Exodus 29:12

Exo 29:12 And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put [it] upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.

Ver. 12. The blood of the bullock.] For "without blood there was no remission of sin." {Heb 9:22}

Beside the bottom of the altar.] To signify the plenteous redemption wrought by Christ.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(12) Thou shalt take of the blood . . . and put it upon the horns of the altar.—It has been already noticed that the virtue of the altar was considered to reside especially in its horns; hence fugitives clung to them (1Ki_1:50; 1Ki_2:28). In all sin offerings it was required (1) That some of the victim’s blood should be smeared upon the altar’s horns; and (2) That the remainder should be poured at its base (Lev_4:7; Lev_4:18; Lev_4:30; Lev_4:34).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. The Hebrew regarded the blood as the seat of the ‘soul,’ or principle of life; and it was in virtue of the ‘soul’ that was in it, that it made atonement (see Lev_17:11). By its application to the horns of the altar (cf. Lev_4:25; Lev_4:30; Lev_4:34),—as in other cases to those of the altar of incense, or to the mercy-seat (Lev_4:7; Lev_4:18; Lev_16:14-15),—it was brought near to Jehovah.

upon the horns (Exo_27:2) of the altar] i.e. of the altar of burnt-offering (Exo_27:1 ff.), exactly as in the cases of the sin-offering for laymen specified in Lev_4:25; Lev_4:30; Lev_4:34 (contrast Exo_29:6 f., Exo_29:17 f.): the priests, before their consecration is completed, are treated as laity.

at the base of the altar] as in the ordinary sin-offering, Lev_4:7; Lev_4:18; Lev_4:25; Lev_4:30; Lev_4:34; cf. Lev_5:9; Lev_8:15 (the parallel to the present passage), Exo_9:9. The ‘base’ (lit. foundation) of the altar is mentioned only in these passages. On the additions in Lev_8:15, respecting the atonement made for the altar, see below, on v. 36.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And thou shalt take the blood of the bullock,.... Being slain, and its blood received into a basin:

and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger; not sprinkle it with hyssop, as was done in some cases, but put on with the finger dipped into the blood in the basin; as the horns of the altar were the place where the sacrifice was bound, as some think, or however where persons in distress fled for refuge, and laid hold on, it may figure the blood of Christ, being effectual to the cleansing of their souls, and the remission of their sins, through the application of it to them by the Spirit of God:

and pour all the blood beside at the bottom of the altar; the rest of the blood not put upon the horns of the altar, all that was left of it. Jarchi says, there was a receptacle (for it) that protruded from around the altar, about a cubit from the ground; and here it was that the blood was poured.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Horns. This was done in all the sacrifices of expiation. After Aaron was ordained, he carried the blood into the sanctuary, for the sins of all. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Upon the horns of the altar; not of incense, as some would have it, but of the burnt-offerings, as may appear,

1. Because it was that altar at the bottom whereof the blood was to be poured, as it is here expressed; but that was not done at the altar of incense, as is evident and confessed. Compare Lev 16:18, &c.

2. It was that altar upon which the parts of the sacrifices were burnt, as it here follows, Exo 29:13, for there is no distinction here between the two altars. It is true, in the following sin-offerings of the priests the blood was put upon the horns of the altar of incense, Lev 4:7. But it must be considered,

1. That the blood was not poured out at the bottom of that altar.

2. Because Aaron and his sons were not yet complete priests, but private persons, and therefore did this at the same altar which the people used in their sin-offerings, Lev 4:25,30.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Put it upon the horns of the altar — Thus sanctifying the altar itself that it might in turn sanctify the offerings put thereon.

Pour… beside the bottom of the altar — Thus the substituted lives went out in blood under the altar, (comp. the “souls under the altar” in Rev_6:9,) and made atonement for human lives. Comp. Lev_17:11.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou shalt take of the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar. The virtue of the altar was regarded as residing especially in its horns. Here expiation was obtained by the blood is the life of the victim being first smeared upon the four horns, and then the remainder poured out at the altar"s base. Such was the usual practice with "sin-offerings" (Lev_4:7) whereof this was to be the first example.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking to Moses.

the horns

These were projections that looked like ox horns attached to the four corners of the altar. See how you translated this in Exodus 27:2.

the rest of the blood

"the remaining blood"

covers the inner parts

"covers the organs"

liver ... kidneys

These are organs in the body.

But as for the bull's flesh, as well as its skin and dung

"But as for the remaining parts of the bull"

translationWords

cow

blood

altar

flesh

dung

sin offering

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

על קרנות UPON THE HORNS — on top of the horns actually (the blood was not to be sprinkled from below so as to reach the horns but was to be placed by the finger actually upon the horns) (Zevachim 53a).

ואת כל הדם AND ALL THE BLOOD i. e. all the remainder of the blood (that which is left after some of it had been placed upon the horns of the altar as just stated).

אל יסוד המזבח AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ALTAR — A kind of projection that formed a receptacle was made right round it after it had risen to a height of one cubit from the ground (Sukkah 45a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.