Exodus 28:43

And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(43) The tabernacle of the congregation.—Heb., the tent of meeting.

The holy place seems to be here the court of the tabernacle, within which the altar was to be set up (Exodus 40:6; Exodus 40:29).

That they bear not iniquity, and die.—The death penalty is threatened against the sin of ministering without the garments needed for decency, as against the sin of neglecting to wear the robe of the ephod (Exodus 28:35). In both cases a Divine vengeance, rather than a legal punishment, is probably intended.

Benson Commentary

Exodus 28:43. It shall be a statute for ever — That is, it is to continue as long as the priesthood continues. And it is to have its perpetuity in the substance of which these things were the shadow.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

28:40-43 The priest's garments typify the righteousness of Christ. If we appear not before God in that, we shall bear our iniquity, and die. Blessed is he, therefore, that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, Re 16:15. And blessed be God that we have a High Priest, appointed of God, and set apart for his work; furnished for his high office by the glory of his Divine majesty, and the beauty of perfect holiness. Happy are we, if by the law spiritually understood, we see that such a High Priest became us; that we cannot draw near to a holy God, or be accepted, but by him. There is no light, no wisdom, no perfection, but from him; no glory, no beauty, but in being like unto him. Let us take encouragement from the power, love, and compassion of our High Priest, to draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

That they bear not iniquity and die - See Exodus 28:35, note; Exodus 28:38 note.

The consecration of the priests. See the notes to Leviticus 8-9.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

42. linen breeches—drawers, which encompassed the loins and reached half way down the thighs. They are seen very frequently represented in Egyptian figures.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they shall be upon Aaron and upon his sons,.... Not the linen breeches only, but all the other garments:

when they come into the tabernacle of the congregation; even into that part of it where the people assembled, the court of the tabernacle, and where stood the altar of burnt offering, on which they offered the sacrifices of the people, but never without the priestly garments on:

or when they came near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; at the altar of incense which stood there; or when they came to trim the lamps of the candlestick, and set the shewbread on the table, and take away the old, which candlestick and shewbread table were both in the holy place:

that they bear not iniquity and die; be guilty of sin in not having their priestly garments on in time of service, and so bear the punishment of it and die for it; the Targum of Jonathan adds, with flaming fire, with fire from heaven, such as Nadab and Abihu were afterwards consumed with; an high priest that had not the eight garments on, or a common priest that had not his four garments, his service was illegal and rejected, and he was guilty of death by the hand of heaven, as Maimonides (s) says; that is, he was deserving of immediate death from the hand of God, and might expect it:

it shall be a statute for ever unto him, and his seed after him; as long as the Aaronic priesthood continued, until Christ should arise, made an high priest, not after the order of Aaron, but after the order of Melchizedek, and should put an end to the priesthood of the former, by answering and fulfilling all the types and shadows of it; this respects all that is said in this chapter concerning the vestments of the priests, one and another.

(s) Cele Hamikdash, c. 10. sect. 4, 5.

Geneva Study Bible

And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they {r} bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

(r) In not hiding their nakedness.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

43. the altar] i.e. the altar of burnt-offering: cf. on Exodus 27:1.

the holy place] i.e. the sanctuary in general (including the court), as Exodus 36:1; Exodus 36:3-4; Exodus 36:6; not in the special sense of Exodus 26:33; for the altar of burnt-offering did not stand in the Dwelling, but in the court (Exodus 40:6). With to minister, as Exodus 29:30, Exodus 35:19 al. (P); Ezekiel 44:27.

bear iniquity and die, cf. Leviticus 22:16 (H); and on v. 35 above.

a statute for ever] as Exodus 30:21, Leviticus 6:18; Leviticus 6:22; Leviticus 7:34; Leviticus 10:15; Leviticus 24:9, Numbers 18:8; Numbers 18:11; Numbers 18:19 (all P): cf. on Exodus 12:14 (where the Heb. is ḥuḳḳâh, the fem. of ḥôḳ, the word used here).

and … his seed after him] one of P’s standing expressions: Genesis 9:9; Genesis 17:7-10; Genesis 17:19; Genesis 35:12; Genesis 48:4, Numbers 25:13.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 43. - When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation. Literally," when they go into the tent of meeting - i.e., the place where God and the high priest were to meet. The holy place. The "holy place" seems in this passage to include the court of the tabernacle, wherein the altar was situated. That they bear not iniquity. To "bear iniquity" is to incur guilt, or have sin imputed to one. If even through forgetfulness a priest entered the sanctuary without this necessary article of clothing, and so risked an unseemly, exposure of his person, he was to be accounted guilty, and punished by death. This was to be a "statute for ever," and to apply both to the high priest and the ordinary priests. Compare Exodus 20:26.



Exodus 28:43

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

These drawers the priests were to put on whenever they entered the sanctuary, that they might not "bear iniquity and die," i.e., incur guilt deserving of death, either through disobedience to these instructions, or, what was still more important, through such violation of the reverence due to the holiness of the dwelling of God as they would be guilty of, if they entered the sanctuary with their nakedness uncovered. For as the consciousness of sin and guilt made itself known first of all in the feeling of nakedness, so those members which subserve the natural secretions are especially pudenda or objects of shame, since the mortality and corruptibility of the body, which sin has brought into human nature, are chiefly manifested in these secretions. For this reason these members are also called the "flesh of nakedness." By this we are not to understand merely "the sexual member as the organ of generation or birth, because the existence and permanence of sinful, mortal human nature are associated with these," as Bhr supposes. For the frailty and nakedness of humanity are not manifested in the organ and act of generation, which rather serve to manifest the inherent capacity and creation of man for imperishable life, but in the impurities which nature ejects through those organs, and which bear in themselves the character of corruptibility. If, therefore, the priest was to appear before Jehovah as holy, it was necessary that those parts of his body especially should be covered, in which the impurity of his nature and the nakedness of his flesh were most apparent. For this reason, even in ordinary life, they are most carefully concealed, though not, as Baumgarten supposes, "because the sin of nature has its principal seat in the flesh of nakedness." - "A statute for ever:" as in Exodus 27:21.