Moses Remembers Receiving the Ten Commandments

(Deuteronomy (9:1 -10:11)
"Listen, O Israel: today you will be crossing the River Jordan to conquer nations stronger and more populous than you, great cities with fortifications that reach to the sky, and people who are giants, descendants of Anak, whom you know and of whom you have heard it said, 'Who can stand up against the Anakites?'  Rest assured that Jehovah your god will go before you like a consuming fire to destroy them.  He will subdue them so that you will be able to expel and annihilate them quickly, as Jehovah has promised you would.

"After Jehovah your god has expelled these people in advance of your entering the land, don't be thinking, 'Jehovah has brought us in to take over this land because of our righteousness.'  No, it is because of the wickedness of other peoples that Jehovah is driving them out before you.  It is not because of your righteous actions or upright character that are you are going to take possession of their land, but because of these nations' wickedness that Jehovah will drive them out before you and fulfill the promise he made to your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

"Therefore, keep in mind that Jehovah is not giving you this good land to occupy because you are righteous, for you are not: you're a willful people.  Remember and never forget how in the desert you aroused the ire of Jehovah your god.  From the time you left Egypt until this day, you have been rebellious against Jehovah.  Even at Horeb you made Jehovah angry, in fact he was so incensed he would have destroyed you.  This occurred when I was on the mountain receiving the stone tablets, inscribed with the terms of the pact Jehovah had made with you.  I was there on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights; I ate no food and drank no water.  Jehovah presented me with two stone tablets inscribed by the hand of God.  On them were written all the words that Jehovah had spoken to you from out of the fire on the day of the assembly. 

"At the end of the 40 days and 40 nights Jehovah gave me the two stone tablets that were the record of the pact.  But Jehovah then told me, ‘Leave here at once and go back down, for the people you brought out of Egypt are corrupting themselves.  They have quickly deserted the path I commanded them to follow.  They’ve made for themselves an idol cast of metal!’  And he also confided to me, 'I have seen these people and they’re surely a pigheaded lot.  Leave me alone so that I can exterminate them and erase their name from the memory of man.  Then I will make from your descendants a nation that will be far stronger and larger than they are.'

"While it was blazing with fire, I left and came down the mountain, holding in my own two hands the two tablets inscribed with the terms of the pact.  When I looked down I could see that you had sinned against Jehovah.  You had cast an metal idol in the shape of a calf.  How quickly had you deserted the path that Jehovah had commanded you to follow!  So I took the two tablets and hurled them down, smashing them to bits before your eyes.

"Then, once again, I prostrated myself before Jehovah for another 40 days and 40 nights, neither eating food nor drinking water, because of the sin you had committed, doing what was wrong in Jehovah's eyes and arousing his anger.  I was afraid of the ire and the outrage of Jehovah against you, for he seemed irate enough to destroy you.  But again Jehovah listened to me.  And Jehovah was angry enough to destroy Aaron, but at the same time I prayed for him, too.  I took what you had made in sin, the calf, and burned it.  I crushed it and pulverized it into powder as fine as dust and dumped it into a stream that flowed down the mountain.

"And you aroused Jehovah's ire at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth Hattaavah.  At Kadesh Barnea Jehovah sent you out, telling you, 'Go up and occupy the land I have given you.’  But you defied the authority of Jehovah your god.  You wouldn't trust him or heed his commands.  Indeed, you've been defiant of Jehovah for as long as I've known you.

"That is why I prostrated myself before Jehovah for 40 days and 40 nights, because Jehovah had said he would destroy you.  I prayed to Jehovah and pleaded with him, ‘O my god Jehovah, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you saved and brought out of Egypt with your might and power.  Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Please excuse the defiance of these people, their wickedness and sin, lest the country from which they were freed will declare, "Because Jehovah was incapable of bringing them into the land he had promised them, and because he hates them, he led them into the desert in order to put them to death.”  But remember they are your people and your inheritance that you freed with your might and power.'

"At that time Jehovah told me, 'Cut two tablets of stone just like the first ones and make a chest of wood for them.  Then come up to me on the mountain.  I will inscribe on the tablets the same writing that were on the first set that you broke.  You may then place them in the wooden chest.'  And so I made a chest of acacia wood, cut two tablets just like the first set, and went up on the mountain with the tablets in my hands.  Jehovah wrote on the tablets in the same words as before, the Ten Commandments that Jehovah spoke to you from out of the fire on that day when you were assembled at the foot of the mountain.  And Jehovah gave them to me.  Then I left, came down from the mountain, and put the tablets into the chest I had made, as Jehovah had commanded me.  And there they remain."

