of these garments, he was guilty of death by the hand of heaven, the immediate hand of God.



{e} Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 10. sect. 4, 5.





Exodus 28:36



Ver. 36. And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold,.... It was, as Jarchi says, two fingers broad, and reached from ear to ear, and so Maimonides {f}; it is sometimes called the holy crown, and the plate of the holy crown, Ex 29:6, this was a priestly crown, for priests were very honourable and dignified persons, especially the high priest among the Jews; and even among the Gentiles it was common for their kings to be priests: and though this crown may denote the kingly power of Christ, yet as residing in him who is a priest, for he is a priest on his throne, Zec 6:13, and so may signify the conjunction of the kingly and priestly offices in Christ, who has a crown of pure gold given him by his Father, and put upon him, and by his people, Ps 21:4 and being of pure gold, holy, and on the forehead, as this plate was, may signify the purity and holiness of Christ's kingdom and office, the glory, visibility, and perpetuity of it:



and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD; which words were written either in two lines, or in one. If in two, Maimonides {g} says, the word "holiness" was above, and to "the Lord" below: but it might be written in one line, and that seems most likely: he also says the letters were protuberant, or stood out; but then they would not be graved like the engravings of a signet, in which the letters or figures are engraved within, but like the impressions of a signet made on wax, or other things: in this the high priest was a type of Christ, who is holy in himself, in his person, in both his natures, divine and human, in his offices of prophet, priest, and King; and he is holiness itself, the most holy, essentially, infinitely, and perfectly so, as angels and men are not, and the source and spring of holiness to others: and he is holiness to the Lord for his people; he is so representatively; as their covenant head he has all grace in his hands for them, and they have it in him; this is sanctification in Christ, and is by virtue of union to him, and is complete and perfect, and the cause of holiness in his people; and he is so by imputation. The holiness of his human nature was not a mere qualification for his office, or only exemplary to us, but is with his obedience and sufferings imputed to us for justification. Moreover, Christ has by his blood sanctified his people, or made atonement for them, and procured the cleansing of them from their sins, or the expiation of them; and he is also the efficient cause of their internal holiness by his Spirit, without which there is no seeing God, 1Co 6:11.



{f} Cele Hamikdash, c. 9. sect. 1. Vid. T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 63. 2. & Succah, fol. 5. 1. {g} Cele Hamikdash, c. 9. sect. 1. Vid. T. Bab, Sabbat, fol. 63. 2. & Succah, fol. 5. 1.





Exodus 28:37



Ver. 37. And thou shalt put it on a blue lace,.... The plate of gold:



that it may be upon the mitre; either the plate or the lace; the lace is the nearest antecedent, but it seems by what follows it should be the plate:



upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be; the plate of gold; the mitre was of linen, a wrap of linen about the head, and was like a turban on it, in the top of it; it did not come down low upon the forehead, but left that bare for this plate of gold to be put upon it. Jarchi seems to understand all this of the lace, by comparing it with the following verse, and Ex 39:31 as if the plate was represented as in the lace, and the lace upon the plate and upon the mitre above; all which he thinks is to be reconciled by observing, that the plate had three holes, and in every hole was a blue lace, and each lace was divided into two parts, so that there were six in all, two laces at each end of the plate, and two in the middle, by which they were fastened upon the top of the mitre, by which it was kept from falling off; and of this middle lace, he thinks, the text is to be understood. The Targum of Jonathan observes, that this plate was put on a blue lace, to make atonement for the impudent.





Exodus 28:38



Ver. 38. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead,.... That is, the plate of gold, with the inscription on it, holiness to the Lord, and so was very visible and legible. The Targum of Jonathan adds, from temple to temple, that is, from the furthermost end of the one, to the furthermost end of the other, the same as from ear to ear, See Gill on "Ex 28:36" the use of it follows:



that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; this supposes that the sacrifices of the children of Israel, which they brought to the priests to offer for them, or the gifts they devoted to sacred use, might be attended with sin and blame, either in the matter of their offerings and gifts, or in the manner in which they brought them; and which through the high priest having this plate of gold, with the above inscription on it, were expiated; they were bore away from them, and were not placed to their account, but they were cleared and discharged of them: and so it is that there is sin in the best performances of the saints; there is not a just man that does good, but he sins in doing that good; the best righteousness of men is imperfect, and attended with sin; and this cannot be borne, or taken away by themselves; if God should mark such sins as these, they could not stand before him; now Christ, their High Priest, bears and takes away these, along with all others, which are laid upon him, and borne by him:



and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord; not that he had always this plate of gold on his forehead, only in time of service; but then it was continually for the acceptance of them, though it was not upon his forehead, as Jarchi observes; at Maimonides {h} says, there was great necessity that the high priest should be always in the sanctuary, as it is said, "it shall be always upon his forehead", and therefore must be always there, for he might not wear it outside of it. This with respect to the antitype may signify, that the persons and services of the people of God are accepted with him through the holiness and righteousness of Christ, who is always in the presence of the Lord, ever appears in heaven for them, and is the Lamb of God, to whose person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, they are directed to look for the removal of their sins of every sort.



{h} Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 47.





Exodus 28:39



Ver. 39. And thou shall embroider the coat of fine linen,.... Which was a distinct garment from the ephod, and from the robe of the ephod, and was the innermost of all; it was made of fine linen, curiously wrought in the weaving of it: according to some, it was full of a sort of eyelet holes; but as the word is that, from whence comes that for ouches, Ex 28:6. Jarchi thinks it was full of holes, like those ouches or sockets, in which the stones were set; and so this coat was decked and adorned with gems and precious stones stuck in those holes or ouches: but rather it was figured with such little cornered holes as are in the stomach of animals that chew the cud, called the "reticulum"; being in the form of network, as Maimonides {i} observes, and which is approved by Braunius {k}: this was an emblem of the righteousness of Christ, comparable to fine linen richly embroidered, decked and adorned with jewels, and curiously wrought, see

Re 19:8:



and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen: which was a wrap of linen sixteen cubits long, as Maimonides {l} says, both for the high priest, and for common priests, which only differed in the manner of wrapping them; that for the high priest was wrapped fold upon fold, as a roller for a plaster, and so the mitre was flat upon the head, and was like a turban, and did not rise up into a point; but those of the common priests were so wrapped, as that they arose up like a night cap, or a high crowned hat. The mitre, hat, or cap, though a token of honour, yet also of servitude; and may denote, that the people of the Jews were in a state of servitude, and point at the obscurity and darkness of that dispensation; they not clearly discerning divine mysteries, and wanting boldness and freedom to look up to God; or it may denote that the priests under the law were servants, and that Christ, our great High Priest, should appear in the form of one; and may also point at the intenseness of the mind in them and him on business, being deaf to everything else. The Targum of Jonathan says, the coat of fine linen was to atone for the shedding of innocent blood, and the mitre to atone for those who have elated thoughts, are puffed up with pride and vain conceit:



and thou shall make the girdle of needlework; to gird about the embroidered coat, which Josephus {m} says was four fingers broad; but, according to Maimonides {n}, it was about three fingers broad, and thirty two cubits long, which they wound about and about; and though we translate it "needlework", it should rather be the "work of the embroiderer", as Ainsworth renders it: and this was not wrought by the needle, but in weaving; for, as Maimonides {o} observes,



"they did not make any of the priests' garments with needlework, but the work of the weaver, according to

Ex 39:27.''



This girdle may denote the strength, readiness, faithfulness, and integrity of Christ in the performance of his priestly office; see

Isa 11:5.



{i} Cele Hamikdash, c. 8. sect. 16. {k} De Vestitu Sacerdot. Heb. l. 1. c. 17. p. 379, 380. {l} Ut supra, (Cele Hamikdash) c. 8. sect. 19. {m} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 7. sect. 2. {n} Ut supra. (Cele Hamikdash, c. 8. sect. 19.) {o} lbid.





Exodus 28:40



Ver. 40. And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats,.... Of fine linen, of woven work, as in Ex 39:27, these were different from the broidered coat of the high priest, and the blue robe of the ephod:



and thou shall make for them girdles; linen ones, to gird up their linen coats, which were long, that they might the more expeditiously perform their service; and which is an instruction to all the priests of the Lord, true believers in Christ, to be ready, forward, and diligent in the work of the Lord; and especially to ministers of the word, who, as their doctrines and lives ought to be pure, signified by the priest's linen garment, so they should be girt about with the girdle of truth, and ready upon all occasions to publish and defend it, and to do their work with cheerfulness and faithfulness:



and bonnets shall thou make for them: these were coverings for the head, and of the same kind with the mitre of the high priest, and of the same length, but differed from that in the manner of wrapping the linen, of which they were made, See Gill on "Ex 28:39": and all these were to be made



for glory and beauty: to beautify and adorn them, to make them look like persons of some note and figure, and that they might be respectable among men, and typical, as they all were, of our great and glorious High Priest, the Son of God.





Exodus 28:41



Ver. 41. And thou shall put them on Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him,.... And this putting on of their garments by Moses, under the authority of God, was a solemn investiture of them with the priestly office also; for from henceforward they had a right to exercise it, having those garments on, without which they were never to officiate:



and shall anoint them; with the anointing oil, of which afterwards a particular account is given, and how to be made, and for what use,

Ex 30:22, typical of the holy graces of the Spirit of God:



and consecrate them; the consecration of them was by investing them with their garments, and by anointing them with oil; for this phrase does not intend the whole of their consecration, only another branch of it, and may be literally rendered, "fill their hand" {p}; that is, with sacrifices to be offered up by them, see Ex 29:1



and sanctify them; by all this, set them apart, and devote them to the sacred office of priesthood:



that they may minister unto me in the priest's office; by offering sacrifices for the people, burning incense, and doing other things relative to the office.



{p} Mdy ta talmw "et implebis manum eorum", Montanus, Vatablus, Tigurine version, Fagius, Piscator.





Exodus 28:42



Ver. 42. And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness,.... Or "the flesh of nakedness" {q}, that part of the body which ought not to be naked and exposed to view, and which, when it is, causes shame and ridicule; what part is designed is easily gathered from the next clause; great care was taken, in the service of God's house, to preserve decency, prevent immodesty, and to guard against laughter and levity, and the like care should be always taken,

See Gill on "Ex 28:2",



from the loins even unto the thigh they shall reach; they were to reach above the navel near the heart, and to the end of the thigh, which is the knee, as Maimonides says {r}; who also observes, that they had strings, but had no opening before or behind, but were drawn up round like a purse; they were a sort of drawers, and somewhat like our sailors' trousers.



{q} hwre rvb "carnem nuditatis", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius; "carnem nudam", Junius & Tremellius; "carnem verendorum", Tigurine version; "carnem pudendorum", Piscator. {r} Cele Hamikdash, c. 8. sect. 18.





Exodus 28:43



Ver. 43. And they shall be upon Aaron and upon his sons,.... Not the linen breeches only, but all the other garments:



when they come into the tabernacle of the congregation; even into that part of it where the people assembled, the court of the tabernacle, and where stood the altar of burnt offering, on which they offered the sacrifices of the people, but never without the priestly garments on:



or when they came near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; at the altar of incense which stood there; or when they came to trim the lamps of the candlestick, and set the shewbread on the table, and take away the old, which candlestick and shewbread table were both in the holy place,



that they bear not iniquity and die; be guilty of sin in not having their priestly garments on in time of service, and so bear the punishment of it and die for it; the Targum of Jonathan adds, with flaming fire, with fire from heaven, such as Nadab and Abihu were afterwards consumed with; an high priest that had not the eight garments on, or a common priest that had not his four garments, his service was illegal and rejected, and he was guilty of death by the hand of heaven, as Maimonides {s} says; that is, he was deserving of immediate death from the hand of God, and might expect it:



it shall be a statute for ever unto him, and his seed after him; as long as the Aaronic priesthood continued, until Christ should arise, made an high priest, not after the order of Aaron, but after the order of Melchizedek, and should put an end to the priesthood of the former, by answering and fulfilling all the types and shadows of it; this respects all that is said in this chapter concerning the vestments of the priests, one and another.



