Leviticus 6:10

And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) And the priest shall put on his linen garment.—The officiating priest was to put on his sacerdotal garments, which consisted of four pieces—viz., (1) the tunic, which was a long close robe of fine linen, with sleeves but without folds, covering the whole body, and reaching down to the feet; (2) linen breeches—better, linen drawers—which, according to the authorities during the second Temple, reached to the knees and were fastened by ribbons above the flanks; (3) a linen girdle, which, according to the same authorities, was three fingers wide and thirty-two cubits. long, and, like the veil of the court and of the sanctuary, was embroidered with figures; and (4) a mitre, or better, turban, which was likewise of fine linen, and was fastened to the head by means of ribbons, to prevent its falling off (Exodus 28:4; Exodus 28:40; Exodus 29:5-10; Leviticus 8:13). Though the second and third only are here mentioned, there can hardly be any doubt that all the four garments were meant, and that the third and fourth are either omitted for the sake of brevity, or because they are included in the first term, which is the reason why some of the ancient versions have it in the plural.

Take up the ashes which the fire had consumed with the burnt offering.—Better, take up the ashes into which the fire had consumed the burnt offering. That is, the ashes into which the consuming fire had converted the victim.

He shall put them beside the altar.—During the second Temple, a priest was appointed by lot to take off from the altar every morning at least a shovelful of ashes and carry it without the camp, and when the ashes accumulated they were entirely removed to the same place.

Benson Commentary

Leviticus 6:10. The ashes which the fire hath consumed — As the word אֶשׁרasher, rendered which here, also signifies when, and is so translated chap. Leviticus 4:22; Genesis 30:38; Numbers 5:29, and in many other places, it is evident the passage here ought to have been translated, And take up the ashes when the fire hath consumed the burnt-offering.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:8-13 The daily sacrifice of a lamb is chiefly referred to. The priest must take care of the fire upon the altar. The first fire upon the altar came from heaven, ch. 9:24; by keeping that up continually, all their sacrifices might be said to be consumed with the fire from heaven, in token of God's acceptance. Thus should the fire of our holy affections, the exercise of our faith and love, of prayer and praise, be without ceasing.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ashes ... with the burnt-offering - Rather, the ashes to which the fire hath consumed the burnt-offering.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This … law of the burnt offering—In this passage Moses received instructions to be delivered to the priests respecting their official duties, and first the burnt offering—Hebrew, "a sacrifice, which went up in smoke." The daily service consisted of two lambs, one offered in the morning at sunrise, the other in the evening, when the day began to decline. Both of them were consumed on the altar by means of a slow fire, before which the pieces of the sacrifice were so placed that they fed it all night. At all events, the observance of this daily sacrifice on the altar of burnt offering was a daily expression of national repentance and faith. The fire that consumed these sacrifices had been kindled from heaven at the consecration of the tabernacle [Le 9:24], and to keep it from being extinguished and the sacrifices from being burned with common fire, strict injunctions are here given respecting not only the removal of the ashes [Le 6:10, 11], but the approaching near to the fireplace in garments that were not officially "holy."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

His linen garment, i.e. his linen coat, of which see Exodus 28:39,40. The ashes are said to be consumed improperly, When the wood is consumed into ashes; as meal is said to be ground, Isaiah 47:2, when the corn is ground into meal; and the naked to be stripped of their clothing, Job 22:6, when by being stripped they are made naked.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the priest shall put on his linen garment,.... "His measure" (q), as the word signifies, a garment that was just the measure of his body, and exactly fitted it; it was a sort of a shirt, which he wore next his body, and reached down to his feet; and in this he always officiated, and was an emblem of the purity and holiness of Christ our high priest, who was without sin, and so a fit person to take away the sin of others, by offering up himself without spot to God:

and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh; to cover his nakedness; that indecency might be prevented, and that he might not be exposed to ridicule; and though these two garments are only mentioned, yet the wise men say the word "put on" includes the bonnet and the girdle; for the removing of the ashes from the altar, which is the thing he was to be thus clothed to do, was done in the four garments, though the Scripture mentions but two (r):

and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed, with the burnt offering on the altar; this was the first thing the priests did in a morning, and which in later times they cast lots for, and the first lot was for this service, and which was performed very early (s);"every day they cleansed or swept the altar, at cockcrowing or near it, whether before or after, and on the day of atonement at midnight, and at the feasts from the time of the first watch:"

and he shall put them beside the altar: without, at the corner of the altar, as Aben Ezra, on the east side of it; so says Jarchi, the priest takes a full censer of the innermost consumptions (that is, of the innermost parts of the sacrifice reduced to ashes), and puts them in the east of the rise of the altar; or, as by another (t) expressed, he takes the ashes in a censer, more or less, and lays them down at the east of the rise of the altar, and there leaves them, and this is the beginning of the morning service: and we are told by another writer (u), that there was a place called the house of ashes, and it was at the east of the rise of the altar, at a distance from the foot of it ten cubits and three hands' breadth; where the priest, before they began to sacrifice, laid the ashes of the sacrifices, and of the candlestick, and of the altar of incense, and of the offering of the fowl that were cast out.

(q) "est" "proprie vestis commensurata corpori", Munster; so Jarchi. (r) Maimon. in Misn. Tamid, c. 5. sect. 3.((s) Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 8. (t) Bartenora in ib. (u) Jacob. Jud. Leo. Tabnitid Hecal, No. 90. apud Wagenseil. Sotah, p. 426.

Geneva Study Bible

And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon {e} his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the {f} altar.

(e) Upon his secret parts, Ex 28:42.

(f) In the ash pans appointed for that use.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. the priest shall put on] in the morning.

his linen garment] Perhaps the ‘coat of (in) chequer work’ mentioned Exodus 28:4; Exodus 28:39.

his linen breeches] Exodus 28:42.

and he shall take up] The removal of the ashes was regarded as the completion of the sacrifice of the preceding day, and for it priestly garments were necessary: the Heb. verb is hçrîm (see note on Leviticus 7:14). The Jewish commentators, taking the word as implying a heave offering, have based on this word a ceremony observed in the second temple. The priest took a handful of the ashes as in the Meal-Offering (Leviticus 2:2) and laid it aside as a memorial of the preceding day’s service. This was called tĕrûmath haddéshçn, the heave offering of the ashes, and was part of the daily ritual. But this action would be described by ‘he shall take up from’ as in Leviticus 2:9.

Leviticus 6:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In the morning of every day the priest was to put on his linen dress (see Exodus 28:42) and the white drawers, and lift off, i.e., clear away, the ashes to which the fire had consumed the burnt-offering upon the altar (אכל is construed with a double accusative, to consume the sacrifice to ashes), and pour them down beside the altar (see Leviticus 1:16). The ו in מדּו is not to be regarded as the old form of the connecting vowel, as in Genesis 1:24 (Ewald, 211 b; see Ges. 90, 3b), but as the suffix, as in 2 Samuel 20:8, although the use of the suffix with the governing noun in the construct state can only be found in other cases in the poetical writings (cf. Ges. 121 b; Ewald, 291 b). He was then to take off his official dress, and having put on other (ordinary) clothes, to take away the ashes from the court, and carry them out of the camp to a clean place. The priest was only allowed to approach the altar in his official dress; but he could not go out of the camp with this.