(The Israelites journeyed from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah.  There Aaron died and was buried and was succeeded as high priest by his son Eleazar.  From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, then to Jotbathah, a land of many streams.  At that time Jehovah designated the tribe of Levi to carry the Jehovah's Chest of Sacred Records, to minister and worship before Jehovah's altar, and pronounce blessings in his name, as they do now.  This is why the Levites have no share of the property or land given to the other tribes of Israel.  Jehovah himself remains their particular inheritance, as Jehovah their god told them.)

"I myself remained on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights, as I did the first time.  And, as before, Jehovah listened to me and agreed not to destroy you.  Then Jehovah said to me, "Get up and resume your journey and lead the people to the land I promised to give to their ancestors so they can enter and take possession of it."

Notes
1. Moses and the biblical authors are frustratingly non-specific about how Jehovah will aid the Israelites militarily.  It is made to seem that, with Jehovah's help, the Israelites will able to totally conquer the Promised Land in a week or two, and yet it is also made clear that the expulsion and/or extermination of the native inhabitants will take place over a considerable period of time.  The vagueness and the contradictions do not lend credibility to any claim that the invasion and occupation is historical; indeed, few historians believe that it is.

2. Moses goes up on the mountain and is without food and water for 40 days, on two occasions.  Why was it necessary and how was it possible?  Was he nourished in some other way?  Or did, when he visited Jehovah, enter into another dimension during which a short period of time elapsed for Moses, but a long period (40 days) elapsed for the Israelites.  (Such temporal discrepancies are common with those today who encounter or are abducted by supposed extraterrestrials and were also noted in the past by those who claimed to have visited fairyland.)  Since no man can live for 40 days without water (twice!), the other alternative is that Moses, the Moses presented in the Bible, is an egregious liar.

3. Moses does not make too much of his prolonged fasting, although he blames the Israelites for having to do it twice.  He makes no mention of the hardship it must have been for a man reportedly 80 years old to hike up and down a mountain so many times.  He does not say how he wiled away his 40 days, although he seems to suggest that he spent it prostrated before Jehovah, who did not seem to tire of Moses' company.

4. Moses makes a pair of Ten Commandment stone tablets that are apparently identical to those made by Jehovah.  (Considering their importance, why didn't Jehovah provide the hot-tempered Moses with an unbreakable set?)  One would have thought that a god could have made superior tablets, but perhaps Moses was really good with his hands.  How large, though, might the tablets have been to contain the full text of the Ten Commandments?  Would they have been light enough for this old man to carry?  And, the question asked many times before, how were they written, since the earliest Hebrew and the first alphabets were hundreds of years in the future?  Did Jehovah write in Egyptian hieroglyphics, in the language of his enemy?  The implausibilities and improbabilities, the historical inaccuracies and anachronisms must lead any reasonable person to come to the inevitable conclusion that the Ten Commandment story is not factual, but either a highly embellished yarn or a mere fairy tale.

5. There are several discrepancies between the story told here by Moses and that set down in Exodus, although the accounts are not substantially different.  Here Moses fails to mention Joshua, who waited for Moses when he came down from the mountain and called his attention to racket made by the Golden Calf-adoring Israelites, thinking it was the clamor of war.  In Exodus Moses inscribes the second set of tablets himself, but here Jehovah does the inscribing himself.  A major contradiction involves the chest made for the Ten Commandment tablets.  Here Moses makes a simple wooden box for them before he even receives the second set.  (A handy man is the Moses of Deuteronomy.)  In Exodus they are housed in the Chest of Sacred Records (Ark of the Covenant), elaborately crafted, lined with gold, with a lid adorned with the gold statues of winged figures and rings fitted for carrying staves.  (Interesting that Moses was able to carry the tablets himself, while, once they were in the chest, it took at least four men to do so.)   Here Moses brags about how he repeatedly spares the Israelites from Jehovah's destructive wrath, but conveniently fails to mention the indiscriminate slaughter he ordered after the Golden Calf incident. --- It should be mentioned that most scholars believe that Deuteronomy, or a draft of it, may have been written as early as the 10th Century BC, well before Exodus, which was probably composed in the 6th Century BC, after the Babylonian Captivity.  Deuteronomy, therefore, may be presumed to be the more authentic account, but of what -- historical fact or sacred legend?