{s} Cele Hamikdash, c. 10. sect. 4, 5.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 29:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 29



This chapter gives an account of the form and order of the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priestly office; preparatory to which Moses is ordered to take a young bullock, two rams, bread, cakes, and wafers unleavened, and bring them and Aaron and his sons to the door of the congregation, where the ceremony was to be publicly performed, and which began with washing them, Ex 29:1 and then proceeded by putting on the priestly garments directed to be made in the preceding chapter, first on Aaron, who also was anointed, Ex 29:5 and then upon his sons, Ex 29:8 after which the bullock and the two rams were to be slain, and orders are given what was to be done with their blood, and the several parts of them, as well as with the cakes and wafers, Ex 29:10 and directions are given to make these wave and heave offerings, Ex 29:24 and that the garments of Aaron's should be his son's that succeeded him, Ex 29:29, and that the flesh of the ram of consecration with the bread should be eaten by Aaron and his sons and no other, Ex 29:31, the altar also where they were to officiate was to be cleansed, sanctified, and an atonement made for it, Ex 29:36 after which two lambs every day, morning and evening, were to be offered on it in all succeeding generations,

Ex 29:38, and the chapter is closed with a promise that the Lord would meet with the children of Israel at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and would sanctify the tabernacle, and dwell among them, and be their God, Ex 29:43.



Ver. 1. And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them,.... To Aaron and his sons: to "hallow" them; to sanctify them, set them apart, and consecrate them:



to minister unto me in the priest's office; for which the Lord had appointed them, to which he had chose, called, and separated them:



take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish; a young bullock was an heifer of three years old, according to Kimchi {t}, and such an one was used in sacrifice in former times, see

Ge 15:9 though Maimonides {u} says it was one of two years, and so Abendana {w}, whose words are,



"a bullock is a son of two years, and a ram is after he has entered into the second year thirty one days;''



and so Ben Gersom; the bullock was an emblem of the strength, laboriousness, and patience of Christ, and both of them being without blemish, were typical of his purity and perfection in his nature and life, and especially in his sacrifice.



{t} Comment. in Psal. lxix. 32. {u} Hilchot Zebachim, c. 1. sect. 14. {w} Not. in Miclol Yophi in loc.





Exodus 29:2



Ver. 2. And unleavened bread,.... Such as used to be eaten at the time of the passover, and this being distinguished from cakes and wafers, after mentioned, shows that this was bread of a larger size, a loaf or loaves of bread, see Ex 29:3



and cakes unleavened, tempered with oil; these were made of flour mixed with oil, but without leaven, and were a lesser and thinner sort of bread than the former:



and wafers unleavened, anointed with oil; with oil olive, the best of oil, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Aben Ezra; these were a thinner sort of bread still, somewhat like our pancakes; and they were anointed with oil after the baking of them, and in the form of the Greek c, "chi", as Jarchi says, or of a St. Andrew's or Burgundian cross:



of wheaten flour shall thou make them; of the finest of the wheat, for these were to be the food of Aaron and his sons, who were now to be invested with an high and honourable office, and were to live according to the dignity of it; and these being all unleavened, may denote that sincerity, simplicity, and integrity that ought to be found in them, in the discharge of their office, and which were in Christ in full perfection; as well as soundness in doctrine, life, and manners, being free from all leaven of false doctrine, hypocrisy, and malice; and likewise what is expected of the same kind in all the saints, who, under the Gospel dispensation, are all of them priests unto God, and whose food is the finest of the wheat, Christ the bread of life.





Exodus 29:3



Ver. 3. And thou shalt put them into one basket,.... The unleavened bread, cakes and wafers; this basket may be an emblem of the Gospel and the ministration of it, in which Christ the bread of life is carried, and ministered to his people:



and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams; not that the bullock and the rams were to be brought in the basket along with the bread, cakes, and wafers; but at the same time that they were brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, these were to be brought, led, or drove to the altar, in order to be slain and sacrificed.





Exodus 29:4



Ver. 4. And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,.... That is, order and direct them to come thither; for it cannot be thought he was to carry them in his arms or on his shoulders, or have them thither by force, whether they would or not; but he was to declare to them that it was the will of the Lord they should appear there:



and shalt wash them with water; out of the laver after mentioned, which stood between the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar: the Targum of Jonathan says, this washing was performed in forty seahs of living or spring water, which was sufficient for the immersion of the whole body, which it is highly probable was the case; and so Jarchi interprets it of the dipping of the whole body, and which seems to have been necessary, upon their entrance on their office, to denote their complete purity and holiness, though afterwards, when they entered on service, they only washed their hands and feet, see

Ex 30:18 to which our Lord seems to allude, Joh 13:10 this washing shows what purity and holiness were necessary to the priests of the Lord, and that they ought to be clean that bear the vessels of his house, or minister in his sanctuary, and which were in Christ in their full perfection; and such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, and undefiled, and so could offer himself without spot, and was a fit person to take away sin by sacrifice, and to be an advocate for his people: this may also point at his baptism, which he submitted to before he entered on his office in a public manner, and which was performed by immersion; and in this way ought all his priests, his saints, to be washed, as well as with the washing of regeneration, and with the blood of Christ; and which is necessary to their officiating as priests, or drawing nigh to God, and requisite to their communion with God and Christ.





Exodus 29:5



Ver. 5. And thou shall take the garments,.... The priestly garments before ordered to be made, and when made:



and put upon Aaron the coat: the broidered coat, the coat of fine linen, which was put on first and was next to his flesh, for all these garments were put on in the order in which they are here placed:



and the robe of the ephod: which was all of blue, and had pomegranates and golden bells at the hem of it; this was put over the broidered coat:



and the ephod; which was made of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen: this was a short garment put over the robe of the ephod:



and the breastplate; with the Urim and Thummim in it, or the twelve precious stones on which were engraven the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, which hung down over the breast by wreathen chains of gold, from the shoulder pieces of the ephod:



and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod; which was made of the same material and after the same manner as the ephod itself, and which girt all his garments tight and close to him; the significance of these has been observed already; and unless thus clothed he could not minister in his office, and these he had only on while ministering in it: no mention is made of the breeches, because these were doubtless to be put on by the high priest himself in a private manner before he came there; whereas all these garments were put on him publicly at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, where it would not have been so seemly and decent to put on the other.





Exodus 29:6



Ver. 6. And thou shall put the mitre upon his head,.... Which was made of linen, and was a wrap of linen about his head in the form of a turban:



and put the holy crown upon the mitre; the holy crown was a plate of gold which had these words, "holiness to the Lord", engraven on it; and so says the Targum of Jonathan,



"on which the holy name was engraven;''



the mitre was upon the top of his head, this in the forefront of that; it was upon Aaron's forehead, and reached from ear to ear, and was fastened behind with a blue lace; this was like a crown or a diadem, and denotes the honour and dignity of the priestly office: Christ is a priest on his throne, and his saints are a royal priesthood, even kings as well as priests unto God.





Exodus 29:7



Ver. 7. Then thou shall take the anointing oil, After ordered to be made of principal spices, myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia, and oil olive, Ex 30:23



and pour it upon his head, and anoint him; this was done, according to Jarchi, in the form of the letter "chi" as before; the oil was put upon his head and between his eyebrows, and he joined them with his finger: Aben Ezra thinks this was done before the mitre was put upon his head, for upon the head was the oil only poured; but Nachmanides was of opinion that the mitre was so folded about the head that the middle of the head was open, and upon that the oil was poured; and so the Talmudists say {x} that his (the high priest's) hair was seen between the plate of gold and the mitre; but however this was, it seems plain from the text that this anointing was after the mitre was put on, and the priest habited with all his garments; and it is also as clear a case, that the ointment was poured on his head, which ran down to his beard, Ps 133:2, and I see no difficulty in supposing that the mitre and crown might be taken off again while the ceremony of anointing was performed. This unction denotes the investiture of Christ with his office in eternity, who is said to be anointed so early, Pr 8:22, and the donation of the Spirit to him in time, without measure; with which he is said to be anointed, both at his incarnation and at his baptism, and also at his ascension to heaven, and hence comes the name of the Messiah, which signifies anointed; and so his people, his priests, are anointed of God, with an unction from him, with the oil of grace, with the graces of the Spirit, which is necessary for their instruction, for the presentation of themselves to as an holy sacrifice, and to make them meet for the heavenly glory.



{x} T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 19. 1.





Exodus 29:8



Ver. 8. And thou shalt bring his sons,.... Order the sons of Aaron to come to the same place where he was:



and put coats upon them: such as were ordered to be made for them,

Ex 28:40.





Exodus 29:9



Ver. 9. And thou shalt gird them with girdles (Aaron and his sons),.... Aaron with the girdle of the ephod, and with the girdle of needlework, and his sons with common girdles made for them; all which showed what strength, diligence, and expedition were necessary for the discharge of their office:



and put the bonnets on them; upon their heads, which differed only from the high priest's mitre in the manner of rolling or wrapping, as has been observed on Ex 28:39:



and the priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute; that is, shall descend from father to son in Aaron's family throughout all generations, until the Messiah should come; who would be a priest of another order, and put an end to the Aaronic priesthood, by fulfilling what that was a type of, and so abolishing it:



and thou shall consecrate Aaron and his sons; or "fill the hand of them"; that is, with sacrifices to offer for themselves and others,

See Gill on "Ex 28:41". The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan are,



"shall offer the offering of Aaron, and the offering of his sons,''



of which there is an after account, and was one part of their consecration.





Exodus 29:10



Ver. 10. And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation,.... The same, or of the same kind he was ordered to take, Ex 29:1, and here the place is expressed where it was to be taken, and what was to be done with it:



and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock; not Aaron first alone, and then his sons, as some have thought, Aben Ezra makes mention of; but, as he says, both together, not one before another; declaring it to be their sacrifice, a vicarious one, one in their room and stead, signifying that they deserved to die as that creature would; and by this act putting, as it were, their sins and transgressions upon it, see Le 16:21 and which was an emblem of the imputation of sin to Christ, and laying upon him the iniquities of us all.





Exodus 29:11



Ver. 11. And thou shalt kill the bullock before the Lord,.... That is, Moses is ordered to do it, who now officiated as a priest, "pro tempore", Aaron and his sons not being yet completely invested with that office, or thoroughly consecrated to it; of which consecration this sacrifice was a part, and therefore could not with propriety be concerned in killing their own sacrifice; for that purpose, Moses therefore did it, and he did it "before the Lord"; Jehovah the Son gave him those orders to do it before Jehovah the Father, in his presence, as an offering to him, and for his acceptance. And the ark, as Aben Ezra observes, was in the middle westward, and right against it was the altar of incense, and opposite that the altar of burnt offering:



by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; that is, as Jarchi interprets it, in the court of the tabernacle before the door; not by the door by which they entered in to the court of the tabernacle; but in the court before the door that leads in to the holy at some distance from which stood the altar of burnt offering, where this bullock was slain and sacrificed: all this may denote the public manner in which Christ, the antitype, suffered in the presence of the Lord, with his knowledge and will, and before the people of Israel.





