Leviticus 8:15

Lev 8:15. Moses took the blood, &c., and purified the altar — This ceremony of touching the altar with blood emphatically signified that all the services which they offered to God partook of their impurity, and that the very altar which consecrated their oblations was defiled by their unhallowed touch. But the sprinkling it with the blood of the victim, which, by divine appointment, was substituted and accepted instead of the forfeited life of the sinner, made room for repentance, the removal of guilt, and purification; on which account the altar is said to be purified and sanctified by this action.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8:15 Normally, the high priest performed these priestly duties. However, it would not be proper for the priests to ordain themselves, so Moses, acting as God’s representative, instituted the priesthood.

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

Of the burnt offering.

To offer for the sins of the people.

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

(15) And he slew it.—Better, and he killed it, as it is rendered in the Authorised Version, in Lev_8:19. In ordinary cases the offerer himself slaughtered the victim (see Lev_1:5), but in the case before us Moses performed this act in accordance with the command in Exo_29:11.

And Moses took the blood.—That is, having caught the blood in the bowl, he threw it upon the four corners of the altar, as described in Lev_1:5—not, however, on the horns of the altar of incense, or in the tabernacle, as in the case of the sin offering for the high priest and for the nation. (See Lev_4:7; Lev_4:16-18.)

And purified the altar . . . and sanctified it.—Like the priest, the altar was consecrated to the service of God by the anointing oil (see Lev_8:11), and hence, like the priest, the altar is also purified by the expiatory sacrifice from its defilements.

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

14–30. (d) the sacrificial part of the rite, consisting of:

(i) The Sin-Offering (Lev_8:14-17, cp. Exo_29:10-14)

A bullock, the most costly animal, appointed for ‘the anointed priest,’ or for ‘the whole congregation’ (Lev_4:3; Lev_4:14), on which Aaron and his sons laid their hands (see on Lev_1:4). It appears that the selection of the animal indicates the sacred office to which Aaron and his sons are to be admitted, but until they are consecrated, the ritual of the offering is the same as that prescribed in the case of private individuals (cp. Lev_4:30; Lev_4:34). Some of the blood is put on the horns of the altar, and the rest is poured out at the base of the altar.

15. And he slew it] Comparison with Exo_29:11 shews that Moses slew it, but the text here might be interpreted, and he (Aaron) slew it, especially as it is followed by ‘and Moses took.…’ The same remark applies to Lev_8:19 and Lev_8:23; cp. Exo_29:16; Exo_29:20. In all the verses here cited, the Heb. verb is the same, but is rendered by both ‘kill’ and ‘slay.’

at the base of the altar] see on Lev_4:7.

and purified the altar … and sanctified it by making atonement for it] These clauses are not found in Exo_29:12, but occur in Exo_29:36-37 of that ch. The altar had already been anointed (Lev_8:11); it is now further sanctified by the blood of the Sin-Offering.

The words ‘purify’ here, and ‘cleanse’ (purge R.V. mg.) in Exo_29:36 are translations of the same Heb. verb. As in English ‘to stone plums’ means to remove the stones, so in Heb. a verb corresponding to a noun is sometimes used in the same way. Here the Heb. verb corresponds to the noun ‘sin,’ and means to ‘remove sin’; it occurs also in Lev_14:49; Lev_14:52 (of a leprous house), and Eze_43:20-23 with reference to the altar (see note on Exo_29:36). The rendering ‘by making atonement’ is like R.V. mg. of the passage in Exo_29:36.

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 he slew it,.... Not Aaron, nor any of his sons, who as yet were not fully consecrated and installed into their office, but Moses, as follows:

and Moses took the blood; which was received into a basin when the bullock was slain:

and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger; upon the four horns of the altar, which were at the four corners of it, and dipping his finger into the blood, he besmeared the horns with it, and drew it about with his finger here and there; and so is said to be done round about the altar, as these horns were:

and purified the altar; or cleansed it; not from moral guilt and pollution, which it was incapable of, but from all ceremonial pollution it might be supposed to have:

and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar; the rest of the blood he did not use about the horns:

and sanctified it; separated it from common to sacred use:

to make reconciliation upon it; that it might be fit to have sacrifices offered on it to make atonement and reconciliation for sins; for which reason it was necessary it should itself be pure and holy, in such sense it was capable of being so.