6. Jehovah excuses his championing of the people of Israel by saying they are not good at all, but merely less evil than the rest of the nations.  And, rubbing it in, Moses reminds them of Jehovah’s intention to wipe them out and create a better nation out of Moses’ descendants.  (How long would that have taken?)  In the end he convinces Jehovah to spare the Israelites with the irresistible argument, “What would the Egyptians think?”  Hearing all this must have been a great morale booster for the Israelites!  Jehovah's jaundiced view of the character of his Chosen People may have been justified, but his own character, bordering on demonic and sociopathic, hardly qualified him as a judge of goodness.

7. As has been pointed out before, Moses speaks to his audience as if they had all participated in the Exodus from the beginning and had experienced the events he speaks of.  All the men who had left Egypt, save Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, were now dead.  None remaining can bear any personal responsibility for the instances of defiance and disobedience that Moses cites.  Yet, he rails against them, when he should be addressing the dead.  These sermons by Moses have the tinge of senior moment reminiscences.

8. At Taberah the Israelites became restive and Jehovah responded by burning those at the outskirts of the camp. At Massah the Israelites expressed their discontent over not having any water to drink.  At Kibroth Hattaavah the Israelites griped about having to eat manna and lusted after some real meat.  Jehovah then sent them a gazillion quails that caused a plague that killed many.  Kadesh Barnea was the place from which Moses sent out scouts into the Promised Land.  Distorted accounts made by most of the scouts caused the Israelites to balk at mounting the invasion of the Promised Land Jehovah demanded.

9. In what seem to be the author’s notes, it is stated that Aaron died and was buried at Moserah.  In Numbers it is recorded that Aaron died on Mount Hor.  The accounts are incompatible, for there is a great deal of distance between the two locations.  One would think the Bible authors would get their stories straight, or that someone in 2500 years might have succumbed to the temptation of altering the text to make the narrative consistent.
 

Stations of the Exodus

(Book of Numbers 33:1 - 33:49)
These are the stations of the Exodus, during which the people of Israel marched out of Egypt in military formation under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.  At Jehovah's instruction Moses kept a written record of the progress of their journey and these are the starting points of each stage of the journey.
   
    1. They departed the Egyptian city of Rameses on the 15th day of the 1st month (Nisan), on the day after Passover.  They marched out defiantly while the Egyptians were burying their firstborn whom Jehovah had struck down in their midst, for he exacted punishment even upon their gods.
    2. The Israelites left Rameses and camped in Sukkoth.
    3. They left Sukkoth and camped in Etham, on the edge of the desert.
    4. They left Etham, turned back toward Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon, and camped near     Migdol.
    5. They left Pi Hahiroth, crossed the Red Sea, and journeyed into the desert.  Three days into the Desert of Etham, they camped at Marah.
    6. They left Marah and camped at Elim, where there are 12 springs and 70 palm trees.
    7. They left Elim and camped on the shore of the Red Sea.
    8. They left the shore of the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin.
    9. They left the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
    10. They left Dophkah and camped at Alush.
    11. They left Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.
    12. They left Rephidim and camped in the Desert of Sinai.
    13. They left the Desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaava.
    14. They left Kibroth Hattaava and camped at Hazeroth.
    15. They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.
    16. They left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez.
    17. They left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.
    18. They left Libnah and camped at Rissah.
    19. They left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.
    20. They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.
    21. They left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.
    22. They left Haradah and camped at Makheloth.
    23. They left Makheloth and camped at Tahath.
    24. They left Tahath and camped at Terah.
    25. They left Terah and camped at Mithkah.
    26. They left Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.
    27. They left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.
    28. They left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan.
    29. They left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad.
    30. They left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.
    31. They left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.
    32. They left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber.
    33. They left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.
    34. They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the border of Edom.  At Jehovah's command Aaron ascended Mount Hor, where he died on the 1st day of the 5th month on the 40th year after the Israelites had departed Egypt.  Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.
    35. At that time the Canaanite king of Arad in the Negev heard words that the Israelites were approaching his country.  The Israelites left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.
    36. They left Zalmonah and camped at Punon.
    37. They left Punon and camped at Oboth.
    38. They left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, the border of Moab.
    39. They left Iye Abarim and camped at Dibon Gad.
    40. They left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim.
    41. They left Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, near Mount Nebo.
    42. They left the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab beside the River Jordan across from Jericho.  Their camp along the Jordan stretched from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim on the plains of Moab.

