Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 8:31
And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Boil the flesh [at] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and there eat it with the bread that [is] in the basket of consecrations, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it.
31. Anyone who was not unclean might eat the portions of the Peace-Offering which remained when the parts for sacrifice and for the priests were taken. On this occasion the flesh is eaten by Aaron and his sons only, and at the door of the tent of meeting. The ceremonies of the first day are repeated on each of the following six days. What remains from the sacrifice of each day must be burnt, as ordered in Lev 7:15.
as I commanded ] See R.V.’s marginal note above.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Boil the flesh, that which was left of the ram, and particularly the breast, which was said to be Mosess part, Lev 8:29, and by him was given to Aaron, that he and his sons might eat of it, in token that they, and only they, should have the right to do so for the future.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Moses said unto Aaron, and to his sons,…. After he had offered the bullock, the two rams, and cakes of unleavened bread for the consecration of them:
boil the flesh at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; the remainder of the flesh of the ram of consecration, which was all but the fat, the shoulder, and the breast:
and there eat it with the bread that is in the basket of consecration; what was left of that, there being one cake of a sort taken out of it and burnt:
as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it; see
Ex 29:32.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
31 And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Boil the flesh at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and there eat it with the bread that is in the basket of consecrations, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it. 32 And that which remaineth of the flesh and of the bread shall ye burn with fire. 33 And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you. 34 As he hath done this day, so the LORD hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you. 35 Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not: for so I am commanded. 36 So Aaron and his sons did all things which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.
Moses, having done his part of the ceremony, now leaves Aaron and his sons to do theirs.
I. They must boil the flesh of their peace-offering, and eat it in the court of the tabernacle, and what remained they must burn with fire, Lev 8:31; Lev 8:32. This signified their thankful consent to the consecration: when God gave Ezekiel his commission, he told him to eat the roll, Eze 3:1; Eze 3:2.
II. They must not stir out of the court of the tabernacle for seven days, v. 33. The priesthood being a good warfare, they must thus learn to endure hardness, and to disentangle themselves from the affairs of this life, 2Ti 2:3; 2Ti 2:4. Being consecrated to their service, they must give themselves wholly to it, and attend continually to this very thing. Thus Christ’s apostles were appointed to wait for the promise of the Father, Acts i. 4. During this time appointed for their consecration, they were daily to repeat the same sacrifices which were offered the first day, v. 34. This shows the imperfection of the legal sacrifices, which, because they could not take away sin, were often repeated (Heb 10:1; Heb 10:2), but were here repeated seven times (a number of perfection), because they typified that one offering, which perfected for ever those that were sanctified. The work lasted seven days; for it was a kind of creation: and this time was appointed in honour of the sabbath, which, probably, was the last day of the seven, for which they were to prepare during the six days. Thus the time of our life, like the six days, must be our preparation for the perfection of our consecration to God in the everlasting sabbath: they attended day and night (v. 35), and so constant should we be in our meditation on God’s law, Ps. i. 2. They attended to keep the charge of the Lord: we have every one of us a charge to keep, an eternal God to glorify, an immortal soul to provide for, needful duty to be done, our generation to serve; and it must be our daily care to keep this charge, for it is the charge of the Lord our Master, who will shortly call us to an account about it, and it is at our utmost peril if we neglect it. Keep it that you die not; it is death, eternal death, to betray the trust we are charged with; by the consideration of this we must be kept in awe. Lastly, We are told (v. 36) that Aaron and his sons did all that was commanded. Thus their consecration was completed; and thus they set an example before the people of an exact obedience to the laws of sacrifices now newly given, and then they could with the better grace teach them. Thus the covenant of peace (Num. xxv. 12), of life and peace (Mal. ii. 5), was made with Aaron and his sons; but after all the ceremonies that were used in their consecration there was one point of ratification which was reserved to be the honour and establishment of Christ’s priesthood, which was this, that they were made priests without an oath, but Christ with an oath (Hab. vii. 21), for neither such priests nor their priesthood could continue, but Christ’s is a perpetual and unchangeable priesthood.
Gospel ministers are compared to those who served at the altar, for they minister about holy things (1 Cor. ix. 13), they are God’s mouth to the people and the people’s to God, the pastors and teachers Christ has appointed to continue in the church to the end of the world: they seem to be meant in that promise which points at gospel times (Isa. lvi. 21), I will take of them for priests and for Levites. No man may take this honour to himself, but he who upon trial is found to be clothed and anointed by the Spirit of God with gifts and graces to qualify him for it, and who with purpose of heart devotes himself entirely to the service, and is then by the word and prayer (for so every thing is sanctified), and the imposition of the hands of those that give themselves to the word and prayer, set apart to the office, and recommended to Christ as a servant and to the church as a steward and guide. And those that are thus solemnly dedicated to God ought not to depart from his service, but faithfully to abide in it all their days; and those that do so, and continue labouring in the word and doctrine, are to be accounted worthy of double honour, double to that of the Old-Testament priests.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 31-36:
Moses gave the appropriate portions of the peace offering to Aaron and his sons, not as priests but as offerers of the sacrifice.
