Exodus 29:16

And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) Thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it.—Rather, scatter it. The act of throwing the blood from a basin against the lower part of the altar is intended. The verb is a different one from that rightly translated “sprinkle” in Exodus 29:21. The LXX. render it by προσχεῖν, and the Vulg. by fundere.

Round about upon the altar.—Practically, this was done by casting it on two of the corners of the altar—the north-east and the south-west—thus moistening all the four sides (Middoth, 3:2).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

29:1-37 Aaron and his sons were to be set apart for the priest's office, with ceremony and solemnity. Our Lord Jesus is the great High Priest of our profession, called of God to be so; anointed with the Spirit, whence he is called Messiah, the Christ; clothed with glory and beauty; sanctified by his own blood; made perfect, or consecrated through sufferings, Heb 2:10. All believers are spiritual priests, to offer spiritual sacrifices,

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Door of the tabernacle - Entrance of the tent. See Leviticus 8:3.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-22. And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle—This part of the ceremonial consisted of three sacrifices: (1) The sacrifice of a bullock, as a sin offering; and in rendering it, the priest was directed to put his hand upon the head of his sacrifice, expressing by that act a consciousness of personal guilt, and a wish that it might be accepted as a vicarious satisfaction. (2) The sacrifice of a ram as a burnt offering (Ex 29:15-18). The ram was to be wholly burnt, in token of the priest's dedication of himself to God and His service. The sin offering was first to be presented, and then the burnt offering; for until guilt be removed, no acceptable service can be performed. (3) There was to be a peace offering, called "the ram of consecration" (Ex 29:19-22). And there was a marked peculiarity in the manner in which this other ram was to be disposed of. The former was for the glory of God—this was for the comfort of the priest himself; and as a sign of a mutual covenant being ratified, the blood of the sacrifice was divided—part sprinkled on the altar round about, and part upon the persons and garments of the priests. Nay, the blood was, by a singular act, directed to be put upon the extremities of the body, thereby signifying that the benefits of the atonement would be applied to the whole nature of man. Moreover, the flesh of this sacrifice was to be divided, as it were, between God and the priest—part of it to be put into his hand to be waved up and down, in token of its being offered to God, and then it was to be burnt upon the altar; the other part was to be eaten by the priests at the door of the tabernacle—that feast being a symbol of communion or fellowship with God. These ceremonies, performed in the order described, showed the qualifications necessary for the priests. (See Heb 7:26, 27; 10:14).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Which signifies, that not only our persons, but our very altars and sacrifices, and best services, need the sprinkling of Christ’s blood upon them to render them acceptable to God.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And thou shalt slay the ram,.... As he was ordered to slay the bullock, acting in this as a priest, as in that:

and thou shall take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar; the blood being received into a basin, it was not to be put upon the altar with the finger, as the blood of the bullock, but was to be sprinkled probably with a bunch of hyssop, round about upon the altar, on the top and sides: as the deity of Christ is the altar which sanctifies every gift, this may signify that his blood has its virtue and efficacy from that, to make atonement for the sins of men, and to cleanse them from them.

Geneva Study Bible

And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. sprinkle] toss: viz. in a volume, out of a tossing-vessel or basin (see on Exodus 27:3). ‘Sprinkle’ not only conveys an incorrect idea of the action meant, but also confuses it with an entirely different action, correctly represented by ‘sprinkle’ (Leviticus 4:6; Leviticus 4:17; Leviticus 5:9 &c.): it is to be regretted that the distinction, obliterated in AV., but correctly pointed out in the Speaker’s Commentary (1. ii. 499b) in 1871, should not have been preserved in RV. The reader who desires to understand correctly the sacrificial ritual of the Hebrew should correct on the margin of his copy of the RV. toss or throw for ‘sprinkle’ (with against for ‘upon,’ where altar follows: see the next note) here, v. 20, Exodus 24:6, Leviticus 1:5; Leviticus 1:11; Leviticus 3:2; Leviticus 3:8; Leviticus 3:13; Leviticus 7:2; Leviticus 7:14; Leviticus 8:19; Leviticus 8:24; Leviticus 9:12; Leviticus 9:18; Leviticus 17:6, Numbers 18:17; Numbers 19:13; Numbers 19:20 (but vv. 4, 18, 19, 21 ‘sprinkle’ is correct), 2 Kings 16:13; 2 Kings 16:15, Ezekiel 43:18, 2 Chronicles 29:22; 2 Chronicles 30:16; 2 Chronicles 35:11; also Ezekiel 36:25 and Exodus 9:8; Exodus 9:10.

upon] against. As the Jews expressly state, the blood was thrown not upon the altar, but against the sides of it, and in such a manner that with two movements of the ‘tossing-vessel’ the blood was thrown against its four sides (Zebâḥim v. 4 ff.; Rashi on Leviticus 1:5). So Leviticus 1:5; Leviticus 1:11, &c.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 16. - Thou shalt take his blood and sprinkle it. Rather, "and cast it." The blood was to be thrown from a basin, not sprinkled with the hand or with hyssop. Rabbinical tradition says that it was so cast at two of the corners, and thus moistened all the four sides. This was regarded as casting it "on the altar round about." Exodus 29:16

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Consecration of Aaron and his Sons through the anointing of their persons and the offering of sacrifices, the directions for which form the subject of vv. 1-35. This can only be fully understood in connection with the sacrificial law contained in Leviticus 1-7. It will be more advisable therefore to defer the examination of this ceremony till we come to Leviticus 8, where the consecration itself is described. The same may also be said of the expiation and anointing of the altar, which are commanded in Exodus 29:36 and Exodus 29:37, and carried out in Leviticus 8:11.