Exodus 29:12



Ver. 12. And thou shalt take the blood of the bullock,.... Being slain, and its blood received into a basin:



and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger; not sprinkle it with hyssop, as was done in some cases, but put on with the finger dipped into the blood in the basin; as the horns of the altar were the place where the sacrifice was bound, as some think, or however where persons in distress fled for refuge, and laid hold on, it may figure the blood of Christ, being effectual to the cleansing of their souls, and the remission of their sins, through the application of it to them by the Spirit of God:



and pour all the blood beside at the bottom of the altar; the rest of the blood not put upon the horns of the altar, all that was left of it. Jarchi says, there was a receptacle (for it) that protruded from around the altar, about a cubit from the ground; and here it was that the blood was poured.





Exodus 29:13



Ver. 13. And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards,.... That covered the skin or caul, in which the bowels are contained, called the "omentum", which generally has a pretty deal of fat upon it:



and the caul that is above the liver; which seems to design the diaphragm or midriff; but the Septuagint renders it, "the lobe of the liver"; and Ben Melech says it is to be interpreted with the liver, for he says he took a little of the liver with the caul:



and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar; the Targum of Jonathan is, lay them in order on the altar; it is not easy to say, since fat is taken both in a good and bad sense, what is designed by the burning of it: as fat often designs the best, it being burned on the altar may signify that the best is to be given to the Lord, and we are to honour him with the best things we have, which should be devoted to his service; or as fat renders insensible, and stupefies and makes men heavy, and inclines to a carnal and vicious disposition, and the inward parts and reins being the seat of carnal desires, affections, and lusts; it may denote that the inward part of man is very wickedness, and that the inward corruptions of nature, and the carnal affections and fleshly lusts, are to be mortified and destroyed, at least the power of them to be subdued and restrained.





Exodus 29:14



Ver. 14. But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung,.... The several parts and members of him, head, legs, feet, &c. and the skin taken off of him, and the dung that comes from him. Aben Ezra observes, that the flesh comprehends the head and the pieces, and may be interpreted in a way of conjecture, that he washed it, and afterwards burnt it; all representing a whole Christ under all his painful sufferings, and the shame and reproach he underwent in them:



shalt thou burn with fire without the camp; so Christ, the antitype, suffered without the gates of Jerusalem a most painful and shameful death, despised and reproached by men, and the wrath of God like fire poured out upon him: the apostle seems to refer to this, Heb 13:11,



it is a sin offering; in order to make atonement for the sins of Aaron and his sons; for the law made men priests that had infirmity, and needed offerings and sacrifices for their own sins, which shows the imperfection of the Aaronic priesthood.





Exodus 29:15



Ver. 15. Thou shalt also take one ram,.... One of the two he was bid to take, Ex 29:1;



and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram; confessing their sins, acknowledging their guilt, and by this act transferring the same to the ram, which was to be a burnt offering, and was typical of the imputation of sin to Christ, as before observed.





Exodus 29:16



Ver. 16. And thou shalt slay the ram,.... As he was ordered to slay the bullock, acting in this as a priest, as in that:



and thou shall take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar; the blood being received into a basin, it was not to be put upon the altar with the finger, as the blood of the bullock, but was to be sprinkled probably with a bunch of hyssop, round about upon the altar, on the top and sides: as the deity of Christ is the altar which sanctifies every gift, this may signify that his blood has its virtue and efficacy from that, to make atonement for the sins of men, and to cleanse them from them.





Exodus 29:17



Ver. 17. And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces,.... For the better convenience of laying it upon the wood on the altar, that it might be burnt; for it was to be a whole burnt offering:



and wash the inwards of him, and his legs; denoting the purity of the sacrifice of Christ, and that when his people give up themselves to God as a whole burnt offering, in the flames of love and zeal, their affections should be pure and sincere:



and put [them] unto his pieces, and unto his head; lay them together, so that they might be entirely consumed at once; signifying that Christ was both in soul and body an offering and a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour to God; zeal for the honour of whose house, and the glory of his name, ate him up, as well as the fire of divine wrath; and so our whole souls, bodies and spirits, should be presented to the Lord as a holy, living, and acceptable sacrifice to him, which is more strongly suggested in the next verse.





Exodus 29:18



Ver. 18. And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar,.... For which reason his head, his pieces, his inwards, and his legs, were to be put together, and laid in order upon the altar:



it is a burnt offering unto the Lord; offered up to him, and accepted by him, as follows:



it is a sweet savour; or "a smell of rest" {y}, in which God acquiesces, and rests, and takes delight and pleasure; it is, as the Septuagint version,



for a smell of sweet savour, or a sweet smelling savour; which phrase the apostle makes use of, and applies to the sacrifice of Christ, Eph 5:2:



an offering made by fire unto the Lord; which being consumed by fire ascended upwards to the Lord, and became acceptable to him, as the sacrifice of his own Son, in his fiery sufferings and death, was unto him.



{y} xwxyn xyr "odor quietis", Montanus, Fagius, Vatablus, Cartwright, Piscator.





Exodus 29:19



Ver. 19. And thou shall take the other ram,.... The other of the two that was left, Ex 29:1:



and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram, as they were to do, and did, upon the head of the other;

See Gill on "Ex 29:15".





Exodus 29:20



Ver. 20. Then shall thou kill the ram,.... As the other:



and take of his blood, some part of it being received into a basin:



and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons; according to Jarchi, this is the middle gristle within the ear; but Saadiah more rightly says it is the tender part which joins to the orb of the ear. The blood was put upon this part to sanctify it, and cleanse from sins that come thereby, and to teach the high priest that he ought attentively to listen to what should be said unto him of the Lord, that he might faithfully report it to the people; and as our great High Priest had his ear opened and awakened, to hear as the learned; and happy are his people who have ears to hear the joyful sound, and take pleasure in it, and who are cleansed from their hearing sins, by his precious blood:



and upon the thumb of their right hand; on the middle joint of it, as Jarchi:



and upon the great toe of the right foot; the hands and fingers being the instruments of action, and the feet and toes of walking, show that the life and conversation of the priests of the Lord ought to be pure and holy, and so their antitype perfectly was; and whereas there is imperfection in all the actions, and even in the best righteousness of the saints, and their walk and conversation is not without sin, they have need to have them sprinkled with, and their conversation garments washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb:



and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about; as was done with the blood of the other ram, Ex 29:16.





Exodus 29:21



Ver. 21. And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar,.... Not that which was sprinkled upon it, which could not be gathered up in such quantities as to be sprinkled again; but which was in a basin on it, having been received into it when the ram was slain:



and of the anointing oil; hereafter to be made, and with which Aaron was anointed as soon as he had his garments on; and this is a different anointing from that that was poured on his head; this was sprinkled on his garments, as follows:



and sprinkle it upon Aaron; both the blood and the oil:



and upon his garments; the note of Aben Ezra is, under the garments of Aaron, and on his garments, as if they were sprinkled within and without:



and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him; at his first unction his sons do not seem to have been anointed at all, but now they and their garments are sprinkled both with blood and oil; denoting both the justification of the priests of the Lord by the blood of Christ, and the sanctification of them by the Spirit, and the need that both their persons and their actions stand in of cleansing by them both:



and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him: all should be holy in a ceremonial sense, and devoted to holy uses and services; see Ps 45:8.





Exodus 29:22



Ver. 22. Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump,.... The fat which was upon it: the sheep in Arabia and about Judea were remarkable for their large tails; according to Rauwolff {z}, they were half a span thick, and one and a half broad, and very fat; and so in Africa and Egypt were rams of large tails often and twenty pounds weight {a}; and Aristotle {b} speaks of sheep in Syria that had tails a cubit broad; and Herodotus {c} makes mention of two sorts in Arabia, one sort have tails three cubits long, which if drawn upon the ground would ulcerate, wherefore the shepherds make little carts to bear them upon {d}, and the other sort have tails a cubit broad; and Vartomanus {e} relates, how in Arabia are fat sheep whose tails weigh eleven, twelve, seventeen, nay, forty four pounds, and of a cubit long:



and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them:

See Gill on "Ex 29:13"



and the right shoulder; what was to be done with it is afterwards observed as well as with the rest:



for it is a ram of consecration; or "of fillings" {f}; Jarchi says, the Scripture declares these fillings to be peace offerings, for they minister peace to the altar, and to him that does the service, and to the owners; wherefore the breast was necessarily his that did the service for his portion, and this was Moses, for he ministered in the fillings, and the rest Aaron and his sons ate, for they were the owners.



{z} Travels, p. 221. {a} Leo. African. Descript. Africae, l. 9. p. 753. {b} Hist. Animal. l. 8, c. 28. {c} Thalia sive, l. 3. c. 113. {d} The same is observed in T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 54. 2. & Gloss. in. ib. {e} Navigat. l. 2. c. 5, 9, 15. {f} Myalm "impletionum", Montanus, Vatablus, Piscator.





Exodus 29:23



Ver. 23. And one loaf of bread,.... Of unleavened bread, as in

Ex 29:2 large bread is meant, as Ben Melech observes, for the rest were cakes and wafers, as follows:



and one cake of oiled bread; which was made of flour and oil mixed and tempered together:



and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread; which was anointed with oil and crossed, as the Jewish writers say:



that [is] before the Lord; which basket of unleavened bread, cakes, and wafers, was set in the court of the tabernacle, and so said to be before the Lord, being devoted to whatever use he should assign them, being by his orders brought thither.





Exodus 29:24



Ver. 24. And thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons,.... Which accounts for the use of the phrase, filling the hand for consecration, Ex 29:9 for all the above things of the ram, bread, cakes, and wafers, were put into their hands when consecrated, denoting their investiture with their office: all things are in the hands of Christ, relative to the glory of God and the good of his people; their persons are in his hands, and all grace and blessings of it for them; a commission to execute his office as a priest is given to him; and as it was proper that he also should have somewhat to offer, his hands are filled, and he has a sufficiency for that purpose, as Aaron and his sons had, Heb 8:3



and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: which was waved or shook to and fro, from east to west, and from north to south, to or before him, as Jarchi observes, whose are the four winds of the world {g}; and this was done by Moses and Aaron also; for, according to the same writer,



"both were employed in waving, both the owners and the priest, how? the priest put his hand under the hand of the owner and waved, and in this Aaron and his sons were the owners and Moses the priest.''



{g} Vid. T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 62. 1.





Exodus 29:25



Ver. 25. And thou shalt receive them of their hands,.... After they had been put into them, and filled with them, and waved by them:



and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering; not the flesh of the ram, which is after ordered to be boiled and eaten by Aaron and his sons; but the fat of it, before described, with one loaf, one cake, and one wafer of unleavened bread, out of the basket: this was done



for a sweet savour before the Lord; that it might be grateful and acceptable to him, as it was:



it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord;

See Gill on "Ex 29:18".





Exodus 29:26



Ver. 26. And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecrations,.... The ram being slain and cut to pieces, this part is particularly disposed of:



and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; in the manner before described:



and it shall be thy part: the part of Moses, he officiating now as a priest; and we find accordingly in later times that this part of the sacrifice belonged to the priest, Le 7:31.





