Exodus 29:33

Exo 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.

Ver. 33. And they shall eat those things.] Apply Christ’s death by faith to their own souls. {Joh 6:51}

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.

29:33 their purification: Or their atonement. Traditionally, atonement has been described as a “covering over.” Some more recent commentators seek to derive the term from another Semitic root (which does not occur elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible) and thus arrive at “blot out, erase, or cleanse.” In either case, the effect is the same: Persons and objects are made capable of surviving in God’s presence because of a negation of the effects of their sin.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That is, by the sacrifices.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 33. But a stranger shall not eat thereof] That is, no person who was not of the family of Aaron - no Israelite, and not even a Levite.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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 Exo_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. Num_16:40), a frequent use of the word in P (Exo_30:33, Num_3:10; Num_3:38; Num_18:7 al.; see further DB. iv. 622a, near the bottom). Quite a different word from the ones rendered stranger in Exo_12:48 (gêr), and strange in Exo_2:22 (nokri): see the notes on these passages, and Strange, Stranger, in DB.

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 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.

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

Stranger. The Levites themselves could not partake of these things.

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).

Those things, i.e. the remainders of the oblations mentioned Exo 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.

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

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. (Lev_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.

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

atonement

Heb. kaphar, "to cover." The English word "atonement" (at-one-ment) is not a translation of the Heb. kaphar, but a translator’s interpretation. According to Scripture the legal sacrifice "covered" the offerer’s sin and secured the divine forgiveness; according to the translators it made God and the sinner at- one. But the O.T. sacrifices did not at-one the sinner and God. "It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins." Heb 10:4. The Israelite’s offering implied confession of sin and of its due desert, death; and God "covered" (passed over," Rom 3:25 his sin, in anticipation of Christ’s sacrifice, which did, finally, "put away" the sins "done aforetime in the forbearance of God."; Rom 3:25; Heb 9:15. (See Scofield "Rom 3:25"). The word "atonement" does not occur in the N.T.; Rom 5:11 meaning reconciliation, and so rendered in the R.V.

See "Sacrifice," Gen 4:4, and refs. (See Scofield "Gen 4:4")

(See Scofield "Lev 16:5")

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ואכלו אתם AND THEY SHALL EAT THOSE THINGS i. e. Aaron and his sons because they are the “owners” of them (cf. Pesachim 59b).

אשד כפר בהם THROUGH WHOM THERE WAS EXPIATED everything that was strange and objectionable.

למלא את ידם TO INITIATE THEM INTO OFFICE by means of this ram and bread.

לקדש אתם TO SANCTIFY THEM — for by means of this initiation-sacrifice they were installed and sanctified to the priesthood.

כי קדש הם BECAUSE THEY ARE HOLY — i. e. holy in the highest degree. From this we derive the prohibition against a “stranger” (a non-priest) eating anything that is holy in the highest degree (Makkot 18b), since Scripture assigns a reason for the matter (why a stranger may not eat of these), viz., because they are holy in the highest degree (cf. Pesachim 24a).

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.