The First Ministry, and Fire Before the People

“The eighth day”, shemini, gives this Torah section its Jewish name. In Leviticus the eighth day after seven of waiting is the day of entry: circumcision falls on it (12:3), and so does the healed leper’s return (14:10). Jewish chronology (Seder Olam) set this day on the first of Nisan.

Chapter 4 required a young bull for the anointed priest’s sin; Aaron is told to bring an egel, a calf, the same word as the golden calf of Exodus 32:4. Rashi took the choice as a sign that the calf had been forgiven. The ram for his burnt offering matches the ram of 8:18.

The people bring a goat for their sin offering, not the bull that 4:14 required of the congregation. The Sifra linked the goat with the kid whose blood Joseph’s brothers used to stain his coat (Genesis 37:31), and the calf with Sinai: Israel’s two great wrongs, at the beginning and the end.

The list comes to seven animals: Aaron’s calf and ram, and the people’s goat, calf, lamb, bull and ram, with a grain offering besides. Every kind of offering in chapters 1 to 3 is represented. The reason for all of it is given in the last clause: “to day the LORD will appear unto you”.

“Drew near” is vayyiqrevu, the verb of bringing an offering, from the same root as qorban. The whole congregation “draws near” in the way the animals are brought near, and stands at the entrance with them.

The last time “the glory of the LORD” was seen, it filled the tent so that Moses could not go in (Exodus 40:34-35). Now Moses promises that it will appear to the people, and he ties the promise to their doing what is commanded.

The Greek reads “for thyself and for thy house”, as 16:6 has it. Hebrews 7:27 builds on this order, saying the high priests offered “first for his own sins, and then for the people’s”. Aaron has to be told to go to the altar; the Sifra says he hung back, ashamed.

The first act of Aaron’s priesthood is to kill an animal for his own sin. The verse adds “which was for himself”, as though to leave no doubt whose offering this first one was.

Aaron now does with his own finger what Moses did in 8:15 on the ordination days: horns of the altar, then the rest poured at the base. The man who watched the procedure seven days in a row repeats it for the first time himself.

The fat list is given in shorthand, fat, kidneys and caul, now that the full procedure is known from chapters 3 and 4. The burning of the fat is the first of Aaron’s acts to be marked “as the LORD commanded Moses”.

Flesh and hide go outside the camp, as 4:11-12 required for the anointed priest’s sin offering. Yet the blood was not taken inside the tent, which by 6:30 would normally mean the flesh was eaten. The tension returns in 10:16-18.

“Presented” is vayyamtsi’u, literally “caused him to find”: the sons put the blood into his hands. The verb is rare and practical; it pictures a basin handed across at the altar.

The sons hand the pieces and the head to Aaron, and Aaron places them. The division of labour between the lay offerer and the priest in 1:6-8 is reproduced here inside one family, the sons preparing and the father putting on the fire.

Aaron washes the inwards and legs himself, the task 1:9 gave to the lay worshipper. On this day the priest is also the offerer, and so the offerer’s tasks fall to him as well.

“Offered it for sin” is vayechatte’hu, he made it a sin offering. “As the first” means as Aaron’s own calf, and the phrase matters in 10:16: Moses searches for this goat, finds it burned, and is angry that it was not eaten.

The people’s burnt offering was two animals, a calf and a lamb “both of the first year” (verse 3), yet the verse speaks of one burnt offering. The pair are treated as a single gift, handled by the rules of chapter 1.

“Took an handful” is vaymalle kappo, literally “filled his palm”, the same idiom of filling the hand that named the ordination (8:27, 33). On the first day of his service Aaron fills his own hand. The morning burnt offering was already on the altar.

This bull and ram are the only peace offering in Leviticus brought for the whole people, apart from the two lambs at the feast of weeks (23:19). A peace offering was eaten; here the congregation, not one family, is its guest.

The list runs together the fat of both animals, with the ram’s fat tail among them. “That which covereth the inwards” is one Hebrew word, hamekhasseh, “the covering”, a shorthand for the fat of 3:3.

Placing the fat on the breasts carries out 7:30: the fat is brought with the breast, both are presented, and then the fat alone goes on the fire. The law of the priests’ manual is followed step by step on its first occasion.

Here the refrain changes to “as Moses commanded”, naming Moses as the one who gave the order. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Greek read the usual “as the LORD commanded Moses”, which may be the original wording.

The Hebrew is written “his hand” but traditionally read “his hands”. “Came down” implies the altar had a raised approach; Exodus 20:26 had forbidden steps, so later tradition gave it a ramp. The blessing is given before he goes down.

This is the first time Aaron enters the tent, and Moses goes in with him. Nothing that happened inside is recorded. The people are blessed a second time, now by both brothers together, and only then does the glory appear.

“Shouted” is vayyaronnu, from ranan, the ringing cry of joy that the Psalms use for singing. The same sequence recurs at the dedication of Solomon’s temple: fire from heaven consumes the offering and the people fall on their faces (2 Chronicles 7:1-3).