Exodus 29 · WEB
The Consecration of the Priests
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"This is the thing that you shall do to them to make them holy, to minister to me in the priest's office: take one young bull and two rams without defect,
2unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened mixed with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour.
3You shall put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams.
4"You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water.
5You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and dress him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod.
6You shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban.
7Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him.
8"You shall bring his sons, and put tunics on them.
9You shall dress them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind headbands on them. They shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. You shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.
10"You shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull.
11You shall kill the bull before Yahweh at the door of the tent of meeting.
12You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar.
13You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.
14But the flesh of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp. It is a sin offering.
15"You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.
16You shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar.
17You shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its innards, and its legs, and put them with its pieces and with its head.
18You shall burn the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to Yahweh. It is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
19"You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.
20Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood around on the altar.
21You shall take of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, and on his sons, and on his sons' garments with him; and he shall be made holy, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him.
22"Also you shall take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat on them, and the right thigh (for it is a consecration ram),
23and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh;
24and you shall put all of this in Aaron's hands and in his sons' hands, and shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh.
25You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a sweet aroma before Yahweh. It is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
26"You shall take the breast of Aaron's consecration ram, and wave it for a wave offering before Yahweh; and it shall be your portion.
27You shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the thigh of the heave offering, which is waved and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons.
28It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel; for it is a wave offering. It shall be a wave offering from the children of Israel of their peace offerings, even their wave offering to Yahweh.
29"The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them and to be consecrated in them.
30Seven days shall the son who is priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.
31"You shall take the ram of consecration, and boil its meat in a holy place.
32Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the tent of meeting.
33They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them; but a stranger shall not eat of it, because they are holy.
34If anything of the meat of the consecration or of the bread remains to the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
35"You shall do so to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. You shall consecrate them seven days.
36Every day you shall offer the bull of sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it, to sanctify it.
37Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it; and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
38"Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually.
39The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at evening;
40and with the one lamb a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering.
41The other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do to it according to the meal offering of the morning, and according to its drink offering, to be a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
42"It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you.
43There I will meet with the children of Israel; and the place shall be sanctified by my glory.
44I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar. I will also sanctify Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest's office.
45I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.
46They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them. I am Yahweh their God."
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Summary
This chapter prescribes the seven-day ordination ceremony for Aaron and his sons. The process involves washing, dressing in priestly garments, anointing with oil, and three distinct sacrifices: a bull as a sin offering, the first ram as a burnt offering (fully consumed), and the second ram as a consecration offering — its blood applied to the priests' right ear, right thumb, and right big toe. A daily offering of two lambs (morning and evening) is established as Israel's perpetual worship rhythm. The chapter ends with the ultimate goal: "I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God."
Themes
- Consecration as a total, costly, and multi-day process
- Blood applied to the whole person — ear, hand, foot — for holy service
- Daily sacrifice as the heartbeat of covenant worship
- The Tabernacle's purpose: God dwelling among his people
Key verses
- Ex 29:20 — “Blood applied to the right ear, right thumb, right big toe — consecrating hearing, doing, and walking.”
- Ex 29:42-43 — “A continual burnt offering… where I will meet with you… There I will meet with the children of Israel.”
- Ex 29:45-46 — “I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.”
Context & background
The ordination ceremony described here was carried out in Leviticus 8-9, when Moses followed these instructions precisely. The seven-day period of consecration (v. 35) mirrors other "seven-day" patterns in the Bible (creation, the Passover feast, Unleavened Bread). The blood applied to ear, thumb, and toe symbolically consecrated every dimension of priestly service: what they hear and obey, what they do with their hands, and where they walk. The daily burnt offering (two lambs, one at dawn and one at dusk) became the central rhythm of Israel's worship for centuries, fulfilled ultimately in Jesus as the one who made a single sacrifice "for all time" (Hebrews 10:10).
Cross-references
- Hebrews 10:10-14 — "By that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all," contrasting the daily repetition of the Tabernacle offering.
- John 17:17-19 — Jesus consecrates himself as the true High Priest: "for their sake I consecrate myself."
- Leviticus 8 — The actual carrying out of this ordination ceremony.
- Romans 12:1 — "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God" — the daily offering fulfilled in Christian discipleship.