Commentaria in Leviticum
Chapter 8. Synopsis of the Chapter
Aaron is consecrated pontiff by Moses, and the sons of Aaron are consecrated priests; hence, first, they are washed and clothed in the priestly vestments, verse 6. Second, verse 14, a calf is offered for sin; and verse 18, a ram for a holocaust; and verse 22, another ram for a peace-victim. Third, verse 24, their right ear and thumbs are anointed. Fourth, verse 33, they are commanded to remain seven days in the tabernacle.
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2. Take Aaron with his sons, their vestments, and the oil of unction, a calf for sin, two rams, a basket with unleavened bread, 3. And thou shalt gather all the congregation to the door of the tabernacle. 4. Moses did as the Lord had commanded, and all the multitude being gathered together before the door of the tabernacle, 5. He said: This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded to be done. 6. And presently he offered Aaron and his sons. And when he had washed them, 7. He vested the high priest with the linen garment, girding him with the girdle, and putting on him the violet tunic, and over it he put the ephod, 8. And binding it with the band, fitted it to the rational, on which was Doctrine and Truth. 9. He put also the mitre upon his head; and upon the mitre, over the forehead, he put the plate of gold consecrated with sanctification, as the Lord had commanded him. 10. He took also the oil of unction, with which he anointed the tabernacle with all its furniture. 11. And having sanctified and sprinkled the altar seven times, he anointed it, and all its vessels, and the laver with its foot he sanctified with oil. 12. And he poured it upon the head of Aaron, and anointed him, and consecrated him. 13. And having offered his sons, he clothed them with linen tunics, and girded them with girdles, and put mitres upon them, as the Lord had commanded. 14. He offered also a calf for sin: and when Aaron and his sons had put their hands upon its head, 15. He immolated it: and taking the blood, he dipped his finger in it, and touched the horns of the altar round about: which being expiated and sanctified, he poured the rest of the blood at the bottom thereof. 16. And the fat that was upon the entrails, and the caul of the liver, and the two little kidneys with their fat, he burnt upon the altar: 17. And the calf with the skin and the flesh and the dung he burnt without the camp, as the Lord had commanded. 18. He offered also a ram for a holocaust: and when Aaron and his sons had put their hands upon its head, 19. He immolated it, and poured its blood round about the altar. 20. And cutting the ram into pieces, he burnt the head thereof, and the joints, and the fat, 21. The entrails and feet being first washed: and the whole ram together he burnt upon the altar, because it was a holocaust of most sweet savour to the Lord, as he had commanded him. 22. He offered also a second ram, in the consecration of priests: and Aaron and his sons put their hands upon its head: 23. And when Moses had immolated it, taking of its blood, he touched the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and the thumb of his right hand, and likewise the great toe of his right foot. 24. He offered also the sons of Aaron: and having touched the tip of the right ear of every one of them with the blood of the ram that was immolated, and the thumbs of their right hand, and the great toes of their right foot, the rest he poured upon the altar round about: 25. But the fat and the rump, and all the fat that covereth the entrails, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and the right shoulder he separated. 26. And taking out of the basket of unleavened bread, which was before the Lord, a loaf without leaven, and a cake tempered with oil, and a wafer, he put them upon the fat and the right shoulder, 27. And delivered all to Aaron and his sons. Who, after they had lifted them up before the Lord, 28. Received them again from their hands, and burnt them upon the altar of holocaust, because it was the offering of consecration, for a sweet-smelling savour of the sacrifice of the Lord. 29. And he took the breast, lifting it up before the Lord, of the ram of consecration for his part, as the Lord had commanded him. 30. And taking the ointment and the blood that was upon the altar, he sprinkled Aaron and his vestments, and his sons and their vestments. 31. And when he had sanctified them in their vestments, he commanded them, saying: Boil the flesh before the door of the tabernacle, and there eat it. Eat ye also the loaves of consecration, which are laid in the basket, as the Lord commanded me, saying: Aaron and his sons shall eat them: 32. And whatsoever shall remain of the flesh and the loaves, shall be consumed with fire. 33. And you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle for seven days, until the day wherein the time of your consecration shall be expired. For in seven days the consecration is finished: 34. As at this present it was done, that the rite of the sacrifice might be fulfilled. 35. Day and night shall you remain in the tabernacle, keeping the watches of the Lord, lest you die: for so it hath been commanded me. 36. And Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord spoke by the hand of Moses.
This chapter is the same as chapter 29 of Exodus. For the rite of the consecration of Aaron and the priests, which is prescribed there, is here narrated as performed and completed. Moses repeats these things, then, in Leviticus, that in this book he may comprehend together all the ceremonies of sacrifices, and especially those wont to be used in the consecration of priests. I shall therefore dispatch this chapter with a few notes: for the rest see chapter 29 of Exodus.