Exodus 29:27



Ver. 27. And thou shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering,.... Set it apart for the use of the priest in all succeeding ages:



and the shoulder of the heave offering: as the breast was waved from one hand to another, or cast from the hand of one to the hand of another; the shoulder was heaved up, or cast up and caught again: this also was to be sanctified or set apart for the priest's use, Le 7:32,



which is waved, and which is heaved up of the ram of the consecration: the breast was waved and the shoulder heaved:



even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons; as these two parts before mentioned in peace offerings were.





Exodus 29:28



Ver. 28. And it shall be Aaron's and his sons by a statute for ever from the children of Israel,.... That is, the shoulder, which seems particularly meant, though the breast also was theirs, which was at this time given to Moses, he being priest; and this was an everlasting statute and ordinance in all generations, as long as the priesthood of Aaron lasted, until the Messiah should come and put an end to it: and this the children of Israel were always to allow the priests; the shoulder, because Aaron bore their names before the Lord upon his shoulders, for a memorial; and the breast for a like reason, because he bore their names in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, and their judgment also before the Lord continually, Ex 28:12,



for it is an heave offering: it is lifted up to the Lord, and therefore is given to his priest:



and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, [even] their heave offering unto the Lord: it being heaved up and given to the priest, it was reckoned an offering to the Lord, and was accepted by him as a peace offering; and it was an emblem of the lifting up of their hearts to God, and of the going up of the affections and desires of their souls to him, and of their serving and worshipping him in spirit and in truth, who is a spirit, and was their Father in heaven, to whom their eyes, hearts, and hands, were to be lifted up.





Exodus 29:29



Ver. 29. And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his son's after him,.... That son that succeeded him in the priesthood; for the priesthood continued in Aaron's family by succession, the eldest son being high priest, until the disposal of this office fell into the hands of Heathen princes, and then it was obtained by interest or money: now, though the coat and breeches might be wore out by Aaron before he died, yet the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and its girdle, and the breastplate, might continue, and go from father to son, and especially the latter, even to succeeding ages; see Nu 20:26,



to be anointed therein, and consecrated in them; this is to be understood only of the high priesthood, and of anointing and consecrating to that; for none but high priests were anointed, and their sons who succeeded them in that office, and who were anointed, and consecrated in like manner as Aaron was, by washing, clothing, anointing, and sacrificing.





Exodus 29:30



Ver. 30. And that son that is priest in his stead,.... The Targum of Jonathan is,



"who shall rise after him of his sons, not of the Levites;''



for the high priest was to be of the family of Aaron, a descendant of his; it was not enough that he was of the tribe of Levi, but he must descend from Aaron, either in the line of Eleazar or of Ithamar:



shall put them on seven days; the next successor was to wear the garments seven days running:



when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place; to offer sacrifice in the court of the tabernacle, on the altar of burnt offering, and to offer incense on the altar of incense, and to trim the lamps of the candlestick, and to put the shewbread on the table.





Exodus 29:31



Ver. 31. And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration,.... For the other ram was cut in pieces and burnt, even the whole of it:



and seethe his flesh in the holy place; not in that part of the tabernacle which was properly the holy place, as distinguished from the holy of holies, and from the court of the tabernacle; for in that there was no convenience for boiling, but in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation, even at the door of it, as in Le 8:31.





Exodus 29:32



Ver. 32. And Aaron and his sons shall eat of the flesh of the ram,.... Typical of the flesh of Christ, whose flesh is meat indeed, and to be eaten by faith, whereby it becomes spiritual food, savoury and nourishing, as it is to all the Lord's priests, or who are made so to God:



and the bread that is in the basket; the unleavened bread, cakes, and wafers, Ex 29:2, what was left of them, one loaf, one cake, and one wafer, having been put into the hands of Aaron and his sons, and received from them and burnt, Ex 29:23 this may figure Christ the bread of life, held forth in the ministry of the word, for believers in him to feed upon; which basket of bread was



by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; the whole court, Jarchi says, was so called, where the people in common assembled, and the Lord met with them; and so may point at the public ordinances, where Christ is set forth as food for souls.





Exodus 29:33



Ver. 33. And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made,.... For the sins of Aaron and his sons, for they were men of infirmity, and needed sacrifice for sin themselves; and herein Christ their antitype excelled them, that he had no sin of his own, and needed not to offer first for them, and then for the sins of others, as Aaron and his sons, the types of him, did; and their eating of the sacrifice for atonement points at the receiving of the atonement of Christ's sacrifice by faith, and the enjoyment of it and the blessings following on it:



to consecrate and to sanctify them; that they might be filled and fitted, and set apart and devoted to the office of the priesthood, and minister in it:



but a stranger shall not eat [thereof], because they are holy; meaning not one of another nation, but of another family, though an Israelite; the Targum of Jonathan renders it, a profane and common person, a layman, one that was not a priest; who, though he was of the seed of Israel, yet not being of the seed of Aaron, as Aben Ezra interprets it, he might not eat of the above things, because they were devoted to holy uses; and therefore none but such who were sanctified or set apart to sacred service might partake of them.





Exodus 29:34



Ver. 34. And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning,.... Being more than the priests could eat:



then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire; that it might not be used in a contemptuous manner, or abused to superstitious uses; the same orders with those respecting what was left of the passover:

Ex 12:10,



it shall not be eaten, because it is holy; which is the reason before given why it should not be eaten by a stranger, and being kept till the next morning it was ordered to be burnt, that it might not then be eaten at all; it was not to be given to a stranger, nor to be cast to dogs, because it had been devoted to sacred uses; and it seems as if it was not to be eaten by the priests themselves the next day, who were to live upon the daily provision made for them.





Exodus 29:35



Ver. 35. And thus shall thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons,.... For their consecration, washing, clothing, anointing them, sprinkling blood upon them and their garments, and offering sacrifice for them:



according to all things which I have commanded thee; no one thing was to be omitted, and we find they were carefully and punctually observed, Le 8:1



seven days shalt thou consecrate them: so long the rites and ceremonies of the consecration were to be performing, that they might be thoroughly used to the putting on of their garments, and the offering of sacrifices as they saw performed by Moses; and in all respects be fitted for the discharge of their office: the Jewish writers generally say that seven days were appointed, that a sabbath might pass over them.





Exodus 29:36



Ver. 36. And thou shall offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement,.... That is, every day of the seven days of consecration; denoting the full and complete atonement for sin by the sacrifice of Christ, which these sacrifices could not really obtain, and were therefore frequently repeated, in this case seven times; figuratively by that number pointing to the full expiation of sin by the atoning Saviour, who was made not only an offering for sin, but sin itself by imputation, for his people:



and thou shalt cleanse the altar when thou hast made atonement for it; which though not capable of sin, or of any moral guilt, yet, inasmuch as it was to be of sacred use, and to have sin offerings laid upon it, expiation and cleansing, in a ceremonial way, were to be made for it, to purge it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel,

Le 16:18. This altar was typical of Christ, who is that altar believers in him have a right to partake of; and though he had no sin of his own, no guilt of that kind to expiate, nor pollution to be cleansed from, yet as he had the guilt of his people transferred to him, and was clothed with their filthy garments, and had their uncleannesses on him; by the sacrifice of himself he purged away sin from himself and them, and was justified and cleared of all, and they in him:



and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it; anoint it, as it afterwards was, with the holy anointing oil, whereby it was sanctified, or set apart for holy uses; in which it was a figure of Christ anointed with the oil of gladness, the Holy Spirit, above his fellows; and was sanctified and set apart for his priestly office, in which he was both altar, sacrifice, and priest.





Exodus 29:37



Ver. 37. Seven days thou shalt make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it,.... That it might be thoroughly fit to have sacrifices offered on it:



and it shall be an altar most holy; as Christ is, and is called the Most Holy, and said to be anointed, Da 9:24. He is holy in his person, nature, and offices, more holy than angels or men; as holy as the Lord God, the God of Israel, his Father, who is glorious in holiness, and none like to him for it:



whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy; that is, whatsoever gift or sacrifice, according to law, was offered on it, whatever appertained unto it, or were suitable for it; for as for other things, they were not made holy by a touch of it, Hag 2:11. The Targum of Jonathan refers it to persons, paraphrasing the words, that such should be holy who were



"of the sons of Aaron, but of the rest of the people it was not lawful for them to draw nigh, lest they should be burnt with flaming fire that comes out of the holy things;''



but our Lord applies it to gifts and offerings of the altar, for to this case he seems to have respect, Mt 23:19 for he is the altar that sanctifies not only the persons, but the services of his people, and their sacrifices of prayer and praise come up with acceptance to God from off this altar; though even the best duties and services of theirs need atonement and purification by the sacrifice and blood of Christ.





Exodus 29:38



Ver. 38. Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar,.... An altar being ordered to be built, and this sanctified and expiated, and priests being appointed and consecrated to the service of it; an account is given of the offerings that should be offered up upon it every day, besides those that should be offered occasionally, and at other set times:



two lambs of the first year day by day continually; typical of Christ the Lamb of God, who continually, through the efficacy of his blood, and the virtue of his sacrifice, which are ever the same, takes away day by day the sins of his people. A lamb is a proper emblem of him for innocence and harmlessness, for meekness and humility, for patience, for usefulness for food and clothing, and especially for sacrifice; and these being of the



first year, may denote the tenderness of Christ, who as he grew up as a tender plant, so as a tender lamb, encompassed with infirmities, being in all things like unto his people, excepting sin; and as these were to be



without spot, Nu 28:3 and so here, in the Septuagint version, it may point at the purity of Christ, who is the Lamb of God, without spot and blemish, and who offered himself without spot to God, and was a fit sacrifice to be offered up for the taking away of the sins of men.





Exodus 29:39



Ver. 39. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning,.... And before this no other sacrifice was to be offered, and therefore it was slain and offered very early; and yet it was not lawful to slay it before break of day, wherefore great care was taken that it should not;



"he that was appointed over the service used to say to the priests, go out, and see if the time of slaying is come; if it is come, he that went out to see, said, coruscations or brightnesses; Matthias the son of Samuel said, does it enlighten the face of the whole east as far as Hebron? he said, yes; why was this necessary? because one time the light of the moon ascended, and they thought the east was enlightened (or it was break of day), and they slew the sacrifice {h}:''



and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, or



between the two evenings; of which phrase See Gill on "Ex 12:6" Josephus {i} says, it was about the ninth hour, or three o'clock in the afternoon, that the daily sacrifice was offered: the Misnic doctors say {k}, it was slain at eight and a half, or half an hour after two o'clock, and was offered up at nine and a half, or half an hour after three o'clock: they stayed as long as they could before they offered it, because no sacrifice was offered after it but the passover. We are told that the lamb of the morning was slain in the northwest corner of the altar, and that of the evening in the northeast corner {l}: the reason of this was, because in the morning the sun was in the east, and shone over against the west; but the evening daily sacrifice was when the sun was in the west, and shone opposite the east {m}: this was in a good measure literally fulfilled in Christ, namely, as to the time of slaying and offering the daily sacrifice; for he was crucified at the third hour, that is, at nine o'clock in the morning, at the sixth hour, or at twelve o'clock at noon, darkness was upon the earth, which continued till the ninth, and then he gave up the ghost, which was three o'clock in the afternoon, the usual time of slaying and offering the daily evening sacrifice, Mr 15:25 and this may signify the extensiveness of Christ's sacrifice, reaching from the morning of the world to the evening of it. He was slain and offered up in the morning of the world, in the purpose and promise of God, in the typical sacrifices of men, and in the faith of his people, who looked to him as the atoning Saviour, and in the efficacy of his blood, which reached to all the saints from the beginning, for the pardon and atonement of their sins; and it was at the end or evening of the Jewish world and state that Christ was offered up a sacrifice for sin, and the virtue of it will continue to the end of the world. Christ is the Lamb of God that continues to take away the sin of the world, and his blood continues to cleanse from all sin, and he ever lives to make intercession for transgressors. Good men are continually sinning, and they ever stand in need of the application of pardoning grace and mercy; there are sins of the night, and the sins of the day they fall into, and nothing can expiate them but the blood and sacrifice of Christ. The repetition of these sacrifices every day, morning and night, shows that they could not really and perfectly take away sin; the cessation of them was a token of perfect atonement by Christ, which made them needless and useless: and this may teach us, that the sacrifices of prayer and praise should be morning and evening; in the morning we should express our thankfulness for the mercies of the night, and pray for the continuance of them the day following; and at the evening we should offer up the sacrifices of praise for the mercies of the day, and pray for the mercies of the night; and at both seasons should be concerned to have a fresh application of the atoning blood and sacrifice of Christ, for the taking away from us the sins of the night and day.



