Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 8:15
And he slew [it]; and Moses took the blood, and put [it] upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it.
14 30. ( d) the sacrificial part of the rite, consisting of:
(i) The Sin-Offering ( Lev 8:14-17, cp. Exo 29:10-14)
A bullock, the most costly animal, appointed for ‘the anointed priest,’ or for ‘the whole congregation’ (Lev 4:3; Lev 4:14), on which Aaron and his sons laid their hands (see on Lev 1:4). It appears that the selection of the animal indicates the sacred office to which Aaron and his sons are to be admitted, but until they are consecrated, the ritual of the offering is the same as that prescribed in the case of private individuals (cp. Lev 4:30; Lev 4:34). Some of the blood is put on the horns of the altar, and the rest is poured out at the base of the altar.
15. And he slew it ] Comparison with Exo 29:11 shews that Moses slew it, but the text here might be interpreted, and he (Aaron) slew it, especially as it is followed by ‘and Moses took.’ The same remark applies to Lev 8:19 and Lev 8:23; cp. Exo 29:16; Exo 29:20. In all the verses here cited, the Heb. verb is the same, but is rendered by both ‘kill’ and ‘slay.’
at the base of the altar ] see on Lev 4:7.
and purified the altar and sanctified it by making atonement for it ] These clauses are not found in Exo 29:12, but occur in Exo 29:36-37 of that ch. The altar had already been anointed ( Lev 8:11); it is now further sanctified by the blood of the Sin-Offering.
The words ‘purify’ here, and ‘cleanse’ ( purge R.V. mg.) in Exo 29:36 are translations of the same Heb. verb. As in English ‘to stone plums’ means to remove the stones, so in Heb. a verb corresponding to a noun is sometimes used in the same way. Here the Heb. verb corresponds to the noun ‘sin,’ and means to ‘remove sin’; it occurs also in Lev 14:49; Lev 14:52 (of a leprous house), and Eze 43:20-23 with reference to the altar (see note on Exo 29:36). The rendering ‘by making atonement’ is like R.V. mg. of the passage in Exo 29:36.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he slew it,…. Not Aaron, nor any of his sons, who as yet were not fully consecrated and installed into their office, but Moses, as follows:
and Moses took the blood; which was received into a basin when the bullock was slain:
and put [it] upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger; upon the four horns of the altar, which were at the four corners of it, and dipping his finger into the blood, he besmeared the horns with it, and drew it about with his finger here and there; and so is said to be done round about the altar, as these horns were:
and purified the altar; or cleansed it; not from moral guilt and pollution, which it was incapable of, but from all ceremonial pollution it might be supposed to have:
and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar; the rest of the blood he did not use about the horns:
and sanctified it; separated it from common to sacred use:
to make reconciliation upon it; that it might be fit to have sacrifices offered on it to make atonement and reconciliation for sins; for which reason it was necessary it should itself be pure and holy, in such sense it was capable of being so.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(15) And he slew it.Better, and he killed it, as it is rendered in the Authorised Version, in Lev. 8:19. In ordinary cases the offerer himself slaughtered the victim (see Lev. 1:5), but in the case before us Moses performed this act in accordance with the command in Exo. 29:11.
And Moses took the blood.That is, having caught the blood in the bowl, he threw it upon the four corners of the altar, as described in Lev. 1:5not, however, on the horns of the altar of incense, or in the tabernacle, as in the case of the sin offering for the high priest and for the nation. (See Lev. 4:7; Lev. 4:16-18.)
And purified the altar . . . and sanctified it.Like the priest, the altar was consecrated to the service of God by the anointing oil (see Lev. 8:11), and hence, like the priest, the altar is also purified by the expiatory sacrifice from its defilements.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Blood horns Lev 4:7, note.
Purified the altar The altar, the work of the hands of sinful men, is viewed as sinful. In Lev 8:11 it is sanctified, and now it is expiated with blood. A holy life cannot be maintained on the earth without the blood of atonement being constantly sprinkled upon it. 1Jn 1:7, note.
Sanctified The sanctification by oil is a setting apart, the blood sanctification is a thorough purgation of the very nature.
To make reconciliation upon it The Hebrew is capable of this construction. But precisely the same words in Lev 1:4, are rendered to make atonement for him. The personified altar needs an atonement as much as its imperfect minister.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
reconciliation Heb. “kaphar,” to cover.
(See Scofield “Dan 9:24”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
he slew it: Lev 1:5, Lev 1:11, Lev 3:2, Lev 3:8, Exo 29:10, Exo 29:11
Moses: Lev 4:7, Lev 4:17, Lev 4:18, Lev 4:30, Exo 29:12, Exo 29:36, Exo 29:37, Eze 43:19-27, Heb 9:18-23
to make: Lev 6:30, Lev 16:20, 2Ch 29:24, Eze 45:20, Dan 9:24, Rom 5:10, 2Co 5:18-21, Eph 2:16, Col 1:21, Col 1:22, Heb 2:17, The beginning of this verse may be rendered, “And Moses slew it, and took the blood,” etc. We find it expressly said in Exodus, that Moses slew the sacrifices. Exo 29:11, Yet, in general, the offerer seems to have killed his own sacrifice.
Reciprocal: Exo 27:2 – horns of it upon the four corners thereof Lev 4:6 – dip Lev 4:25 – put Lev 9:9 – General Lev 16:16 – an atonement Lev 17:11 – I have 2Ch 29:22 – sprinkled Eze 43:20 – take Heb 9:21 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 8:15. Moses took the blood, &c., and purified the altar This ceremony of touching the altar with blood emphatically signified that all the services which they offered to God partook of their impurity, and that the very altar which consecrated their oblations was defiled by their unhallowed touch. But the sprinkling it with the blood of the victim, which, by divine appointment, was substituted and accepted instead of the forfeited life of the sinner, made room for repentance, the removal of guilt, and purification; on which account the altar is said to be purified and sanctified by this action.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
8:15 And he slew [it]; and Moses took the blood, and put [it] upon the horns of the {c} altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified {d} it, to make reconciliation upon it.
(c) Of the burnt offering.
(d) To offer for the sins of the people.