Notes
1. While the specificity of the 42 stations of the Exodus would seem to make the itinerary very clear, the locations of most the stations is problematic and the actual course, a matter of long-standing controversy.  Suffice it to say, the Israelites left Egypt and wandered through the deserts of Sinai, eventually moving north into the Negev and then to the plains of Moab, east of the River Jordan.  Most of the journeying recounted by the biblical chronicle takes place during the first two years after the departure from Egypt.  There is a long hiatus in the narrative and suddenly we are brought up to a point 40 years after the Egyptian departure.  Why is this?  Did nothing happen for 38 years?   Were the records of that period lost?  Or perhaps the Exodus lasted only 3 years, not 40.

2. Many of the places and the names for them are anachronistic, from a time hundreds of years after the likely time of the Exodus.  Among these is the Egyptian Delta city of Rameses, leading to the popular fantasy that the Exodus occurred during the reign of Rameses the Great, which is the least likely period during which the Exodus could have occurred.

3. The list of stations agrees imperfectly with the narrative of the Exodus.  It rather seems like it was pasted on to the narrative from another account.  As a summary of the journey it is very unsatisfying and misses many of the highlights.  For instance, wouldn’t a reference to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments not been fitting?

3. The age of Aaron at his death is listed here -- 123 years old.  This, of course, is preposterous for several reasons, the most important being that no one lives or has ever lived to be that old!

4. Moses kept a record of the journey, and again we must ask, in which language, in what form of writing, for Hebrew would not exist for hundreds of years nor would any kind of alphabet.  Did Moses write everything down in Egyptian hieroglyphics?  And at what time was it translated and inscribed in Hebrew?

Death of Aaron

(Book of Numbers 20:22 - 20:29)
The whole community of Israel departed from Kadesh and arrived at Mount Hor.  There, on the border of Edom, Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, "The time has come for Aaron to join his ancestors.  He will not enter the land I am giving the people of Israel, because the two of you disobeyed my orders at the waters Meribah.  You must now escort Aaron and his son Eleazar up Mount Hor.  There you will strip Aaron of his priestly vestments and put them on his son, Eleazar, for Aaron will die there and join his ancestors."

Moses did as Jehovah commanded.  They ascended Mount Hor in the sight of the entire community.  Moses removed Aaron's priestly garments and put them on his son Eleazar.  And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain.  Moses and Eleazar descended the mountain.  When the Israelite people learned that Aaron had died, they mourned him for 30 days.

Notes
1. Almost 40 years after the Exodus, Aaron is apparently now well passed it, and Jehovah recognizes it is time that he be succeeded by his son Eleazar.  However, there is no retirement in store for Aaron.  He is simply and unceremoniously informed by Jehovah that he must die and, moreover, he must climb a mountain before he can do it.  He is not allowed just to expire in his tent, lying in bed (or whatever they used for a bed), with his family and friends around him -- no last rites or anything.  Jehovah does not allow him what we would view as a gracious death.  It's no wonder that the old man packs it up after climbing the mountain.  Does he die of a coronary or from exhaustion?

2. The changing of the guard, Eleazar taking the role of high priest from his father Aaron, apparently must occur on the top of a mountain, just as Moses received the Ten Commandments on the top of a mountain.  Since the gods come down from the heavens, humans must attempt to meet them halfway and commune with them on high ground, so it seems.  Or perhaps the ceremony simply needed to occur away from the camp and the people.

3.  Moses and Aaron are forbidden from entering the Promised Land because of their disobedience to Jehovah at Meribah.  What disobedience?  They did exactly as Jehovah ordered them.  It was the people who were griping because they didn't have enough water to drink.  Is there some deleted part of the narrative we're not privy to?  And did Jehovah forget about the earlier rebellions and his former declaration about denying the rebellious people (save Joshua and Caleb) access to the Promised Land?  It seems that the thread of the narrative has been disrupted.  Did a new biblical scribe just come on duty?