{h} Misn. Yoma, c. 3. sect. 1, 2. Tamid, c. 3. sect. 2. {i} Joseph. Antiqu. l. 14. c. 4. sect. 3. {k} Misn. Pesachim, c. 5. sect. 1. {l} Misn. Tamid, c. 4. sect. 1. {m} Bartenora in Misn. Tamid, c. 4. sect. 1.





Exodus 29:40



Ver. 40. And with the one lamb a tenth deal,.... That is, the tenth part of an "ephah", as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, which is an "omer", and held as much as a man could eat in one day, or more, see Ex 16:18:



of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; this was a meat, or, rather bread offering, which went along with the daily sacrifice, and typified Christ the food of his people, who is compared to a corn of wheat; is the finest of the wheat, and the bread of God, which came down from heaven, and gives life, food; and nourishment to men; and the "beaten oil" may signify the graces of the Spirit in him, and the exercise of them through the many trials and sufferings he endured, and which make him savoury food to his people, as a crucified Christ is:



and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering; a "hin", Aben Ezra says, was an Egyptian measure, but what reason he had for it does not appear; according to Ainsworth, the fourth part of it was a pint and a half; but according to Bishop Cumberland {n}, who has with great exactness calculated the Jewish measures, it was a quart and above half a pint; this was poured out upon the altar. Jarchi says there were two silver basins on the top of the altar, and there were bored in them like two small nostrils, and wine was put in the middle of them; and it flowed and went out by the way of the nostrils, and fell upon the top of the altar, and from thence descended to the bottom: this wine poured may either signify the blood of Christ shed, or poured out for the remission of sin; or the love of Christ very plentifully manifested in the offering up of himself for men, and the acceptableness of to God: and, moreover, as sacrifices are called the bread of God, and he makes as it were a feast of them, feeding on them with delight and pleasure, it was necessary there should be wine to complete the banquet; wherefore wine is said to cheer both God and man, Jud 9:13, alluding to the libations of wine in sacrifices.



{n} Of Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 3. p. 86.





Exodus 29:41



Ver. 41. And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even,....

See Gill on "Ex 29:39",



and shall do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof; a meat and drink offering consisting of the same things, for quality and quantity, and made in the same manner, were to be offered with the daily evening sacrifice, as with the morning one:



for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the Lord: for these lambs were both burnt with fire upon the altar, and therefore are called a burnt offering in the next verse.





Exodus 29:42



Ver. 42. This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations,.... To be offered up morning and evening in every age, as long as the Mosaic economy lasted, till he came, who put an end to it by offering up himself, the antitype of it:



at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord; that is, upon the altar of burnt offering which stood there, see Ex 40:29:



where I will meet you to speak there unto thee; to accept of their sacrifices, give further directions of what was to be done, and answers to inquiries made of him in matters of moment and difficulty. Jarchi observes, that some of their Rabbins conclude from hence, that the holy blessed God spoke with Moses from off the altar of brass, after the tabernacle was set up; but others say from off the mercy seat, as in

Ex 25:22.





Exodus 29:43



Ver. 43. And there will I meet with the children of Israel,.... Not only with Moses or with Aaron, and his successors, but with the people themselves, by granting them his gracious presence in public ordinances, giving them tokens of his goodwill unto them, and of his acceptance of their offerings, hearing their prayers put up by themselves, or by the priest interceding for them, and receiving their thanksgivings for mercies bestowed, and giving them instructions by the mouth of his priests:



and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory; by his Shechinah, or the glory of the divine Majesty, dwelling in it; or it may be supplied, the children of Israel shall be sanctified; set apart and distinguished by his glorious presence among them; the Targum of Jonathan is,



"I will be sanctified in or by their princes, because of my glory.''





Exodus 29:44



Ver. 44. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar,.... This seems to intimate that something else in the preceding verse is intended, as what should be sanctified, than the tabernacle, as we supply it; or else here is a repetition of the same thing for the confirmation of it, and both that and the altar were, sanctified, or set apart for holy uses, as well as cleansed and expiated by sacrifices:



I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest's office; that is, in a ceremonial way, by separating them from the rest of the children of Israel, by washing, clothing, and anointing them, and by accepting sacrifices offered by them; for this is not to be understood of internal sanctifying grace, which, though Aaron had, and many of his sons that succeeded him, yet not all; nor was it necessary to the performance of the priestly office, though it is in all those who are a royal priesthood, and made priests as well as kings unto God; for they are a holy nation, called with an holy calling, and unto himself, and have it both internally and externally.





Exodus 29:45



Ver. 45. And I will dwell among the children of Israel,.... In the tabernacle ordered to be built for him, and which, when built, was placed in the midst of the camp of Israel; and here Jehovah dwelt as a king in his palace, near at hand to help, protect, and defend his subjects, and supply them with all things needful for them; see De 4:7



and will be their God; their covenant God, their King and their God, their government being a Theocracy; their God and Father, by national adoption, and from whom they might expect all good things, they continuing in obedience to his commands, by the tenure of which they held their rights and privileges, civil and ecclesiastical.





Exodus 29:46



Ver. 46. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God,.... By his presence with them, by the blessings bestowed upon them, by his care of them, and kindness to them:



that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell amongst them; not only did he bring them from thence, that they might dwell in the land of Canaan, but that he might dwell among them, which was by far the greatest mercy; and not only that they might be delivered from the bondage and affliction with which they were sorely pressed, but that they might be a free people, under the protection of their King and their God, in the midst of them; all which was a great encouragement to them, and an obligation on them to attend the service of the sanctuary, and to obey the Lord in whatsoever he had enjoined or should command them:



I am the Lord their God; of which he had given full proof and evidence by what he had done for them, and would yet give more; and to have the Lord our God is the greatest happiness that can be enjoyed, see

Ps 33:12.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 30:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 30



This chapter treats of the altar of incense, its form and use,

Ex 30:1 of the ransom of the Israelites, with the half shekel when numbered, Ex 30:11 of the laver for the priests to wash their hands and feet at before service, Ex 30:17 of the anointing oil, the ingredients of it, and what was to be done with it,

Ex 30:22, and of the perfume, the composition and use of it,

Ex 30:34.



Ver. 1. And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon,.... The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call it incense of spices, properly enough, for it was made of various spices; of which see Ex 30:34 and this was necessary on a natural and civil account, to remove those ill smells from the sanctuary, occasioned by the number of beasts continually slain in it; but chiefly on a religions account, to denote the acceptableness of the service of the sanctuary to God:



of shittim wood shall thou make it: of the same that the altar of burnt offering was made, which was covered with brass, but this with gold, as after related; of this sort of wood, See Gill on "Ex 25:5" as this altar was a type of Christ, the shittim wood may respect his human nature; which wood, though it sprung out of the earth, was not common, but choice and excellent, and very strong durable, and incorruptible; and so Christ, though he was man made of an earthly woman in his human nature, yet was chosen out of the people, is the chiefest among ten thousand, and excellent as the cedars, the man of God's right hand, whom he made strong for himself; and though he died in it, he saw no corruption, he now lives, and will live for evermore; in which nature he acts the part of a Mediator, and intercedes for his people, and offers up their prayers, perfumed with the much incense of his mediation, to which this altar has a special respect.





Exodus 30:2



Ver. 2. A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, four square shall it be,.... It was one Jewish square cubit, which is in surface, according to Bishop Cumberland, three English square feet, and about forty seven square inches; which may denote the solidity, perfection, and extensiveness of Christ's priesthood, it being unchangeable, firm, and lasting; and which passes not from one to another, and the which makes something perfect, which the law and priesthood of Aaron could not, even perfects for ever them that are sanctified; and is very extensive; the virtue of it reaches to all the elect of God, from the beginning of the world to the end of it; not his sacrifice only, but his intercession, which is principally respected; that is made for all the people of God, in all places, and in all ages, and for all things for them, both for this life, and that which is to come:



and two cubits shall be the height thereof; so that it was as high again as it was long and broad: Christ, our interceding high priest, is made higher than the heavens:



the horns thereof shall be of the same; of the same wood the altar itself was made: these were a sort of spires that rose up at the four corners of the altar; and the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases the words,



"and of it its horns shall be erect;''



which were chiefly for decoration and ornament; and may denote the honour and glory of Christ, as well as his power and ability to save, to the uttermost, all that come to God by him, or lay hold upon him, since he ever lives to make intercession.





Exodus 30:3



Ver. 3. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold,.... Hence this altar is sometimes called the golden altar, Nu 4:11 this may figure the deity of Christ, whose head is as the most fine gold, and is in the divine nature, in the form of God, and is the brightness of his glory, and possessed of the same perfections; or rather the glorification of his human nature in heaven, where he is highly exalted, and the preciousness of his intercession, which is always powerful and prevalent, and the duration of it:



the top thereof, and the sides thereof, round about, and the horns thereof: all and each of them were covered with gold; this altar had a top, when the altar of burnt offering had none, but its hollow place was filled up with earth at every encampment; so Jarchi observes: this was not a grate, as the Vulgate Latin version renders it, for here were neither blood nor ashes to be let through; but it was a flat covering like the roof of a house, as the word signifies, on which was set a golden dish, with live coals and incense burning on them; and which, when burnt, was carried away: and the sides are the four sides of the frame, it being a square, or the two sides and two ends of it; and the horns, the four horns at each corner, all were covered with plates of gold; so that this altar was a richer and more excellent one than that of burnt offering; and may signify the superior excellency of Christ's state of exaltation to that of his humiliation: in the latter, which the altar of burnt offering respected, he was made of no reputation, and became obedient to the death of the cross, yea, was made sin, and a curse for his people; but in the former, which the altar of incense respected, he was raised from the dead, and had glory given him; he was raised for the justification of his people, and was himself justified in the Spirit, ascended on high, was received into glory, sat down at the right hand of God, making continual intercession for his saints:



and thou shall make unto it a crown of gold round about; which was partly to keep from slipping what was put upon it, but chiefly for ornament; and plainly points at the exaltation of Christ in our nature in heaven, as our interceding high priest, where he is a priest upon his throne; and is crowned with glory and honour.





