Exodus 30:29

Exo 30:29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.

Ver. 29. Whatsoever toucheth them.] So are all those anointed holy, that by a lively faith touch the Lord 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.

29. The effect of the anointing is to sanctify the objects to which the process is applied (cf. Exo_29:36).

most holy] See on Exo_29:37.

shall become holy] i.e. be forfeited to the sanctuary, or, if a person (marg.), be given over to the Deity, that He may deal with him as He pleases. See further on Exo_29:37.

Anointing1[213], in a religious sense, is in the OT. a symbolical act, denoting (1) the divine appointment, or consecration, of a person for a particular purpose, esp. a king (1Sa_10:1 and often), the high priest (Exo_29:7), later also the ordinary priests (see on v. 30), and, at least once, a prophet, 1Ki_Exo_19:16 b (cf., in a fig. sense, Isa_61:1); it is followed by, and is sometimes a figure of, the outpouring of the Spirit upon the person anointed (1Sa_10:6, cf. v. 1, Exo_16:13; Isa_61:1 (Luk_4:18), Act_4:27; Act_10:38, 2Co_1:21, 1Jn_2:20; 1Jn_2:27): (2) the consecration of a thing, viz. a sacred stone, Gen_31:13 (see Exo_28:18), Exo_35:14 (so among the Greeks; see the writer’s Genesis, p. 267), the Tabernacle and its appurtenances (see on vv. 26–28), a future Altar of burnt-offering, Dan_9:24 (see the note in the Camb. Bible). The practice of anointing is widely diffused in the world: the unguent—originally fat, regarded in primitive thought as an important seat of life—was regarded, it seems, at least primitively, as a vehicle transferring to the person or object anointed a Divine life or potency. See art. Anointing (Crawley and Jastrow) in Hastings’ Encycl. of Rel. and Ethics, i. (1908), 549–557, esp. 550, 554, 556 (cf. EB. s.v. i. 175); and for the anointing of priests, p. 552b, and of temples and other sacred objects, p. 553 f.

[213] Heb. mâshaḥ (whence ‘Messiaḥ’), to be carefully distinguished from anointing the head or person for the toilet (Heb. sûk) Deu_28:40, 2Sa_14:2 al. In NT. χρίω (fig., never lit.) corresponds to the former, and ἀλείφω (e.g. Mat_6:17) to the latter.

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 sanctify them, that they may be most holy,.... By anointing them, and so be set apart for sacred uses only; as by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the people of God, the vessels of mercy, are really sanctified, and made meet for the master's use; and therefore it is called the sanctification of the Spirit, which is true holiness, in opposition to typical or ceremonial holiness, here intended; and if this holy anointing oil made those things most holy that were anointed with it, how much more must the grace of the Spirit those who partake of it; and though it is at present imperfect, it will be perfected, and become complete holiness, without which no man can see the Lord:

whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy; as is said of the most holy altar; see Gill on Exo 29:37. The Targum of Jonathan interprets it of persons that approach these holy places, and things so anointed and sanctified, paraphrasing the words thus;"whosoever cometh unto them of the priests shall be holy, but of the rest of the tribes shall be burnt with flaming fire before the Lord.''

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

Sanctified. But if he ought not to touch it, he shall be defiled the more: (Deuteronomy xxii. 9) a double effect, which we perceive in the Christian sacraments. (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).

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking to Moses.

set them apart

This refers to the items listed in Exodus 30:26-28.

throughout your people's generations

"all the generations of your descendants." See how you translated this in Exodus 12:14.

translationWords

set apart

anoint

Aaron

servant

priest

Israel

oil

Yahweh

people group

generation

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

וקדשת אתם AND THOU SHALT SANCTIFY THEM — This anointing (mentioned v. 26) sanctifies them so that they become most holy. And in what consists their holiness? כל הנגע בהם וגו׳ that WHOSOEVER TOUCHETH THEM [SHALL BECOME HOLY]. — Whatever is proper for use in a particular sacred vessel becomes itself holy (more lit., becomes holy with bodily holiness) as soon as it comes into it, so that it becomes invalid as an offering under the following conditions: when after it had been placed in the vessel it had been taken (lit., had gone forth) outside the fore-court, or when it had been left the whole of the night without being placed on the altar, or when it has come into contact with a טבול יום (a person who had been unclean and has taken the ritual immersion but is awaiting sunset to be regarded as clean, as is prescribed in Leviticus 22:7). Moreover it cannot be redeemed by payment of its value to the Temple treasury, thereby to reassume its ordinary character. But whatever is not proper to them (to these vessels) they do not make holy (Zevachim 87a). A similar statement is made in an uncontroverted (Hebrew: perfect) Boraitha (Zevachim 83b) about the hallowing power of the altar: Since it is said, (Exodus 29:37) “Whatsoever toucheth the altar shall become holy”, I might infer that this applies to a thing whether it was fitting to be an offering at the time when it was brought into the Sanctuary or whether it was not fitting; Scripture therefore states immediately afterwards, (Exodus 29:38) “[Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar]; two lambs”. Now how is it in the case of the lambs? They are fitting for the altar! So, also, does the preceding statement, “Whatsoever [touches the altar shall become holy]”, refer only to anything that is fitting (i. e. that was already fitting to be brought upon the altar and became disqualified only after it had been brought into the forecourt of the Sanctuary). — In all cases where the term משח, “to anoint”, is used with reference to the Tabernacle or priests or kings it is rendered by the Targum by the appropriate form of the verb רבה, “to raise to high rank”, “to distinguish”, because the anointing of them had no other purpose than to show the distinction that was being bestowed upon them. For thus did the Heavenly King ordain (Rashi uses here the words of the text, (Esther 1:9) that this should constitute their installation in their high office. In any other case, however, where משח is used, — for instance, (Exodus 29:2) “wafers [unleavened] משוחים with oil”; (Amos 6:6) “and with the chief ointments ימשחו” — the Aramaic expression for them in the Targum is the same term as the Hebrew text, viz., a form of משח; (because in these passages anointing is an end in itself, whilst in the former case it is an indication only of elevation to a distinguished position).

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.