4. It is not recorded that Aaron was buried, but we assume that he was.  He did merit 30 days of mourning, but the mourning period seems to be the people's idea and not, like practically everything else,  something mandated by Jehovah, who doesn't give the impression of having much regard for his first high priest.  (The Books of Moses seem to be compiled from one source that was pro-Moses and another that was pro-Aaron.)

5. The Mount Hor mentioned here is traditionally identified as Jebel Nari Harun (meaning, in Arabic, Mountain of the Prophet Aaron).  It rises more than 6000 feet above the level of the Dead Sea and is located in Jordan.  A supposed tomb of Aaron is located there, but this identification is not without controversy.  Another, more likely theory places it southwest of the Dead Sea in the Valley of Zin.

Moses Brings Forth Water From a Rock

(Book of Numbers 20:1 - 20:13)
It was during the first month of the year that the entire congregation of Israel reached the desert of Zin, where they encamped at Kadesh.  It was here that Miriam died and was buried.

There was, however, insufficient drinking water there, so the people united in opposition to Moses and Aaron.  They disputed with Moses, "Would that we had been killed by Jehovah along with our brothers.  Why have you brought the congregation of Israel into this desert to perish along with our livestock?   Why did you bring us out of Egypt only to lead us to this horrible place?  This is no place to plant crops, or to grow figs, or grapevines, or pomegranates -- there's not even water to drink!"

Moses and Aaron left the assembly and went to the entrance of the Inner Sanctum, where they prostrated themselves.  The glorious presence of Jehovah appeared before them.  Jehovah spoke to Moses.  "You and your brother Aaron must assemble the entire congregation.  In full view of all the people take Aaron's staff and with it call out to that rock over there.  The rock will then gush forth with its water, and it will be enough to satisfy the needs of the entire community of Israel and its livestock."

Moses took the staff from the Inner Sanctum and with it did as Jehovah had commanded.  Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock and addressed them, "Listen, you rebels, do we have to draw water out of this rock for you?”  Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with the staff.  Water poured forth profusely from it.  The congregation and the livestock were then able to drink their fill.

But Jehovah berated Moses and Aaron, "Because your faith in me has not been sufficient to make the Israelites respect my divine power, you will not bring this community into the land I have promised them."

Since this is where the Israelites quarreled with Jehovah and where Jehovah manifested his divine power before them, this place became known as the Waters of Meribah [meaning quarreling].

Notes
1. Miriam, Moses' sister and, arguably, a prophetess, seems to merit only the briefest of obits. (It's almost, "she kicked the bucket and they dug a hole for her.")  She probably tarnished her legacy by her earlier opposition to her brother's leadership. 

2. The month of Miriam’s death is given, but not the year.  (The first month, Nisan is a spring month.) It is not explicit how long after Korah's rebellion this occurred, but it is generally thought to be the 40th year after the Exodus.  In other words, there is a huge unstated gap in the narrative.   (We’ve missed a couple episodes of the Exodus mini-series!)  

3. That Jehovah is angry at Moses and Aaron for not having enough faith in his powers, for asking his help when the people are restive and dying of thirst is indicative both of his sour temper and his lack of capacity for any sympathetic understanding of the humans he claims to god of.  It's more or less part of their arrangement that Moses comes to him when he and his people are in trouble and he performs some sort of miracle to save them.  Neither Jehovah nor the Israelites, though, exhibit any graciousness or gratitude.  Jehovah's promise that this generation of Israelites will never see the Promised Land is being fulfilled -- they are dying off.

4. Aaron's staff has several times exhibited magical properties, but the how and why of it is never revealed.  In this case, why is the staff necessary, since it is Jehovah who is the author of the miracles?  Is it just for show?  Magic, for whatever reason, often seems to be performed through a staff, a wand, or a cane.  Could this tradition be derived from some real, powerful, rod-like device employed by earth-visiting members of an advanced alien civilization?

5.  Ancient historians, when they speak at all of Moses, refer to his saving the people he led out of Egypt by finding water in the desert.  It makes sense that Jehovah would show him where the springs and water holes were located. 

6.  Folk historians find satisfaction in furnishing reasons why landmarks and geographical sites have the names they do, even dreaming up fables to explain the names.   Seldom are these explanations demonstrably factual.  It is unlikely that most places in the Bible are named for the reason claimed -- but some might be.