Exodus 30:4



Ver. 4. And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it,.... The crown was on the top of the altar, at the edge of it all around; and just underneath it were two rings of gold, two on each side:



by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shall thou make them; at each corner a ring, and at each side; the use of them follows:



and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal; these rings were for the staves to be put into when the altar was to be carried from place to place, as it was in the wilderness, during the travels of Israel there; and this signifies that Christ never leaves his people; when they are in the wilderness he is with them, interceding for them, providing all things necessary for their food, safety, and protection, Re 12:14.





Exodus 30:5



Ver. 5. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood,.... Of the same wood the altar itself was made:



and overlay them with gold; as that was; these rings and staves may be an emblem of the precious ordinances of Christ, in which he grants his presence; and where he is held forth in different ages and places as the interceding high priest of his people, their advocate with the Father, pleading continually his propitiatory sacrifice in their favour.





Exodus 30:6



Ver. 6. Thou shalt put it before the vail,.... That divides between the holy and the most holy place; not within the vail in the holy of holies, but before it at the holy place, for there the altar of incense stood: Josephus {o} says, between the candlestick and the table, i.e. of shewbread, stood the altar of incense; now the candlestick and shewbread were in the holy place; and with this account the Talmudists {p} agree, who say, that the table was in the north, distant from the wall two cubits and a half, and the candlestick on the south, distant from the wall two cubits and a half, and the altar was in the middle, and stood between them: and Maimonides {q} gives the like account of its situation, which is here further described:



that is by the ark of the testimony; which vail was by it, before which the altar was placed; the ark of the testimony was the chest or coffer in which the law was put, and which was the testimony of the will of God, from whence it had this name; and it stood in the most holy place; and not by it in the same place, but over against it, in the holy place stood the altar of incense:



before the mercy seat, that is over the testimony; the mercy seat that was over the ark, a lid or cover to it, where the testimony was; and towards this, before the face of it, was the altar of incense, where the priest officiating, looked directly towards it; having that in view for the acceptance of the people's prayers to God through Christ, which they were making while he was burning the incense:



where I will meet thee; as he had before promised, Ex 25:22.



{o} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 8. {p} T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 33. 2. {q} Hilchot Beth. Habechirah, c. 1. sect. 7.





Exodus 30:7



Ver. 7. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning,.... This in later times was done by a common priest, who obtained this service by lots as we find in the times of Zacharias, Lu 1:9 the incense was fetched out of the house of Abtines, where it was made, and burning coals were taken off of the altar of burnt offering in a vessel, and the incense was spread upon them and burnt: the Jewish canons about this matter run thus {r}; he that was worthy of, or allotted to, the incense, took a vessel that held three kabs, and a bowl in the midst of it, full and heaped up with incense, and took a silver censer, and went up to the top of the altar, and moved the coals to and fro, and took them and went down and poured them into a golden censer: and again {s}, he that was worthy of, or allotted to, a censer, gathered the coals upon the top of the altar, and spread them with the edges of the censer, and bowing himself went out; and he that was worthy of, or allotted to, the incense, took the bowl out of the midst of the vessel, and gave it to his friend or neighbour: and he that burns the incense may not burn until the president says to him, burn; and if he was an high priest, the president says, lord high priest, burn; the people depart, and he burns the incense, and bows and goes away: the burning of the sweet incense was typical of the mediation and intercession of Christ; the burning coals typified his sufferings, which were painful to his body, and in which he endured the wrath of God in his soul, and both must be very distressing to him: the incense put upon these shows that Christ's mediation and intercession proceeds upon his sufferings and death, his bloodshed, satisfaction, and sacrifice; which mediation of his, like the sweet incense, is frequent, is pure and holy, though made for transgressors, and there is none like unto it; there is but one Mediator between God and man: likewise this was typical of the prayers of the saints; and at the same time that the incense was burnt the people were at prayer, which was set before the Lord as incense, see Ps 141:3, these go upwards to God, and come up with acceptance to him, from off the golden altar, being offered up to him by Christ, with his much incense, through his blood and righteousness, and are pure, holy, fervent, and fragrant, and called odours, Re 5:8



when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it; which he did every morning he went into the holy place, where the candlestick with its lamps was; these he trimmed and dressed, snuffed those that were ready to go out, lighted those that were gone out, supplied them with oil and wicks, and cleared the snuff dishes, and the like: now near to the candlestick stood the altar of incense, so that when the priest looked after the one, he did the service of the other; and hence we learn, that our intercessor and lamplighter is one and the same; he that was seen amidst the golden candlesticks dressing the lamps of them, appears at the golden altar with a golden censer, to offer up the prayers of his saints, Re 1:13 and we learn also, that the light of the word and prayer should go together, as they do in faithful ministers and conscientious Christians, who give themselves up unto and employ themselves therein; the one to and in the ministry of the word and prayer, and the other to and in the reading and hearing of the word and prayer.



{r} Misn. Tamid, c. 5. sect. 4, 5. {s} Ibid. c. 6. sect. 2, 3.





Exodus 30:8



Ver. 8. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it,.... In the evening the priest went into the holy place to light the lamps that were gone out, See Gill on "Ex 27:20" at the same time he burnt incense on the altar; and as the daily sacrifice was offered up morning and evening, so the incense was burnt every morning and evening, and much about the same time: the Jews say {t}, that the incense of the morning was offered between the blood (i.e. the sprinkling of the blood of the daily sacrifice) and the members, or the laying of the pieces on the altar; and the incense of the evening was between the pieces and the drink offering: and with this Philo agrees {u}, who says, twice every day most fragrant odours were offered, at the sun rising and setting, before the morning and after the evening sacrifice:



a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations; thus Christ's mediation and intercession is constant and continual; as his sacrifice continually takes away the sin of the world, in which it was the antitype of the daily sacrifice; so his blood continually speaks for peace and pardon, and every blessing of grace for his people, in which it is the antitype of the morning and evening incense; for he ever lives to make intercession; and so the prayers of the saints are directed to God both morning and evening, and they cease not praying as long as they live.



{t} Misn. Yoma, c. 3. sect. 4. {u} De Victimis, p. 836.





Exodus 30:9



Ver. 9. Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon,.... Which had not the same, but was made of other materials, or had more or fewer; whatever was not exactly the same was not to be offered; and so to make use of other mediators than Christ, whether angels or men, or to put up prayer to God for the sake of our own righteousness, pleading the merits of our works, and not the blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of Christ, is to offer strange incense, unacceptable to God, and which will be of no avail to men:



nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; these were to be offered and burnt upon the altar of burnt offering;



neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon; as upon the other altar; everything in God's worship and service was to be done in the proper place and order; these offerings and sacrifices, though they were by divine appointment, yet must be offered on that altar which was peculiar for them.





Exodus 30:10



Ver. 10. And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year,.... On the day of atonement, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra explain it; and the atonement here referred to seems to be an atonement for the altar itself, see Le 16:18 and as the altar of burnt offering was first expiated and then used,

Ex 29:36 so it seems the altar of incense had not only an atonement made on it, but for it: and this was done



with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; by sprinkling the blood of that offering upon the horns of it, as we learn from the afore mentioned place; and this shows that Christ's mediation and intercession is founded upon the virtue of his blood, and the efficacy of his atoning sacrifice, see 1Jo 2:1



once in the year shall he make atonement upon it, throughout your generations; which proves the insufficiency of all legal sacrifices of themselves to take away sin, since every year, as the apostle observes, there was a remembrance of it, Heb 10:3



it is most holy unto the Lord; either the atonement made on the day of atonement, which was a most holy part of service, and pointed at the great atonement made by the most Holy One, the Son of God; or this altar thus expiated, and devoted to sacred use, was reckoned a most sacred one to the Lord, and so was to have nothing offered upon it but what he ordered; with which Jarchi agrees in his note,



"the altar is sanctified to these things only, and not to any other service.''





Exodus 30:11



Ver. 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Continued his discourse; or, there being some intermission, reassumed it:



saying; as follows.





Exodus 30:12



Ver. 12. When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, after their number,.... An account of them, how many they are; which was sometimes done, and was proper to be done, especially in time of war; though the present case seems to be for the sake of raising money for the tabernacle and the service of it:



then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; which was not done yearly, nor was it perpetual; we have but two instances of it after this until the times of David, Nu 1:2 yet it seems to have been a yearly tax or tribute, in the times of Christ, See Gill on "Mt 17:24" see Gill on "Mt 21:12"; and in the Misnah is a whole treatise called "Shekalim", in which an account is given of the time and manner of collecting this ransom money, and for what uses, and who were obliged to pay it, and who not; on the first of Adar (or February) they proclaimed concerning the payment of it, on the fifteenth the tables were set for that purpose, and on the twenty fifth the proper persons sat in the sanctuary to receive it {w}: this was typical of the ransom of souls by Christ, who are not all the world, for they are ransomed out of it, but Israelites, the whole mystical Israel of God, and are a numbered people; their names are written in the book of life, they are told into the hands of Christ, are exactly known by God and Christ; and these are many and even numberless to men:



that there be no plague amongst them when thou numberest them; as there was when David numbered them; which some have thought was owing to the non-payment of the ransom money after mentioned; the Septuagint version is, "no fall", the ransom of souls by Christ preserves them from a total and final fall by sin into everlasting ruin and destruction; or, "no death" as the Targum of Onkelos, for redemption by Christ secures from the second death, and even from a corporeal death as a penal evil.



{w} Misn. Shekalim, c. 1. sect. 1, 3.





Exodus 30:13



Ver. 13. This they shall give, everyone that passeth among them that are numbered,.... And their number, according to Jarchi, was known by what was paid; for he says the sum was taken not by heads, but everyone gave the half shekel, and by counting them the number was known, as follows:



half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary; that is, after the standard of a shekel kept in the sanctuary as a rule for all; and so Jarchi paraphrases it,



"according to the weight of a shekel, which I have fixed for thee to weigh, the shekel of the sanctuary.''



It was about fourteen pence: a shekel is twenty gerahs; a gerah being the twentieth part of a shekel, it was not quite three halfpence of our money:



an half shekel [shall be] the offering of the Lord; which was to be offered to him for the ransom of souls, whose lives were forfeited by sin; and of the redemption of which this was an acknowledgment; and was typical of the ransom price of souls by Christ, which is not silver or gold, but his precious blood, his life, himself, which is given as an offering and sacrifice to God, in the room and stead of his people; and which is given to God, against whom sin is committed, the lawgiver, whose law is broken, the Judge, whose justice must be satisfied, and the creditor, to whom the price must be paid.





Exodus 30:14



Ver. 14. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above,.... Even Levites, Israelites, proselytes, and servants freed, but not women, bond servants, or children {x}:



shall give an offering to the Lord; the half shekel before mentioned.



{x} Misn. Shekalim, c. 1. sect. 1, 3.





Exodus 30:15



Ver. 15. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel,.... Which shows that the Israelites were alike in the esteem of God, their worldly circumstances making no difference; their souls being alike, the same ransom price was given for them; and that they were all to have an equal share in the service and sanctuary of God, and the price was set so low, that the poorest man might be able to pay it: and even Maimonides {y} says, if he lived on alms, he was to beg it of others, or sell his clothes from off his back to pay it. This shows the equality of the redeemed and ransomed of the Lord; for though some sins and sinners are greater than others, and some are redeemed from more sins than others, yet all sins being infinite, as committed against an infinite God, but one price is paid for all, and that is the precious blood of Christ, the Son of God, an infinite and divine Person; hence all the ransomed ones have the same faith, righteousness, salvation, and eternal life:



when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make atonement for your souls; which have sinned, are liable to death for it, are the more excellent part of men, and require a great price for the redemption and ransom of them; and hence it is so great a blessing to be ransomed, because it is the ransom of the soul: and such is the efficacy of Christ's ransom, that it is a full atonement for the souls of men, and their sins, and completely delivers from sin, Satan, the law, death, and hell.



