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Leviticus 9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Aaron’s Priesthood Inaugurated

9 On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. 2 He said to Aaron, “Take a bull calf for a purification offering and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord.(A) 3 And say to the Israelites, ‘Take a male goat for a purification offering; a calf and a lamb, yearlings without blemish, for a burnt offering;(B) 4 and an ox and a ram for an offering of well-being to sacrifice before the Lord; and a grain offering mixed with oil. For today the Lord will appear to you.’ ” 5 They brought what Moses commanded to the front of the tent of meeting, and the whole congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. 6 And Moses said, “This is the thing that the Lord commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”(C) 7 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar and sacrifice your purification offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and sacrifice the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.”(D)

8 Aaron drew near to the altar and slaughtered the calf of the purification offering, which was for himself.(E) 9 The sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar, and the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar.(F) 10 But the fat, the kidneys, and the appendage of the liver from the purification offering he turned into smoke on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses, 11 and the flesh and the skin he burned with fire outside the camp.(G)

12 Then he slaughtered the burnt offering. Aaron’s sons brought him the blood, and he dashed it against all sides of the altar. 13 And they brought him the burnt offering piece by piece and the head, which he turned into smoke on the altar. 14 He washed the entrails and the legs and, with the burnt offering, turned them into smoke on the altar.

15 Next he presented the people’s offering. He took the goat of the purification offering that was for the people and slaughtered it and presented it as a purification offering like the first one.(H) 16 He presented the burnt offering and sacrificed it according to regulation.(I) 17 He presented the grain offering, and, taking a handful of it, he turned it into smoke on the altar, in addition to the burnt offering of the morning.(J)

18 He slaughtered the ox and the ram as a sacrifice of well-being for the people. Aaron’s sons brought him the blood, which he dashed against all sides of the altar,(K) 19 and the fat of the ox and of the ram: the fatty tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat on them,[a] and the appendage of the liver. 20 They first laid the fat on the breasts, and the fat was turned into smoke on the altar, 21 and the breasts and the right thigh Aaron raised as an elevation offering before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.(L)

22 Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down after sacrificing the purification offering, the burnt offering, and the offering of well-being. 23 Moses and Aaron entered the tent of meeting and then came out and blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.(M) 24 Fire came out from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.(N)

Footnotes

  1. 9.19 Gk: Heb the fatty tail, and that which covers, and the kidneys
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Leviticus 9
New English Translation

Inauguration of Tabernacle Worship

9 On the eighth day[a] Moses summoned[b] Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 2 and said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both flawless, and present them before the Lord. 3 Then tell the Israelites: ‘Take a male goat[c] for a sin offering and a calf and a lamb, both a year old and flawless,[d] for a burnt offering, 4 and an ox and a ram for peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with olive oil, for today the Lord is going to appear[e] to you.’” 5 So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of[f] the Meeting Tent and the whole congregation presented them and stood before the Lord. 6 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do[g] so that the glory of the Lord may appear[h] to you.” 7 Moses then said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and make your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement on behalf of yourself and on behalf of the people;[i] and also make the people’s offering and make atonement on behalf of them just as the Lord has commanded.”

The Sin Offering for the Priests

8 So Aaron approached the altar and slaughtered the sin offering calf which was for himself. 9 Then Aaron’s sons presented the blood to him and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar, and the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar. 10 The fat and the kidneys and the protruding lobe of[j] the liver from the sin offering he offered up in smoke on the altar just as the Lord had commanded Moses, 11 but the flesh and the hide he completely burned up[k] outside the camp.[l]

The Burnt Offering for the Priests

12 He then slaughtered the burnt offering, and his sons[m] handed[n] the blood to him and he splashed[o] it against the altar’s sides. 13 The burnt offering itself they handed[p] to him by its parts, including the head,[q] and he offered them up in smoke on the altar, 14 and he washed the entrails and the legs and offered them up in smoke on top of the burnt offering on the altar.

The Offerings for the People

15 Then he presented the people’s offering. He took the sin offering male goat which was for the people, slaughtered it, and performed a purification rite with it[r] like the first one.[s] 16 He then presented the burnt offering, and did it according to the standard regulation.[t] 17 Next he presented the grain offering, filled his hand with some of it, and offered it up in smoke on the altar in addition to the morning burnt offering.[u] 18 Then he slaughtered the ox and the ram—the peace-offering sacrifices which were for the people—and Aaron’s sons handed[v] the blood to him and he splashed it against the altar’s sides. 19 As for the fat parts from the ox and from the ram[w] (the fatty tail, the fat covering the entrails,[x] the kidneys, and the protruding lobe of the liver), 20 they[y] set those on the breasts and he offered the fat parts up in smoke on the altar. 21 Finally Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh as a wave offering before the Lord just as Moses had commanded.