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

15. Blood… horns — Lev_4:7, note.

Purified the altar — The altar, the work of the hands of sinful men, is viewed as sinful. In Lev_8:11 it is sanctified, and now it is expiated with blood. A holy life cannot be maintained on the earth without the blood of atonement being constantly sprinkled upon it. 1Jn_1:7, note.

Sanctified — The sanctification by oil is a setting apart, the blood sanctification is a thorough purgation of the very nature.

To make reconciliation upon it — The Hebrew is capable of this construction. But precisely the same words in Lev_1:4, are rendered to make atonement for him. The personified altar needs an atonement as much as its imperfect minister.

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

Vers. 15-17. And Moses took the blood. Moses continues still to act as priest, and the new sacrifice is once offered by him. He performs the priestly act of presenting the blood; but on this occasion, which is special, the blood is not dealt with in the manner prescribed for the high priest"s offerings. (Lev_4:6) The reason of this is that Aaron was not yet high priest, and also that the offering was made not only for Aaron, but also for his sons; and further, the blood as well as the anointing oil was required to purify the altar, and sanctify it. (see Heb_9:21) Although the blood was not "brought into the tabernacle," yet the bullock was burnt with fire without the camp, not eaten according to the rule of Lev_7:26, Lev_7:30. This was necessary, as there were as yet no priests to eat it.

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

reconciliation Heb. "kaphar," to cover.

(See Scofield "Dan 9:24").

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

ויחטא את המזבח AND HE PURIFIED THE ALTAR — He cleansed and purified it from anything “strange” (alien to the sacred purpose for which the altar was intended) that may have happened to it, so that it might enter into a state of holiness (cf. Rashi on Exodus 19:36).

ויקדשהו AND HE SANCTIFIED IT by this rite.

לכפר עליו THAT ONE MIGHT MAKE EXPIATION UPON IT from that time onward with all atonement sacrifices (i. e. that all atonement sacrifices might henceforth be offered upon it; the meaning is not that he sanctified it so that he might now offer an atonement offering for it or upon it).

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.

AND HE PURIFIED THE ALTAR. “He cleansed it and purified it from anything ‘strange’ [not holy], so that it might enter into a state of holiness. AND HE SANCTIFIED IT by this rite. TO MAKE ATONEMENT UPON IT — from that time onward for all atonements of sin.” This is the language of Rashi.If this is so, then Scripture is saying that by these means the altar was hallowed and made fit to effect atonement upon from that time onward. This is similar to that which is said in the Book of Ezekiel, Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; so shall they consecrate it. And when they have accomplished the days, it shall be that upon the eighth day, and forward, the priests shall make your burnt-offerings upon the altar, and your peace-offerings, and I will accept you, saith the Eternal G-d. Here He teaches that this consecration is done with blood, but the burning of the fats is no hindrance to the consecration of the altar, for in succeeding generations too it is no hindrance to the atonement [if the fats of the offering were not burnt on the altar].But in the Tosephta of the section of consecration 15. I have seen [the following text]: “I know not what is this atonement for the altar. [I must say that] from here (from here) is the preferred text. Our books of the Torath Kohanim have the word minayin (from whence). you learn that this atonement was only necessary because Moses said: ‘When the call was issued to bring freewill donations for the Sanctuary, the people pressured each other, both men and women, and some donated without their complete will; let this be an atonement so that they should not donate to the Sanctuary anything which had been taken by force.’ And so it also says, For I the Eternal love justice, I hate robbery in a burnt-offering.” Rashi has also mentioned this already in the section of V’atah Tetzaveh.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.