{y} Hilchot Shekalim, c. 1. sect. 1.





Exodus 30:16



Ver. 16. And thou shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel,.... The half shekel, the ransom of their souls:



and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; for the building of the tabernacle, for the repairs of it, and for the sacrifices offered in it; particularly we find that this first collection this way was appropriated to the silver sockets of the sanctuary, and the vail, for the silver hooks, and for the pillars, Ex 38:27:



that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls; to put them in mind that they were sinners, that their lives were forfeited, that a ransom price was given and accepted of God, that hereby atonement, in a typical sense, was made for them; and this was before the Lord, as a token of their gratitude to him, and of their acknowledgment of the favour.





Exodus 30:17



Ver. 17. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Again, at another time, and upon another subject:



saying, as follows.





Exodus 30:18



Ver. 18. Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash [withal],.... For Aaron, and his sons, and the priests in succession, to wash at before their entrance on their ministry; and denotes in general the necessity of purity, in order to minister in the priestly office; and which was in its perfection in Christ, who being holy and harmless, was an high priest becoming us, and suitable to us, qualified to offer himself without spot to God, and to take away sin; of which purity his baptism in water might be a symbol, which he submitted to before he entered publicly on the execution of his office as a prophet and priest; and as this may respect the ministers of the Gospel, it shows that they should be pure and holy in their lives and conversations, and be examples in purity of conversation to others: and as this may chiefly respect all the saints who are priests unto God; it may be either typical of the laver of regeneration, in which grace, comparable to water, is given, and in which a clean heart is created; and which has an influence on purity of life and conversation, and secures from death: or rather of the blood of Christ, the laver and fountain to wash in for sin and uncleanness; which is large and capacious for all the priests of the Lord, and stands open and uncovered for all to come unto; and as this was made of brass, and that brass the looking glasses of the women, Ex 38:8 as it may respect the laver of regeneration, may denote the durableness of that grace, which is an immortal seed, a well of living water, springing up to everlasting life, and was a clear evidence of election of God, and redemption by Christ; and as it may be an emblem of the blood of Christ, it signifies the duration and continued virtue of that blood to cleanse from all sin; and that such who are washed in it, and cleansed by it, are not only beheld as clean and pure by the Lord, but in their own sight also, God having caused their iniquities to pass from them, and justified them from them by his blood:



and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar; that is, the altar of burnt offering, which was by the door of the tabernacle; and between that and the tabernacle or tent of the congregation stood the laver for the priests to wash in, just as they entered into the tabernacle, Ex 40:29 it stood inclining to one of the sides, as Aben Ezra says; a little on the south side, as Jarchi observes:



and thou shall put water therein; or order it to be put in for the use next mentioned.





Exodus 30:19



Ver. 19. For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat. Not in it, but at it; the laver had mouths or spouts, as Ben Melech says, from whence the water flowed when the priests washed their hands and feet at it; and so Bartenora says {z} they did not wash out of the laver, but from water flowing out of it; it is said "out of it", not in it; it seems at first there were but two of these spouts; for it is said {a} Ben Katin made twelve spouts or cocks, which had but two before; so that twelve priests could wash their hands and feet at one time, and which they could do at once, presently, by putting the right hand on the top of the right foot, and the left hand upon the left foot, as both Jarchi and Ben Melech relate: and now the hands being the instruments of action, and the feet of walking, this shows that the actions of good men, the priests of the Lord, and their walk and conversation, are not without sin, and that these need washing in the laver of Christ's blood, to which there must be daily application, see Zec 13:1. Our Lord seems to have reference to this ceremony, Joh 13:10 the Egyptian priests washed twice every day in cold water, and twice every night {b}.



{z} In Misn. Zebachim, c. 2. sect. 1. {a} Misn. Yoma. c. 3. sect. 10. {b} Herodot. Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 37.





Exodus 30:20



Ver. 20. When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water,.... The laver standing near the door of the tabernacle, they washed at it as soon as they entered; and no man, we are told {c}, entered into the court before he washed, even though he was clean; though he had contracted no filthiness, and even though he had washed his hands and feet at home, he was obliged to do it when he went into the tabernacle, before he attempted to perform any service. This intimates to us the necessity as of pure hearts, so of pure hands, in order to compass the altar of God, to attend public worship, and particularly prayer, in which holy hands should be lifted up, 1Ti 2:8:



that they die not: sin exposes to death, eternal death; that is the wages of it, and it is only the blood of Christ, and being washed in that, that can secure from it:



or when they come near to the altar to minister; to the altar of burnt offering to minister there, by laying on the wood and the pieces in order, and burning them on it, as follows:



to burn offering made by fire to the Lord; no man was fit for this service, or might be admitted to it, until he was washed; and it was usual among other nations to wash before they entered on religious service {d}; even in the East Indies, the priests do not sacrifice to their idols before they wash in water that is about the temple {e}; which seems to be a satanical imitation of this practice among the Jews.



{c} Misn. Yoma, c. 3. sect. 3. {d} Vid. Outram de Sacrificiis, l. 1. c. 6. sect. 14. {e} Vartoman. Navigat. l. 5. c. 23.





Exodus 30:21



Ver. 21. So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not,.... By the immediate hand of God, who would so greatly resent such a neglect of his command; and by how much easier it was to perform it, by so much the more were they inexcusable, and to be treated with greater severity; and this is repeated, that they might carefully observe it, lest they perish:



and it shall be a statute for ever to them, [even] to him and to his seed, throughout their generations; to be observed by Aaron and his descendants in all ages, as long as their priesthood lasted, until the Messiah should come, and wash all his people, his priests, with his own blood, from all their sins, Re 1:5.





Exodus 30:22



Ver. 22. Moreover, the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Some little time afterwards, while he was yet with him on the mount:



saying; as follows.





Exodus 30:23



Ver. 23. Take thou also unto thee principal spices,.... To make the anointing oil with, and are as follow:



of pure myrrh five hundred shekels; it is strange that Saadiah, and so Maimonides {f}, should take this for musk, which comes from a beast, and is confuted by Aben Ezra from So 5:1 from whence it plainly appears to be what comes from a tree; and the word "mor", here used, gives the tree the name of myrrh almost in all languages. And it is justly mentioned first among the chief of spices; since, as Pliny {g} says, none is preferred unto the stacte or liquor that flows from it, that which is pure myrrh, unmixed, unadulterated; or "myrrh of freedom" {h}, which flows freely, either of itself, or, when cut, which is the best; and this was fitly used as a principal ingredient in the anointing oil, since oil was made out of it itself, called oil of myrrh, Es 2:12 and as a shekel is generally supposed to weigh half an ounce, the quantity of this to be taken was two hundred and fifty ounces:



and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty [shekels]; or one hundred twenty five ounces: it is here called sweet cinnamon, to distinguish it from that which was not sweet; so Jarchi observes,



"there is one sort that has a good smell and taste, another that has not, but is as wood (common wood), therefore it was necessary to say sweet cinnamon.''



So Pliny {i} speaks of two sorts of it, one whiter, and another blacker; sometimes the white is preferred, and sometimes the black is commended. The cinnamon tree grows in great plenty in the island of Zeilon in India (Ceylon or called Srilanka today, Editor), as Vartomanus {k} relates, who says it is not much unlike a bay tree, especially the leaves; it beareth berries as does the bay tree, but less and white; it is doubtless no other than the bark of a tree, and gathered in this manner; every third year they cut the branches of the tree--when it is first gathered it is not yet so sweet, but a month after, when it waxeth dry; and with this Pliny {l} agrees, who says it is not odorous while it is green. Pancirollus {m} reckons cinnamon among the things that are lost; and says, that we have no knowledge of the true cinnamon; and reports from Galen, that in his time it was so scarce, that it was rarely found but in the cabinets of emperors. Pliny {n} makes mention of it, as used in ointments:



and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty [shekels]; or one hundred and twenty five ounces; and this is called sweet, because there is a calamus that is not sweet, as Jarchi; this is the same with the sweet cane from a far country, Jer 6:20 from India, as is generally thought; but rather perhaps from Sheba, or some part of Arabia; it must be nearer at hand than India, from whence the Israelites had these spices; and Moses is bid to take them, as if they were near indeed; and Pliny speaks of myrrh, and of sweet calamus, as growing in many places of Arabia, and of cinnamon in Syria {o}; and Dionysius Periegetes {p} mentions calamus along with frankincense, myrrh, and cassia, and calls it sweet smelling calamus; and so Strabo {q} speaks of cassia and cinnamon as in Arabia Felix; and Diodorus Siculus {r} makes mention of all these in Arabia, and of cassia that follows.



{f} Cele Hamikdash, c. 1. sect. 3. {g} Nat. Hist. l. 12, 15. {h} rwrd rm "myrrhae libertatis", Montanus, Vatablus; "myrrhae sponte fluentis", Tigurine version. {i} Ibid. c. 19. {k} Navigat. l. 6. c. 4. {l} Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 12, 15.) {m} Rer. Memorab. sive Deperd. par. 1. tit. 9. p. 28. {n} Ib. l. 15. c. 7. {o} Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 15, 22, 28. {p} Orb. Descript. l. 937. {q} Geograph. l. 16. p. 538. {r} Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 132.





Exodus 30:24



Ver. 24. And of cassia five hundred [shekels],.... Or two hundred and fifty ounces:



after the shekel of the sanctuary; according to the standard weight kept there. This "cassia" was not the "cassia solutiva", which is of a purgative nature, and now in use in physic, but the "cassia odorata", or the sweet smelling "cassia": which, Pancirollus {s} says, some take to be the nard, out of which a most sweet oil is pressed; and Servius {t} says, that cassia is an herb of a most sweet smell. Pliny {u} speaks of it along with cinnamon; and Galen says, when cinnamon was wanting, it was usual to put in its stead a double quantity of cassia {w}; Leo Africanus speaks of trees in Africa bearing cassia, and which chiefly grew in Egypt {x};



and of oil olive an hin; containing twelve logs: according to Godwin {y}, it was of our measure three quarts; but, as Bishop Cumberland has more exactly calculated it, it held a wine gallon, a quart, and a little more: this was the purest and best of oil, and most fit and proper to be a part of this holy anointing oil.



{s} Ut supra, (Rer. Memorab. sive Deperd. par. 1.) tit. 11. p. 30. {t} In Virgil. Bucol. Eclog. 2. {u} Ut supra, (Nat. Hist. l. 12.) c. 19. {w} Apud Dalechamp in Plin. ib. {x} Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 752. {y} Moses & Aaron, l. 6. c. 9.





Exodus 30:25



Ver. 25. And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment,.... All the above spices and oil being put together, an ointment was to be made out of them, not thick, as ointments usually are, but a liquid to be poured, and therefore called an "oil of ointment", and "holy", because devoted only to sacred uses:



an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: or confectioner; the spices bruised, and pounded, and mixed together, and boiled or distilled, and so an oil or ointment extracted from them:



it shall be an holy anointing oil; for the uses next mentioned: it signified the Holy Spirit of God, and his graces, that oil of gladness with which Christ and his people are anointed; and is that anointing which teacheth all things, see Ps 45:7 1Jo 2:20 comparable to these several spices, and oil olive, for their sweet smell, cheering and reviving nature, and supplying quality, and for their valuableness and preciousness, and of which there was a certain weight and measure; for though Christ received this unction without measure, yet there is a certain measure of grace and gifts bestowed upon his people, and by which they are made holy and fit for their master's use.





