Keluaran 28:17-21

28:17 You are to set in it a setting for stones, four rows of stones, a row with a ruby, a topaz, and a beryl – the first row; 28:18 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; 28:19 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 28:20 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. ¹  They are to be enclosed in gold in their filigree settings. 28:21 The stones are to be for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to the number of ²  their names. Each name according to the twelve tribes is to be like ³  the engravings of a seal.

Keluaran 29:10-14

29:10 “You are to present the bull at the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to put ⁴  their hands on the head ⁵  of the bull. 29:11 You are to kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting 29:12 and take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar ⁶  with your finger; all the rest of ⁷  the blood you are to pour out at the base of the altar. 29:13 You are to take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe ⁸  that is above the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them ⁹  on the altar. 29:14 But the meat of the bull, its skin, and its dung you are to burn up ¹⁰  outside the camp. ¹¹  It is the purification offering. ¹² 

[28:20]  ¹ sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 375-76) points out that these are the same precious stones mentioned in Ezek 28:13 that were to be found in Eden, the garden of God. So the priest, when making atonement, was to wear the precious gems that were there and symbolized the garden of Eden when man was free from sin.

[28:21]  ² tn For clarity the words “the number of” have been supplied.

[28:21]  ³ tn The phrase translated “the engravings of a seal” is an adverbial accusative of manner here.

[29:10]  ⁴ tn The verb is singular, agreeing with the first of the compound subject – Aaron.

[29:10]  ⁵ sn The details of these offerings have to be determined from a careful study of Leviticus. There is a good deal of debate over the meaning of laying hands on the animals. At the very least it identifies the animal formally as their sacrifice. But it may very well indicate that the animal is a substitute for them as well, given the nature and the effect of the sacrifices.

[29:12]  ⁶ sn This act seems to have signified the efficacious nature of the blood, since the horns represented power. This is part of the ritual of the sin offering for laity, because before the priests become priests they are treated as laity. The offering is better described as a purification offering rather than a sin offering, because it was offered, according to Leviticus, for both sins and impurities. Moreover, it was offered primarily to purify the sanctuary so that the once-defiled or sinful person could enter (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB]).

[29:12]  ⁷ tn The phrase “rest of” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[29:13]  ⁸ tn S. R. Driver suggests that this is the appendix or an appendix, both here and in v. 22 (Exodus, 320). “The surplus, the appendage of liver, found with cow, sheep, or goat, but not with humans: Lobus caudatus” (HALOT 453 s.v. יֹתֶרֶת).

[29:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “turn [them] into sweet smoke” since the word is used for burning incense.

[29:13]  sn The giving of the visceral organs and the fat has received various explanations. The fat represented the best, and the best was to go to God. If the animal is a substitute, then the visceral organs represent the will of the worshiper in an act of surrender to God.

[29:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “burn with fire.”

[29:14]  ¹¹ sn This is to be done because there is no priesthood yet. Once they are installed, then the sin/purification offering is to be eaten by the officiating priests as a sign that the offering was received. But priests could not consume their own sin offering.

[29:14]  ¹² sn There were two kinds of “purification offering,” those made with confession for sin and those made without. The title needs to cover both of them, and if it is called in the traditional way “the sin offering,” that will convey that when people offered it for skin diseases, menstruation, or having babies, they had sinned. That was not the case. Moreover, it is usual to translate the names of the sacrifices by what they do more than what they cover – so peace offering, reparation offering, and purification offering.