Instructions to the Levites

(Book of Numbers 18:1 - 18:32)
Jehovah then told Aaron, "You and your sons and members of the Levite tribe are to be responsible for offenses concerning the Sanctum, but you and your sons alone are responsible for offenses involving the priesthood.  So you may bring in your fellow Levites, members of your ancestral tribe, to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister before the Inner Sanctum.  They may perform duties for you in the Tabernacle, but must have no contact with the sacred furnishings of the Sanctum or the altar.  If they do, both they and you will die.  They are to assist you in the maintenance of the Tabernacle and any work that needs to be done there, but no unauthorized person may come near you.  You yourself are to officiate in the Sanctum and before the altar, so that my wrath may never again be vented upon the Israelites.  It is I who have chosen your fellow Levites from among the Israelites to be your assistants; I present them to you as a gift that they may dedicate themselves to Jehovah and serve in the Tabernacle.  But it is you and your sons, as priests, who will perform the rituals at the altar and the priestly duties behind the veil of the Sanctum.  The priesthood is proffered to you as a privilege.  Any other, unauthorized person that violates the Sanctum will be put to death.

Jehovah also told Aaron, "I have given you charge of the offerings made to me, all the sacred gifts from the Israelites, and make them over to you and your sons as a perpetual share.  You are to be allotted a portion of the sacred offerings that are not burned.  That portion of the sacred offerings, whether they be grain offerings, sin offerings, or guilt offerings, will be considered holy and belong to you and your sons.  Consume it as a holy offering.  Every male in your household must eat it.  You must regard it as holy.  Also belonging to you are all the sacred offerings of the Israelites that are raised and waved above the altar.  I give these as a perpetual share to your sons and daughters.  Everyone in your household who is ritually pure may partake of them.  And I give to you all the finest olive oil and new wine and grain that are the offered to Jehovah as first fruits of the harvest.  All the first fruits of the land offered to Jehovah will thus belong to you.  Everyone in your household who is ritually pure may partake of them.

"Everything in Israel given over to Jehovah belongs to you as well.  Whether human or animal, the firstborn issue of every womb offered to Jehovah is yours, but the firstborn of every human and the firstborn of every ritually impure animal you will redeem.  They should be redeemed when they are a month old, the redemption price being 5 silver shekels (a shekel weighing 20 gerahs, according to the weights of the Sanctum).

"But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow, a sheep, or a goat, for they are holy.  Dash their blood upon the altar, burn their fat into smoke -- a burnt offering creating an aroma pleasing to Jehovah.  Their meat, though, belongs to you, just like the breast and right thigh that are raised and waved above the altar as offerings.  All the offerings the Israelites make to Jehovah I make over to you, with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual share.  This a permanent and unbreakable contract between Jehovah and you and your descendants."

Jehovah said this as well to Aaron, "You will have no legacy of land, nor will you any share in real property.  I am your share, your legacy among the Israelites.  To the Levites I have given all of Israel's tithes in recompense for serving and ministering in the Tabernacle.  From now on the Israelites must not approach the Tabernacle; for this offense they will suffer death.  It is the Levites who are to serve in the Tabernacle and they must answer for any offenses made against it.  This will be a permanent law, in force throughout the generations: the Levites will have no allotment of land among the Israelites, because I have given them as their share the tithes the Israelites present to Jehovah as sacred offerings.  That is their share and that is why I have said, ‘They have no allotment of land among the Israelites’.”

To Moses Jehovah then said. "Tell the Levites that when they receive from the Israelites the tithes I have given to you as your share, they should set aside a portion of it as an offering to Jehovah -- a tithe of the tithe.  Jehovah will consider this as a harvest offering like the first grain from your threshing floor or the first juice from your wine press.  You must therefore present a tenth of the tithes you receive from the Israelites as sacred offerings to Jehovah.  From the tithes received you must turn over Jehovah's portion to Aaron the priest.  You must reserve for Jehovah the best and the holiest of the offerings you receive.  Tell the Levites that when they present this best part it should be treated like an offering from the threshing floor or the wine press.  You Levites, you and your households may eat the remainder anywhere you wish, for it is your recompense for serving in the Tabernacle.  You will not considered guilty of any offense by accepting the tithes of Jehovah, if you turn over the best portion to the priests.  But take care not to profane the holy gifts from the the people of Israel -- on pain of death.

Notes
1. Much of Jehovah's instructions to the Levites have already been recorded in Leviticus, but we have seen that redundancy is pretty common in the biblical texts, likely owing to the fact of their being compiled from multiple sources over a period of time.