Exodus 30:26



Ver. 26. And thou shall anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith,.... It cannot be thought the whole of it should be anointed all over, but only a part of it for the whole; and this was either typical of the human nature of Christ, the true tabernacle God pitched, and not man, and which was anointed with the Holy Ghost; or of the church and people of God, who are an holy tabernacle or temple of the Lord, and who receive the unction from the Holy One:



and the ark of the testimony; the chest where the law was, and stood in the most holy place of the tabernacle; and was a type of the Messiah, the anointed One, in whose heart the law was, and who is the fulfilling end of it for righteousness.





Exodus 30:27



Ver. 27. And the table, and all his vessels,.... The shewbread table, with all things appertaining to it, rings, staves, dishes, spoons, bowls, &c. all were anointed; which had respect to Christ, and the communion of his people with him, feeding on him, that food which endures for ever, whom God the Father has sealed and sanctified:



and the candlestick and his vessels; an emblem of the church, and of the light of the word held forth in it, which being accompanied with the grace of the Spirit of God, is the savour of life unto life:



and the altar of incense; on which the odours, the prayers of the saints, come up before God through the mediation of Christ.





Exodus 30:28



Ver. 28. And the altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels,.... Pans, shovels, basins, &c. and this altar particularly was sprinkled with it seven times, Le 8:10:



and the laver, and his foot; the laver of brass for the priests to wash their hands and feet in, and the foot or base of it on which it stood, see Ex 30:18.





Exodus 30:29



Ver. 29. And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy,.... By anointing them, and so be set apart for sacred uses only; as by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the people of God, the vessels of mercy, are really sanctified, and made meet for the master's use; and therefore it is called the sanctification of the Spirit, which is true holiness, in opposition to typical or ceremonial holiness, here intended; and if this holy anointing oil made those things most holy that were anointed with it, how much more must the grace of the Spirit those who partake of it; and though it is at present imperfect, it will be perfected, and become complete holiness, without which no man can see the Lord:



whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy; as is said of the most holy altar, See Gill on "Ex 29:37". The Targum of Jonathan interprets it of persons that approach these holy places, and things so anointed and sanctified, paraphrasing the words thus;



"whosoever cometh unto them of the priests shall be holy, but of the rest of the tribes shall be burnt with flaming fire before the Lord.''





Exodus 30:30



Ver. 30. And thou shall anoint Aaron and his sons,.... Them alone, and not others, as Aben Ezra, who were typical of Christ anointed with the Spirit of God without measure, to his various offices of prophet, priest and King; and also of all the saints, who are anointed priests to God, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ:



and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office; by anointing them, and by other rites mentioned in the preceding chapter; whereby they were set apart for that office, and were qualified for it, and had authority to exercise it.





Exodus 30:31



Ver. 31. And thou shall speak unto the children of Israel,.... When he was come down from the mount, and gave the instructions about the making and using of this oil:



saying, this shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations; Abarbinel, and other Jewish writers, conclude from hence, that this same oil, which was made by Moses, lasted throughout the generations to the times of Josiah, when it was hid with other things; but this, notion is justly exploded by Aben Ezra; it is not probable, that so small a quantity that was now made, which is supposed by some to be no more than a gallon and a half of wine measure, should suffice so long: it does not seem to be more than what was sufficient for present use; for the anointing of so many persons, and things as were anointed, and much less to be sufficient for the anointing of priests and kings in after times, until that period. This cannot be supposed without a miraculous interposition, to which the Talmudists {z} fly, and observe, that there were many miracles in this affair; but there is no need to have recourse to them, since, for aught that is said, it might be made again in like manner for sacred uses, which is meant by the phrase "unto me"; though it might not be made for any other use, private or profane.



{z} Massachet Cerithot, fol. 5. 2. & Horayot, fol. 11. 2.





Exodus 30:32



Ver. 32. Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured,.... That is, not upon common men, or on men's flesh in common, as was usual at feasts and entertainments in the eastern countries, see Ps 23:5 but this was not to be used on such occasions, otherwise it was poured on the flesh of some men, as Aaron and his sons, on whose head it was poured and ran down to the beard:



neither shall ye make [any other] like it, after the composition of it; for private uses:



it [is] holy, [and] it shall be holy unto you; it was set apart for sacred use by the Lord, and so it was to be reckoned by them, and not to be used in any way, or for any other purpose than he had directed: all which shows, that the grace of the Spirit belongs to the Lord's people, his priests; other men are carnal, and have no lot or part in this matter, and are not to be admitted to holy ordinances, as if they were holy persons; nor is fellowship in holy things to be allowed them; nor is counterfeit grace of any avail, which, though it may bear a likeness to true grace, is not that, nor to be so accounted, nor rested on, as feigned faith, the hypocrite's hope, dissembled love, and pretended humility.





Exodus 30:33



Ver. 33. Whosoever compoundeth any like it,.... For his own use, or for any other than what God appointed it for: or



whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger; meaning not a Gentile, an alien from the commonwealth of israel; though Japhet interprets it of such a stranger who was not of the children of Israel; this Aben Ezra says is not right, but he says it means one that is not of the seed of Aaron; and so the Targum of Jonathan,



"upon a profane person (or a common person, a laic) that is not of the sons of Aaron:''



though the kings of Israel seem to be an exception to this, which might be by a special order from the Lord; yet it is a question whether it was with this, or with common oil, that they were anointed: indeed, the oil with which Solomon was anointed was taken out of the tabernacle, 1Ki 1:39



shall even be cut off from his people; either by death, by the immediate hand of God inflicting some disease upon him, or by excommunication from the congregation of Israel, or by not favouring him with any posterity, to keep up his name in the nation.





Exodus 30:34



Ver. 34. And the Lord said unto Moses,.... In a continued discourse, or some time after the former, though more probably at the same time; since it concerns the incense to be offered on the altar of incense, about which directions are given in the former part of the chapter:



take unto thee sweet spices: which are as follow, "stacte", "onycha", and "galbanum"; the former of these has its name from dropping; and of the same signification is the Hebrew word "Nataph", here used. Pancirollus says {a}, myrrh is a drop or tear distilling from a tree in Arabia Felix; and stacte is a drop of myrrh, which is extracted from it, and yields a most precious liquor: and so Pliny {b} relates, that myrrh trees sweat out of their own accord, before they are cut, what is called stacte, to which nothing is preferable: though some naturalists, as Theophrastus and Dioscorides {c} speak of this as flowing from it when it is cut; however, all agree it is a liquor that drops from myrrh; though the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem interpret it "balsam" or "rosin"; as does Jarchi on the place, and Maimonides {d}: the second of these, "onycha", has its name from being of the colour of a man's nail, as the onyx stone is, and is the same with the "unguis odorata" or "blatta byzantia". Jarchi says it is the root of a spice, smooth and shining like a man's nail. It is by some



"understood of "laudanum" or "balellium"; but the greatest part of commentators explain it by the "onyx", or the odoriferous shell, which is a shell like to that of the shell fish called "purpura": the onyx is fished for in watery places of the Indies, where grows the "spica nardi", which is the food of this fish, and what makes its shell so aromatic: they go to gather these shells when the heat has dried up the marshes. The best onyx is found in the Red sea, and is white and large, the Babylonian is black and smaller; this is what Dioscorides says of it {e}.''



And the best being found in the Red sea, it may be reasonably supposed it was what Moses was bid to take. In all India, it is the principal thing in all perfumes, as the aloe is in pills {f}; the Targum of Jonathan interprets it by "costus"; and the Jerusalem Targum by spike of myrrh, meaning perhaps spikenard. The last of these, "galbanum", what now goes by that name, is of a very ill smell, and therefore cannot be thought to be one of these sweet spices; but another is meant, and which, by its name "Chelbanah", was of a fat and unctuous nature; though Jarchi says, galbanum, whose smell is ill, is put among the spices; and Maimonides {g} and Kimchi {h} describe it like black honey, and of an offensive smell; but it must be something odoriferous, and therefore most likely to be the galbanum Pliny {i} speaks of as growing on Mount Areanus in Syria, which he mentions along with several sorts of balsams, and as a sort of frankincense; and the Vulgate Latin version, to distinguish it, calls it "galbanum" of a "good smell":



[these] sweet spices with pure frankincense; for which Sabaea in Arabia Felix was very famous, and was called the thuriferous country, as Pliny {k} says; who observes that there were in it two times of gathering the frankincense, the one in autumn, that which was white, and the purest, the other in the spring, which was reddish, and not to be compared with the former:



of each shall there be a like weight; just as much of one as of the other: in the Hebrew text it is, "alone by alone"; and the sense may be, that each spice was beaten alone, and after that mixed, as Aben Ezra, or weighed alone, and then put together.



{a} Rer. Memorab. & Deperd. par. 1. tit. 12. p. 32. {b} Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 15. {c} Apud Dalechamp. in Plin. ib. {d} Cele Hamikdash, c. 2. sect. 4. {e} Calmet's Dictionary on the word "Onycha". {f} Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 2. p. 243. {g} Cele Hamikdash, c. 2. sect. 4. {h} Sepher Shorash. Rad. blx. {i} Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 15. {k} Ib. c. 14.





Exodus 30:35



Ver. 35. And thou shalt make it a perfume,.... By mixing the above spices together:



a confection after the art of the apothecary; in the manner they beat, compound, and mix several ingredients together:



tempered together; or "salted" {l}, with salt of Sodom, as Aben Ezra interprets it; and Maimonides {m} says, there was a fourth part of a kab of salt of Sodom put into it: and whether this incense or perfume respects the intercession of Christ or the prayers of his people, they are both savoury and acceptable to God, the latter on account of the former; in all sacrifices salt was used, and every spiritual sacrifice of ours should be seasoned with grace:



pure and holy; such should be the prayers of the saints, and such most certainly is the mediation of Christ, which is his much incense.



{l} xlmm "salitum", Montanus, Drusius. Junius & Tremellius, & Piscator. {m} Cele Hamikdash, c. 2. sect. 3.





Exodus 30:36



Ver. 36. And thou shall beat some of it very small,.... Or every one of the spices; for this does not seem to respect any different usage of some part of the incense from the rest; but it was all to be beat very small, that it might mix together the better, and be easier spread upon the coals, and the smoke thereof go up the sooner:



and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation; that is, upon the altar of incense, which was placed there, Ex 30:6 and here it was to be put in order to be burnt, not to be kept, either to be looked at, or smelled to:



where I will meet with thee; See Gill on "Ex 30:6"



it shall be unto you most holy; reckoned by them most sacred, and not to be put to any private or profane uses.





Exodus 30:37



Ver. 37. And [as] for the perfume which thou shalt make,.... As above directed:



ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof; that is, for their own use, for the scenting of their rooms, or to snuff up, or smell to, as in the next verse:



it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord; separated entirely for his service, to be burned upon his altar, and to be no otherwise used.





Exodus 30:38



Ver. 38. Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto,.... A man might make a perfume of the same ingredients, and of the same weight, and exactly like it, but not to burn for his own delight and pleasure; but if he made it and sold it to the congregation, as Jarchi observes, he was not guilty; but if it was for his own private use and pleasure, then he



shall even be cut off from his people; See Gill on "Ex 30:33".

 

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