Exodus 28:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Exodus 28:1
And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
to approach (causatively · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
Aaron
אַהֲרֹ֨ן'a.ha.Ron
H175
Aharon · proper noun, a man's name
brother
אָחִ֜יךָ'a.Chi.kha
H251
a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
sons
בָּנָ֣יוba.Nav
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
among
מִתּ֛וֹךְmi.Tokh
H8432
a bisection · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
children
בְּנֵ֥יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
priest’s office
לְכַהֲנוֹle.kha.ha.nov-
H3547
to officiate as a priest · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Aaron
אַהֲרֹ֕ן'a.ha.Ron
H175
Aharon · proper noun, a man's name
Nadab
נָדָ֧בna.Dav
H5070
Nadab · proper noun, a man's name
Abihu
וַאֲבִיה֛וּאva.'a.vi.Hu'
H30
Abihu · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
Eleazar
אֶלְעָזָ֥ר'el.'a.Zar
H499
Elazar · proper noun, a man's name
Ithamar
וְאִיתָמָ֖רve.'i.ta.Mar
H385
Ithamar · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
Aaron’s
אַהֲרֹֽן'a.ha.Ron
H175
Aharon · proper noun, a man's name
sons
בְּנֵ֥יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Numbers 18:7 Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve:…
Hebrews 5:1-5 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for…
Numbers 16:9-11 Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himse…
Numbers 17:2-9 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes accordi…
Numbers 26:61 And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the LORD.
Deuteronomy 10:6 And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera: there Aaron died, and there he was buried; a…
1 Chronicles 6:10 And Johanan begat Azariah, (he it is that executed the priest’s office in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem:)
2 Chronicles 26:18-21 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the prie…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Exodus 28:1-5
We have here,
I. The priests nominated: Aaron and his sons, Exo 28:1. Hitherto every master of a family was priest to his own family, and offered, as he saw cause, upon altars of earth; but now that the families of Israel began to be incorporated into a nation, and a tabernacle of the congregation was to be erected, as a visible centre of their unity, it was requisite there should be a public priesthood instituted. Moses, who had hitherto officiated, and is therefore reckoned among the priests of the Lord (Psa 99:6), had enough to do as their prophet to consult the oracle for them, and as their prince to judge among them; nor was he desirous to engross all the honours to himself, or to entai…
Aaron - and his sons - The priesthood was to be restrained to this family because the public worship was to be confined to one place; and previously to this the eldest in every family officiated as priest, there being no settled place of worship. It has been very properly observed that, if Moses had not acted by the Divine appointment, he would not have passed by his own family, which continued in the condition of ordinary Levites, and established the priesthood, the only dignity in the nation, in the family of his brother Aaron. "The priests, however, had no power of a secular nature, nor does it appear from history that they ever arrived at any till the time of the Asmoneans or Maccabees."…
And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him,.... Moses is bid to fetch or send for Aaron and his sons to him: or "cause" them to "draw near" (n) to him, and stand before him, that he might in the name of the Lord, and by his authority, distinguish and separate them
from among the children of Israel: and before them all invest them with the office of priesthood, as it follows:
that they may minister unto me in the priest's office, before this time every master of a family was a priest, and might and did offer sacrifice, and all the Israelites were a kingdom of priests; and Moses, as Aben Ezra calls him, was "a priest of priests"; but now it being enough for him to be th…
Dictionary and topics
Abihu — Father of Him; i.e., “worshipper of God”, the second of the sons of Aaron (Ex. 6:23; Num. 3:2; 26:60; 1 Chr. 6:3). Along with his three brothers he was consecrated to the priest’s office (Ex. 28:1).…
Embroider — The art of embroidery was known to the Jews (Ex. 26:36; 35:35; 38:23; Judg. 5:30; Ps. 45:14). The skill of the women in this art was seen in the preparation of the sacerdotal robes of the high priest…
High Places6813 Priest — The first distinct separation of Aaron to the office of the priesthood, which previously belonged to the first-born was that recorded (Exodus 28:1) ... We find from the very first the following…
High priest — Aaron was the first who was solemnly set apart to this office (Ex. 29:7; 30:23; Lev. 8:12). He wore a peculiar dress, which on his death passed to his successor in office (Ex. 29:29, 30). Besides…
Ithamar — Palm isle, the fourth and youngest son of Aaron (1 Chr. 6:3). He was consecrated to the priesthood along with his brothers (Ex. 6:23); and after the death of Nadab and Abihu, he and Eleazar alone…
Levite — A descendant of the tribe of Levi (Ex. 6:25; Lev. 25:32; Num. 35:2; Josh. 21:3, 41). This name is, however, generally used as the title of that portion of the tribe which was set apart for the…
Nadab — Liberal, generous. (1.) The eldest of Aaron’s four sons (Ex. 6:23; Num. 3:2). He with his brothers and their father were consecrated as priests of Jehovah (Ex. 28:1). He afterwards perished with…
Aaron · Priesthood of — Priesthood of
Abihu · General references — General references
Call · .See above, and — .See above, and
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Aaron and his sons selected for priesthood
These glorious and beautiful (28:2) garments for Aaron were to distinguish him as a priest set apart (Hebrew qadash, “consecrated”) for [the Lord’s] service (28:3). The magnificence of these garments is in keeping with the grandeur of the Tabernacle, which functioned as a portable earthly palace for God. There would come a day when Jesus Christ, the true High Priest, would enter the Most Holy Place once for all, and the distinction between priests and people would fade away (Heb 10:11-22). Until that time, human mediators were needed to symbolize the wonderful thing that God was planning to do in the hearts, lives, and behaviors of those with whom he shared his presence.
28:1-2 The garments…
High Priest, The · Specially called of God — Specially called of God
Ithamar · General references — General references
Jews, The · Had an ecclesiastical establishment — Had an ecclesiastical establishment
Levites · Of the A — Of the A
Ministers · Called by God — Called by God
Nadab · .Set apart to priesthoo — .Set apart to priesthoo
Priest · THE TIME OF MOSES — THE TIME OF MOSES
Theocracy, The, Or Immediate Government By God · Consisted in his: Appointing ecclesiastical officers — Consisted in his: Appointing ecclesiastical officers
Types · .High priest, typi — .High priest, typi
Types Of Christ · Aaron — Aaron
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
