Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 29:37
Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.
37. most holy ] a technical term of the priestly phraseology, applied to many different things brought specially near to God, e.g. to the altar of burnt-offering, here and Exo 40:10; to the altar of incense, Exo 30:10; to the Tent of Meeting and vessels belonging to it, Exo 30:26-29; to the meal-offering, Lev 2:3, &c. (see a complete list in Daniel in the Camb. Bible, p. 137; also in Di.’s note on Lev 21:22, where its distinction from holy is explained).
shall become holy ] i.e. become sacred to Jehovah, implying that, if it be a thing (‘whatsoever’), it will be forfeited to the sanctuary (cf. Num 16:37-38, where the censers which had rashly been made ‘holy,’ are retained in the service of the sanctuary, and made into beaten plates for the altar; Deu 22:9, Lev 27:10, Jos 6:19 a, compared with 19b), and, if it be a person (‘ whosoever,’ the more prob. rendering), not already properly consecrated, and so able to touch sacred things with impunity, that he is given over to the Deity to be dealt with by Him as He pleases. So Exo 30:29, Lev 6:18 b, Lev 6:27; cf. Eze 46:20 b, where ‘sanctify’ is to be similarly explained. We have here, as in the passages quoted, a survival of primitive ideas of ‘holiness.’ Holiness, i.e. consecration to a deity, is a contagious quality: thus the altar or the incense is holy, and whatever touches it becomes holy. What is holy must further be kept from profane use, and not touched, without due precaution, or by unfit persons; a person touching it in heedlessness or curiosity becomes thereby ‘holy’ himself, and may be dealt with by he Deity as He pleases, even to the extent of having to pay for his imprudence with his life: cf. 2Sa 6:6 f.; Num 4:15; Num 4:20; Num 16:37 end, 38a [read as RVm.]. See Dr Gray’s luminous note, Numbers, pp. 209 211, with the passages cited by him from Frazer’s Golden Bough, e.g. i. 321 (ed. 2), ‘In New Zealand the dread of the sanctity of chiefs was at least as great as in Tonga. Their ghostly power, derived from an ancestral spirit or atua, diffused itself by contagion over everything they touched, and could strike dead all who rashly or unwittingly meddled with it’; Rel. Sem. pp. 142 f., 427 ff. (ed. 2, pp. 152 f., 446 ff.); DB. iv. 826 f.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 37. Whatsoever touches the altar shall be holy.] To this our Lord refers Mt 23:19, where he says the altar sanctifies the gift; and this may be understood as implying that whatever was laid on the altar became the Lord’s property, and must be wholly devoted to sacred uses, for in no other sense could such things be sanctified by touching the altar.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It shall be an altar most holy, as appears from the following reason, because it was not only holy in itself, but by its touch communicated a legal holiness to other things.
Whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy: this may be understood either,
1. Of persons, as a caution that none should touch the altar but holy and consecrated persons. Or rather,
2. Of things, yet not of all things, for polluted things were not made holy by the touch of holy things, which is affirmed, Hag 2:12; but of things belonging to the altar Of offerings, which by Gods appointment were to be offered, which were sanctified by being laid upon this altar, and therefore the altar was greater and more holy than the gift, as our blessed Saviour notes, Mat 23:19.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(37) An altar most holy.Heb., an altar, holiness of holinesses.
Whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.Rather, must be holy; nothing which is not holy must touch it. The future has the force of an imperative, as in the Ten Commandments.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 23:19 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 29:37 Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.
Ver. 37. Whatsoever toucheth the altar. ] See Mat 23:19 . See Trapp on “ Mat 23:19 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
holy. See note on Exo 3:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
atonement
(See Scofield “Exo 29:33”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
and sanctify it: Exo 40:10, Dan 9:24
it shall be an: Exo 30:29, Mat 23:17, Mat 23:19
Reciprocal: Exo 29:35 – seven days Exo 30:10 – Aaron Exo 30:37 – it shall Lev 2:3 – most holy Lev 6:17 – it is most holy Lev 6:18 – every one Lev 6:27 – touch Lev 8:15 – Moses Lev 15:13 – seven days Lev 16:16 – an atonement 1Ch 6:49 – make an atonement Eze 44:19 – sanctify Hag 2:12 – General