Exodus 29:33

And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

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

A stranger - One of another family, i. e. in this case, one not of the family of Aaron.

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

Those things, i.e. the remainders of the oblations mentioned Exodus 29:32.

A stranger, i.e. one who is not of the priestly race, whereas in other peace-offerings the offerer did eat a part.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made,.... For the sins of Aaron and his sons, for they were men of infirmity, and needed sacrifice for sin themselves; and herein Christ their antitype excelled them, that he had no sin of his own, and needed not to offer first for them, and then for the sins of others, as Aaron and his sons, the types of him, did; and their eating of the sacrifice for atonement points at the receiving of the atonement of Christ's sacrifice by faith, and the enjoyment of it and the blessings following on it:

to consecrate and to sanctify them; that they might be filled and fitted, and set apart and devoted to the office of the priesthood, and minister in it:

but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy; meaning not one of another nation, but of another family, though an Israelite; the Targum of Jonathan renders it, a profane and common person, a layman, one that was not a priest; who, though he was of the seed of Israel, yet not being of the seed of Aaron, as Aben Ezra interprets it, he might not eat of the above things, because they were devoted to holy uses; and therefore none but such who were sanctified or set apart to sacred service might partake of them.

Geneva Study Bible

And they shall eat those things {l} wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.

(l) That is, by the sacrifices.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

33. those things] the flesh and the bread of v. 32.

atonement] i.e. at-one-ment, setting at one, reconciliation, as in Shakespeare (e.g. Rich. III. i. 3. 36). This is always the meaning of ‘atonement’ in the Bible (as in Old English generally): the idea of amends or reparation for a fault, which the word now mostly suggests, is not implied in either its Hebrew or its Greek equivalent. See further DB. iv. 128; and on Exodus 30:10. The burnt-, the guilt-, and the sin offering are in P often said to ‘make atonement’ (see the references in DB. iv. 130a), but this is the only passage of P in which that is predicated of a peace-offering.

to consecrate] to install.

a stranger] Heb. zâr; i.e., here, one not a priest (see esp. Numbers 16:40), a frequent use of the word in P (Exodus 30:33, Numbers 3:10; Numbers 3:38; Numbers 18:7 al.; see further DB. iv. 622a, near the bottom). Quite a different word from the ones rendered stranger in Exodus 12:48 (gêr), and strange in Exodus 2:22 (nokri): see the notes on these passages, and Strange, Stranger, in DB.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 33. - They shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made. An atoning force pervaded all sacrifice. Sin-offerings were wholly expiatory; burnt-offerings and peace-offerings partially so (Leviticus 1:4). A stranger shall not eat thereof. "A stranger" in this place does not mean a foreigner, but anyone who is not a priest. Exodus 29:33

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.