Verse 1. And the Lord spoke to Moses.—It is probable that all the things narrated in this chapter are recounted here by way of anacephalaeosis, or recapitulation: for the tabernacle had been erected before, as is plain from Exodus, last chapter, verse 16; but together with the erection of the tabernacle was made this consecration of Aaron and the priests, as is plain in the same place, verse 12.
Verse 5. This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded to be done.—Josephus relates that the Israelites wished Moses to make himself pontiff, but that he excused himself by this precept of the Lord, commanding Aaron to be consecrated pontiff, because he himself was occupied with converse with the Lord and the government of the people.
Verse 6. And presently he offered Aaron and his sons.—For “offered” the Hebrew is vayyaqrev, that is, made to come near; the Septuagint, brought; the Chaldee, applied; so our version also renders, Exodus 29:4, saying: “Thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle,” namely by presenting them to the Lord, and offering them to the service of God: for so with solemn rite the Levites were offered to the Lord in their consecration
Verse 7. And he vested the high priest.—The pontiff was clothed in eight garments in this order. First he put on the linen breeches; second, over them a linen tunic; third, he girded this tunic with a girdle; fourth, over this linen tunic he cast the violet tunic; fifth, over this he put the ephod with the rational; sixth, he girded the ephod with the embroidered girdle; seventh, he covered the head with the tiara; eighth, to the tiara he fastened a plate of gold, on which was inscribed, Holiness, or Holy to the Lord. The lesser priests, however, put on only four garments, namely, first, the breeches; second, a linen tunic; third, the girdle; fourth, the tiara: they lacked, then, the violet tunic, the ephod with the rational and its girdle, and the plate of gold inscribed with the name of four letters. See what was said on Exodus 28.
Note: Aaron, as pontiff and vicar of God, clothed in pontifical garments, represented the tabernacle, that is, the Church, and consequently God, the ruler of the tabernacle, and dwelling in it as in His house. For first, the breastplate, or rational of judgment, represented the ark: for as the ark contained the stone tables, so the rational contained 12 gems. Second, as the ark contained the law written on tables, so the rational contained the writing urim and thummim: for in it were written doctrine and truth. Third, the ephod of the rational represented the mercy-seat of the ark. Fourth, the ark had two cherubim: so the pontiff’s tunic had two onyxes. Fifth, the pontiff’s plate, on which was inscribed, Holiness of the Lord, represented the glory of the Lord which dwelt in the tabernacle. Sixth, the pontiff’s tunic signified the veil and curtains which enclosed the whole interior of the tabernacle. Seventh, as the tabernacle represented heaven and all the elements: so in the garment reaching to the feet was the whole world, says the Wise Man.
Note second: The pontiff differed from the other priests by five prerogatives. First, the pontiff was the first-born, or the elder son, of Aaron and his successors: the others were lower in age. Second, he was one throughout his whole life; the others were many. Third, into the sanctuary, namely the Holy of Holies, he alone entered once a year, namely on the day of expiation: to the others it was never lawful. Fourth, the pontiff had other garments and a greater adornment than the others. Fifth, on the death of the pontiff, homicides in flight returned to their own: which was not done at the death of other priests.
The linen garment—which in Exodus 28 is called the linen and close tunic.
Verse 9. The plate of gold consecrated with sanctification—as if to say: a plate of gold consecrated by the anointing with oil for holy uses. The Hebrew is nezer haqqodesh, that is, the crown, or diadem, of holiness, that is, the holy one.
Verse 11. And having sanctified—namely the tabernacle and its furniture, by anointing them with holy oil. This sanctification, then, was nothing else than the anointing of the tabernacle and its vessels, by which they were consecrated to God.
Verse 14. He offered also a calf for sin.—Exodus 29:35 and 36 command a calf to be offered daily through seven days: so this was done, though it is not expressed here; it is, however, sufficiently hinted
Verse 15. Which (the altar) being expiated and sanctified, he poured the rest of the blood at the bottom thereof.—The Hebrew is: So he expiated the altar, and poured the blood at the foot of the altar, and expiated it to sanctify it, that is, as the Septuagint, to make propitiation upon it, namely that thenceforth this altar, consecrated by this rite, might serve for the victims by which God is propitiated and appeased. By this ceremony, then, the altar was consecrated.
Verse 30. And taking the ointment and the blood that was on the altar, he sprinkled it upon Aaron.—Note: This ointment was compounded of myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia and olive oil, as is plain from Exodus 30:23 and 30.