The ceremonies of consecration lasted seven days. During this time, Aaron and his sons remained in the tabernacle courtyard, but they did not enter into the sanctuary. They did not begin their ministry as priests until the time of consecration was fulfilled.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
31. And Moses said unto Aaron and his sons, Boil the flesh This is the universal rule, as we have seen elsewhere. (411) One thing only is special, that God kept them in the tabernacle seven days, that they might learn to subordinate all their domestic cares and worldly business to their sacred duties. It has been elsewhere said, also, (412) that perfection is denoted by the number seven, which this passage confirms, for by the seven days they were reminded that they were no longer their own masters for the rest of their life.
(411) See ante, vol. 2, p. 133.
(412) Ibid., p.26.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(31) And Moses said . . . boil the flesh.That is, of the ram of consecration; with the exception of the fat parts and the right shoulder, which were burnt upon the altar, and the wave-breast, which was awarded to Moses as the officiating priest on the occasion (see Lev. 8:8, and Exo. 29:31-32), the flesh of the victim is to be prepared by Aaron and his sons for the sacrificial meal (see Lev. 7:11, &c.). From the peculiar nature of this offering, however, it is ordained that the flesh is to be boiled at the entrance of the tent of meeting, not at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, as the Authorised Version has it. According to Exo. 29:31, this is to take place at the holy place, that is, in the court, and is to be eaten with unleavened bread, thus distinguishing it from the ordinary sacrificial meal of the peace offering.
Aaron and his sons shall eat it.This is another distinguishing feature of the sacrifice in question. Whilst to the ordinary sacrificial feasts the offerer could invite his family and strangers (see Lev. 7:15), in this no layman or non-priest could partake of the meal, because the flesh and the bread were peculiarly holy (see Exo. 29:33), as this sacrifice had the same atoning virtue as the burnt offering. (See Lev. 1:4.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31, 32. Boil the flesh eat burn In the peace offering the offerer and his friends were permitted to eat in a sacred banquet, and to burn with fire that which remained. Lev 7:15, note.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Final Instructions
v. 31. And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Boil the flesh at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, v. 32. And that which remaineth of the flesh and of the bread shall ye burn with fire. v. 33. And ye shall not go out of the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, v. 34. As he hath done this day, so the Lord hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you. v. 35. Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the Lord, v. 36. So Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Lev 8:31. As I commanded Houbigant renders this, for so it is commanded me; in which he follows the LXX, and most versions. It is certain that we read of no such command as this before given to Aaron, and therefore this translation seems more proper than ours.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Did not this eating imply the entire consent of the heart? So Ezekiel was commanded to eat the roll in token of the same. Eze 3:1-2 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
door = entrance.
tabernacle = tent (‘ohel). App-40.
as I commanded. Samaritan Pentateuch Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulg, read “as I have been commanded”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Boil: Lev 6:28, Lev 7:15, Exo 29:31, Exo 29:32, Deu 12:6, Deu 12:7, 1Sa 2:13-17, Eze 46:20-24
eat it: Lev 10:17, Joh 6:33, Joh 6:35, Joh 6:51, Joh 6:53-56, Gal 2:20
Reciprocal: Lev 24:9 – Aaron’s Num 6:19 – the sodden 1Ki 7:45 – the pots Mat 12:4 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8:31 And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Boil the flesh [at] the door of the {g} tabernacle of the congregation: and there eat it with the bread that [is] in the basket of consecrations, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it.
(g) At the door of the court.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Further instruction to Aaron 8:31-36
A meal concluded the consecration of the priests because in it the priests entered into more intimate fellowship with God. This relationship entitled them to blessings and privileges that God did not grant the other Israelites.
The consecration lasted seven days. During this time the priests were not to leave the tabernacle courtyard day or night (Lev 8:35). Their role was that of worshipers rather than priests. Evidently Moses repeated the consecration ritual on each of these seven days (Lev 8:33). This would have emphasized its importance to the Israelites.
"A man may defile himself in a moment, but sanctification and the removal of uncleanness is generally a slower process." [Note: Wenham, The Book . . ., p. 144.]
Note that it was God who consecrated the priests. This was His work. The "congregation" witnessed the consecration, but they did not initiate it. The priests were responsible to wash, but God cleansed them. Confession of sin is our responsibility, but God provides the cleansing (1Jn 1:9).
God did not demand perfection of the priests. He even graciously appointed the man most responsible for the golden calf incident to the office of high priest. God provided the clothing (covering), the atonement, and the enablement that made the priests acceptable in their service. Likewise He provides all that we as His priests need also.
"In this section one doctrine emerges very clearly: the universality and pervasiveness of sin. The men chosen to minister to God in the tabernacle pollute the tabernacle and therefore purification offerings have to be offered. Their clothes and bodies are stained with sin and they must be smeared with blood to purify them. These sacrifices are not offered just once; they have to be repeated, because sin is deep-rooted in human nature and often recurs. There is no once-for-all cleansing known to the OT. It is the incorrigibility of the human heart that these ordination ceremonies bring into focus [cf. Psa 14:3]." [Note: Ibid., pp. 144-45.]
"Those who lead the congregation in spiritual service must be fully consecrated to the LORD." [Note: Ross, p. 214.]