22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them and descended from making the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering. 23 Moses and Aaron then entered into the Meeting Tent. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24 Then fire went out from the presence of the Lord[z] and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw it, so they shouted loudly and fell down with their faces to the ground.[aa]

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 9:1 sn This eighth day is the one after the seven days of ordination referred to in Lev 8:33-35.
  2. Leviticus 9:1 tn Heb “called to”; CEV, NLT “called together.”
  3. Leviticus 9:3 tn Heb “a he-goat of goats.”
  4. Leviticus 9:3 tn Heb “and a calf and a lamb, sons of a year, flawless”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “without blemish”; NASB, NIV “without defect”; NLT “with no physical defects.”
  5. Leviticus 9:4 tn The verb is either a prophetic perfect (“will appear to you”) as in the MT (cf. IBHS §30.5.1.e; so many English versions), or a futurum instans participle (“is going to appear to you”) as in the LXX and several other versions (see the BHS footnote; cf. IBHS 627 §37.6f). In either case, the point is that Moses was anticipating that the Lord would indeed appear to them on this day (cf. vv. 6, 22-24).
  6. Leviticus 9:5 tn Heb “to the faces of.”
  7. Leviticus 9:6 tn Heb “which the Lord commanded you shall/should do.”
  8. Leviticus 9:6 tn Heb “and the glory of the Lord will appear,” but the construction with the simple vav (ו) plus the imperfect/jussive (וְיֵרָא, veyeraʾ; literally, “and he will appear”) suggests purpose in this context, not just succession of events (i.e., “so that he might appear”).
  9. Leviticus 9:7 tn Instead of “on behalf of the people,” the LXX has “on behalf of your house” as in the Hebrew text of Lev 16:6, 11, 17. Many commentaries follow the LXX here (e.g., J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:578; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 118) as do a few English versions (e.g., NAB), but others argue that, as on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16), the offerings of the priests also effected the people, even though there was still the need to have special offerings made on behalf of the people as reflected in the second half of the verse (e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 56).
  10. Leviticus 9:10 tn Heb “from.”
  11. Leviticus 9:11 tn Heb “he burned with fire,” an expression which is sometimes redundant in English, but here means “burned up,” “burned up entirely.”
  12. Leviticus 9:11 sn See Lev 4:5-12 and the notes there regarding the sin offering for priest(s). The distinction here is that the blood of the sin offering for the priests was applied to the horns of the burnt offering altar in the court of the tabernacle, not the incense altar inside the tabernacle tent itself. See the notes on Lev 8:14-15.
  13. Leviticus 9:12 tn For smoothness in the English translation, “his” was used in place of “Aaron’s.”
  14. Leviticus 9:12 tn The verb is a Hiphil form of מָצָא, matsaʾ, “to find” (i.e., causative, literally “to cause to find,” but here the meaning is “to hand to” or “pass to”; see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 117-18, and J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:581-82). The distinction between this verb and “presented” in v. 9 above (see the note there) is that in v. 9 Aaron’s sons held the bowl while Aaron manipulated some of the blood at the altar, while here in v. 12 they simply handed the bowl to him so he could splash all the blood around on the altar (Milgrom, 581).
  15. Leviticus 9:12 tn For “splashed” (also in v. 18) see the note on Lev 1:5.
  16. Leviticus 9:13 tn See the note on v. 12.
  17. Leviticus 9:13 tn Heb “and the burnt offering they handed to him to its parts and the head.”
  18. Leviticus 9:15 tn The expression “and performed a purification rite [with] it” reads literally in the MT, “and purified [with] it.” The verb is the Piel of חָטָא (khataʾ, Qal = “to sin”), which means “to decontaminate, purify” (i.e., “to de-sin”; see the note on Lev 8:15).
  19. Leviticus 9:15 sn The phrase “like the first one” at the end of the verse refers back to the sin offering for the priests described in vv. 8-11 above. The blood of the sin offering of the common people was applied to the burnt offering altar just like that of the priests.
  20. Leviticus 9:16 tn The term “standard regulation” (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpat) here refers to the set of regulations for burnt offering goats in Lev 1:10-13. Cf. KJV “according to the manner”; ASV, NASB “according to the ordinance”; NIV, NLT “in the prescribed way”; CEV “in the proper way.”
  21. Leviticus 9:17 sn The latter part of the verse (“in addition to the morning burnt offering”) refers to the complex of morning (and evening) burnt and grain offerings that was the daily regulation for the tabernacle from the time of its erection (Exod 40:29). The regulations for it were appended to the end of the section of priestly consecration regulations in Exod 29 (see Exod 29:38-40) precisely because they were to be maintained throughout the priestly consecration period and beyond (Lev 8:33-36). Thus, the morning burnt and grain offerings would already have been placed on the altar before the inaugural burnt and grain offerings referred to here.
  22. Leviticus 9:18 tn See the note on Lev 9:12.
  23. Leviticus 9:19 tn Heb “And the fat from the ox and from the ram.”
  24. Leviticus 9:19 tn The text here has only the participle “the cover” or “that which covers,” which is elliptical for “the fat which covers the entrails” (see Lev 3:3, 9, 14; 7:3).
  25. Leviticus 9:20 tn The plural “they” refers to the sons of Aaron (cf. v. 18). The LXX, Smr, and Syriac have singular “he,” referring to Aaron alone as in the latter half of the verse (the singular is followed here by NLT). Cf. NCV “Aaron’s sons put them.”
  26. Leviticus 9:24 tn Heb “from to the faces of the Lord.” The rendering here is based on the use of “my faces” and “your faces” referring to the very “presence” of the Lord in Exod 33:14-15.
  27. Leviticus 9:24 tn Heb “fell on their faces.” Many English versions and commentaries render here “shouted for joy” (e.g., NIV; cf. NCV, NLT) or “shouted joyfully,” but the fact the people “fell on their faces” immediately afterward suggests that they were frightened as, for example, in Exod 19:16b; 20:18-21.
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