Keluaran 19:6

19:6 and you will be to me ¹  a kingdom of priests ²  and a holy nation.’ ³  These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”

Keluaran 28:36

28:36 “You are to make a plate ⁴  of pure gold and engrave on it the way a seal is engraved: ⁵  “Holiness to the Lord.” ⁶ 

Keluaran 30:29

30:29 So you are to sanctify them, ⁷  and they will be most holy; ⁸  anything that touches them will be holy. ⁹ 

Keluaran 30:31

30:31 And you are to tell the Israelites: ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil throughout your generations.

Keluaran 31:10

31:10 the woven garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons, to minister as priests,

Keluaran 31:16

31:16 The Israelites must keep the Sabbath by observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.

Keluaran 35:19

35:19 the woven garments for serving in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests.”

Keluaran 40:10

40:10 Then you are to anoint the altar for the burnt offering with ¹⁰  all its utensils; you are to sanctify the altar, and it will be the most holy altar.

Keluaran 40:13

40:13 Then you are to clothe Aaron with the holy garments and anoint him and sanctify him so that he may minister as my priest.

[19:6]  ¹ tn Or “for me” (NIV, NRSV), or, if the lamed (ל) preposition has a possessive use, “my kingdom” (so NCV).

[19:6]  ² tn The construction “a kingdom of priests” means that the kingdom is made up of priests. W. C. Kaiser (“Exodus,” EBC 2:417) offers four possible renderings of the expression: 1) apposition, viz., “kings, that is, priests; 2) as a construct with a genitive of specification, “royal priesthood”; 3) as a construct with the genitive being the attribute, “priestly kingdom”; and 4) reading with an unexpressed “and” – “kings and priests.” He takes the latter view that they were to be kings and priests. (Other references are R. B. Y. Scott, “A Kingdom of Priests (Exodus xix. 6),” OTS 8 [1950]: 213-19; William L. Moran, “A Kingdom of Priests,” The Bible in Current Catholic Thought, 7-20). However, due to the parallelism of the next description which uses an adjective, this is probably a construct relationship. This kingdom of God will be composed of a priestly people. All the Israelites would be living wholly in God’s service and enjoying the right of access to him. And, as priests, they would have the duty of representing God to the nations, following what they perceived to be the duties of priests – proclaiming God’s word, interceding for people, and making provision for people to find God through atonement (see Deut 33:9,10).

[19:6]  ³ tn They are also to be “a holy nation.” They are to be a nation separate and distinct from the rest of the nations. Here is another aspect of their duty. It was one thing to be God’s special possession, but to be that they had to be priestly and holy. The duties of the covenant will specify what it would mean to be a holy nation. In short, they had to keep themselves free from everything that characterized pagan people (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 171). So it is a bilateral covenant: they received special privileges but they must provide special services by the special discipline. See also H. Kruse, “Exodus 19:5 and the Mission of Israel,” North East Asian Journal of Theology 24/25 (1980): 239-42.

[28:36]  ⁴ tn The word צִּיץ (tsits) seems to mean “a shining thing” and so here a plate of metal. It originally meant “flower,” but they could not write on a flower. So it must have the sense of something worn openly, visible, and shining. The Rabbinic tradition says it was two fingers wide and stretched from ear to ear, but this is an attempt to give details that the Law does not give (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 818).

[28:36]  ⁵ tn Heb “the engravings of a seal”; this phrase is an adverbial accusative of manner.

[28:36]  ⁶ sn The engraving was a perpetual reminder of the holiness that was due the Lord (Heb “Yahweh”), that all the clothing, the furnishings, and the activities were to come under that description. This corresponded to the symbolism for the whole nation of binding the law between the eyes. It was to be a perpetual reminder of commitment.

[30:29]  ⁷ tn The verb is a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; in this verse it is summarizing or explaining what the anointing has accomplished. This is the effect of the anointing (see Exod 29:36).

[30:29]  ⁸ tn This is the superlative genitive again, Heb “holy of holies.”

[30:29]  ⁹ tn See Exod 29:37; as before, this could refer to anything or anyone touching the sanctified items.

[40:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and.”