The anointing, or rather the pouring out of the ointment on the head, was the consecration of the pontiff, as is plain here from verse 12, and Exodus 29:7. But the anointing common to the pontiff and the lesser priests was the sprinkling of ointment mixed with blood upon them and their garments; besides this, the anointing of the right ear and of the thumbs, as is plain from Exodus 29:20. In the consecration of the pontiff, therefore, there was a threefold lustration, namely pouring, anointing and sprinkling, both of oil and of blood; in the consecration of the lesser priests there was only a twofold, namely anointing and sprinkling. For the pouring, denoting fullness of grace, of spirit and of power, was proper to the pontiff. God willed to teach here that in the ecclesiastical hierarchy there ought to be order, or subordination, with mutual regard and concord. Aptly St. Jerome to Nepotian: “Be subject,” he says, “to your Pontiff, and love him as the parent of your soul. But let bishops know that they are priests, not lords: let them honour clerics as clerics, that honour may be rendered to the bishops themselves as bishops by the clerics. Witty is that saying of the orator Domitius: Why Second, this anointing admonished the pontiff how he ought to abound in mercy (of which oil is the symbol), charity and other virtues, and to excel the rest. “The light of the flock,” says St. Gregory, “is the flame of the shepherd. For it befits the Lord’s Shepherd and priest to shine in manners and life, that in him as in a mirror of his life the people committed to him may both choose what to follow and see what to correct.” The same, in the Pastoral: “By the unskilled,” he says, “with what rashness is the pastoral office undertaken, when the government of souls is the art of arts. This is the mastery of discipline, that he may know discreetly to spare faults, and piously to cut them off.” And again: “The action of the prelate,” he says, “ought to transcend the action of the people as much as the life of the shepherd is wont to be distant from the flock.” For, as Claudian says in 1 Stilicho:
Indeed the examples of rulers spread among the people; and as the camp follows the trumpets of its leaders, so it follows their manners.
The same warns the Emperor Honorius thus, in his 4th Consulship:
This also I will often warn thee in speech: that thou know thou livest in the midst of the orb of the whole earth, and that thy deeds are, for all nations, [...] doing all things for all, so having made thyself as a lost vessel, that to others thou mayest everywhere always meet and succour, so finally dead to thyself, that thou mayest live to all: thou happily possessest the third and best ointment, and thy hands have distilled the liquor of all sweetness. God will be mindful of all thy sacrifice, and thy holocaust shall be made fat.”
He then brings examples. “Such was Paul, when he said: Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is scandalized, and I am not on fire? And Job, saying in chapters 29 and 31: I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame: I was a father to the poor, I broke the jaws of the wicked. If I have eaten my morsel alone, etc. . . . And Joseph, who after he had made all Egypt run after him in the odour of his ointments, at last offered the same fragrance even to his sellers. And Samuel mourning Saul, who sought to kill him. And Moses, saying: Forgive this people; or if thou do not, strike me out of the book that thou hast written. O truly a man anointed with the anointing of mercy! And David: Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness. And Jeremias, of whom it is said in 2 Machabees 15: This is the lover of his brethren, and of the people of Israel: this is he that prayeth much for the people, and for all the holy city. With this ointment of piety Magdalen anointed Christ.”
Deeds are open, nor can secrecy anywhere be given to royal vices.
Verse 33. For in seven days the consecration is finished.—[The Hebrew:] “in seven days he shall fill,” supply, the hand with oil, that is, he shall consecrate your hands by the anointing of oil: so the Septuagint; and this first, to the end that by these seven days the new priests may learn to be bound
Mystically, of the anointing and the threefold oil, first, of compunction, second of devotion, third of piety, see St. Bernard, sermon 10 on the Canticle, says: The ointment of contrition is good, with which the feet of the Lord are anointed; the ointment of devotion is better, with which the head is anointed; the ointment of piety is the best, with which the whole body of the Lord is anointed. The ointment of contrition lies in the remembrance of sins; of devotion, in the remembrance of God’s benefits; of piety, in the relief of our neighbours.
The same, sermon 22 on the Canticle, says: There are four ointments of Christ the Pontiff: wisdom, justice, sanctification, redemption—wisdom in preaching; justice in the absolution of sins; sanctification in conversation; redemption in the passion. In the same place he says that the four ointments of Christ are the four cardinal virtues: for with these the Pontiff, and every faithful man who fights for God and devotes himself to His service, ought to be imbued and strengthened against adversity and prosperity.
The same, in the whole of sermon 2 on the Canticle, treats of the unction and the oil of mercy, and among other things says: “O whatever soul you are, so affected, so imbued with the dew of mercy, so overflowing with the bowels of piety, so . . . forgetful of earthly things, and to dwell with God in the tabernacle,” that is, in the court of the tabernacle. Secondly, to this end, that through these seven days they may be admonished that they are consecrated to God for their whole life, and have passed into His family and house. For the seven days are all the days of the week. So Cyril, book 2 On Adoration: “Seven days,” he says, “that is, always and perpetually.”
Verse 34. As has been done at this present, that the rite of the sacrifice might be fulfilled—as if to say: As you and your garments have been sprinkled this day with the blood of the victim, to complete the rite of the sacrifice offered for the consecration, so it is fitting to do this and to repeat the sprinkling for seven days, in which the consecration of the priests is accomplished.
Verse 36. And they did all things which the Lord spoke by the hand of Moses—that is, by Moses, as by His instrument and hand. For the hand is the organ of organs, says Aristotle, book 2 On the Soul. This Hebraism occurs everywhere in Scripture,