Leviticus 9:9

And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him: and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) And the sons of Aaron brought the blood.—His sons, for whom the sacrifice was offered as well as for himself, and who assisted at the ritual, after catching the blood in a bowl (see Leviticus 1:5), brought it to Aaron, who stood at the altar waiting to receive it. Unlike the ordinary law of the sin offering for the high priest and for the people, the blood of which was taken into the tabernacle (see Leviticus 4:7; Leviticus 4:16-18), Aaron on this occasion simply put some of it upon the four horns of the brazen altar as Moses had done in the sin offering of consecration (see Leviticus 8:15), for, though high priest, he had not as yet access to the holy place of the sanctuary till he had qualified himself by this sacrifice in the court-yard.

Benson Commentary

Leviticus 9:9. Upon the horns of the altar — Of burnt-offering, of which alone he speaks both in the foregoing and following words; and the blood was poured out at the bottom of this altar only, not of the altar of incense, as appears from Leviticus 4:7, where indeed there is mention of putting some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of incense, in this case of the priest’s sacrificing for his own sins. But there seems to be a double difference, 1st, That sacrifice was offered for some particular sin, this for his sins indefinitely. 2d, There he is supposed to be complete in his office, and here he is but entering into it, and therefore must prepare and sanctify himself by this offering upon the brazen altar in the court, before he can be admitted into the holy place where the altar of incense was. And the like is to be said for the difference between the sin-offering for the people here, and Leviticus 4:17-18.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:1-21 These many sacrifices, which were all done away by the death of Christ, teach us that our best services need washing in his blood, and that the guilt of our best sacrifices needs to be done away by one more pure and more noble than they. Let us be thankful that we have such a High Priest. The priests had not a day's respite from service allowed. God's spiritual priests have constant work, which the duty of every day requires; they that would give up their account with joy, must redeem time. The glory of God appeared in the sight of the people, and owned what they had done. We are not now to expect such appearances, but God draws nigh to those who draw nigh to him, and the offerings of faith are acceptable to him; though the sacrifices being spiritual, the tokens of the acceptance are spiritual likewise. When Aaron had done all that was to be done about the sacrifices, he lifted up his hands towards the people, and blessed them. Aaron could but crave a blessing, God alone can command it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Aaron did not act according to the ordinary Law Leviticus 4:5-7, Leviticus 4:16-18, but as Moses had done in the sin-offering of the consecration ceremony (Leviticus 8:15; compare also Leviticus 4:25, Leviticus 4:30, Leviticus 4:34). The probable reason of this was that he had not yet been formally introduced as the high priest into the holy place of the tabernacle.

Brought the blood - They most likely held the basons in which the blood was received as it ran from the victim, and then handed them to their father. See Leviticus 1:5.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8. Aaron … went unto the altar, and slew the calf of the sin offering—Whether it had been enjoined the first time, or was unavoidable from the divisions of the priestly labor not being as yet completely arranged, Aaron, assisted by his sons, appears to have slain the victims with his own hands, as well as gone through all the prescribed ritual at the altar.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Upon the horns of the altar, to wit, of burnt-offerings, of which alone he speaks both in the foregoing and following words; and the blood was poured out at the bottom of this altar only, not of the altar of incense, as appears from Leviticus 4:7, where indeed there is mention of putting some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of incense, in this case of the priest’s sacrificing for his own sins. But there seems to be a double difference:

1. That sacrifice was offered for some particular sin, this for his sins indefinitely.

2. There he is supposed to be complete in his office, and here he is but entering into his office, and therefore must prepare and sanctify himself by this offering upon the brazen altar in the court, before he can be admitted into the holy place where the altar of incense was. And the like is to be said for the difference between the sin-offering for the people here, and Leviticus 4:17,18.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him,.... The blood of the calf of the sin offering, which they had received in a basin when it was slain:

and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar; the four horns of it, as Moses had done at his consecration, which was an example to him, Leviticus 8:15. This was typical of the blood of Christ, to which persons may have recourse from the four quarters of the world for atonement and pardon:

and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar; what remained after he had put what was proper on the horns of it.

Geneva Study Bible

And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him: and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Leviticus 9:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Accordingly, he offered first of all the sin-offering and burnt-offering for himself, and then (Leviticus 9:15-21) the offerings of the people. The sin-offering always went first, because it served to remove the estrangement of man from the holy God arising from sin, by means of the expiation of the sinner, and to clear away the hindrances to his approach to God. Then followed the burnt-offering, as an expression of the complete surrender of the person expiated to the Lord; and lastly the peace-offering, on the one hand as the utterance of thanksgiving for mercy received, and prayer for its further continuance, and on the other hand, as a seal of covenant fellowship with the Lord in the sacrificial meal. But when Moses says in Leviticus 9:7, that Aaron is to make atonement for himself and the nation with his sin-offering and burnt-offering, the atoning virtue which Aaron's sacrifice was to have for the nation also, referred not to sins which the people had committed, but to the guilt which the high priest, as the head of the whole congregation, had brought upon the nation by his sin (Leviticus 4:3). In offering the sacrifices, Aaron was supported by his sons, who handed him the blood to sprinkle, and the sacrificial portions to burn upon the altar. The same course was adopted with Aaron's sin-offering (Leviticus 9:8-11) as Moses had pursued with the sin-offering at the consecration of the priests (Leviticus 8:14-17). The blood was not taken into the sanctuary, but only applied to the horns of the altar of burnt-offering; because the object was not to expiate some particular sin of Aaron's, but to take away the sin which might make his service on behalf of the congregation displeasing to God; and the communion of the congregation with the Lord was carried on at the altar of burnt-offering. The flesh and skin of the animal were burnt outside the camp, as in the case of all the sin-offerings for the priesthood (Leviticus 4:11-12).