2. The god-priest arrangement presented here is a standard one.  The god authorizes the priesthood to represent him to his worshipers.  The priests are rewarded with the sacrifices that are offered to the god.  They invariably defend their prerogatives and the uniqueness of their role.  And they are able to justify everything they say and do as being the will of the god, since only they are able to communicate directly with the divine and, therefore, may define that will.  The arrangement has always been a racket, and throughout history few have been the priests that have not exploited it.  Here, as part of the deal, the Levites do not get a piece of the Promised Land along with the other tribes, because their share is the priesthood itself -- more than ample compensation.  This is attested to over and over again as if members of the priestly class, who are writing the texts, have a continual need to confirm and justify their position.

3. It is never quite clear how the punishment of death is enacted against those who violate the Sanctum, that is, go anywhere near it.  Does Jehovah personally strike them down as he did the supporters of Korah or, earlier, the sons of Aaron?  Is there something deadly about the Chest of Sacred Records itself?  Or is the violator merely apprehended by the priests and executed in some conventional manner?

4. One wonders how onerous and unpopular might have been the provision that the priests claim all the firstborn.  Your wife has her first baby, you have to pay the priests 5 shekels.  Your dog has a puppy, you pay the priests 5 shekels.  You cow has a calf, you have to take it to the priest so he can slaughter and eat it.  Isn't that a bit much?  And, since the firstborn is considered the most desirable, what effect might it have had on the breeding stock when every firstborn animal was always being killed?

5. The Sanctum shekel would be about .8 ounces, that makes the price of redemption of 5 shekels (2 ounces of silver) about $32 (as of this writing).  
 

The Budding of Aaron's Staff

(Book of Numbers 17:1 - 17:13)
Jehovah instructed Moses, "Tell the Israelites to have them furnish you with 12 staffs, one belonging to the leader of each the ancestral tribes.  Write the name of the owner on each staff, with Aaron's name on the staff from the Tribe of Levi.  There must be only one staff for each tribal leader.  Place the staffs in the Tabernacle, in front of the Chest of Sacred Records, where I commune with you.  The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout with a bud -- this will put an end to all the complaints and protests the Israelites have been making against you."

Moses conveyed these instructions to the people of Israel and each of the tribal leaders, including Aaron, brought Moses a staff.  Moses placed the staffs in the Inner Sanctum in front of the Chest of Sacred Records.  When Moses returned there the next day, he found that Aaron's staff, the one representing the Tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and bore ripe almonds!  Moses brought all the staffs from the Inner Sanctum and showed them to Israelite people so they could examined them.  Each leader claimed his own staff.

Jehovah ordered Moses, "Return Aaron's staff to the Inner Sanctum and let it remain in front of the Chest of Sacred Records as a warning to the rebellious.  They will stop their complaints against me -- or they will die!"  Moses did as he was told by Jehovah.

The Israelites cried to Moses, "We are doomed to die!  We're lost!  We're all lost!  Anyone who comes near the Inner Sanctum will die.  Are we all not going to die?"

Notes
1. To resolve the dispute over who and what tribe should serve in Jehovah's Tabernacle and be the high priest, Jehovah arranges a demonstration.  Apparently, in spite of his glorious presence and manifestations of power, he is unable to convince the Israelites of his wishes.  And so to express himself with a demonstration, he performs a miracle and makes the staff of Aaron bud and bring forth ripe almonds.  (Do almonds have some significance here?)  As usual, Jehovah does not emphasis the positive, the honor he has done Aaron by singling him out, but makes the staff a warning, a warning of death to any who may challenge his selection or usurp Aaron's position.

2. Despite the resolution of this issue, the Israelites are apparently not happy campers, but seem frantic with fear.  Jehovah, their less than comforting god, has already killed many thousands of them and there seems a perhaps not irrational fear that he will kill more, although it's clear death threatens only those who violate the Sanctum.

3. The tribal leaders write their names on their staffs.  It’s wonderful that they are all literate, but in what language do they write?  It could only be Egyptian hieroglyphics, since Hebrew would not emerge as a language for centuries, nor would any sort of alphabet.    
 

Korah's Rebellion Against Moses

(Book of Numbers 16:1 - 16:50)
Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, along with descendants of Reuben, Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, hatched a plot against Moses along with 250 prominent community leaders, all members of the assembly.  As a group, they confronted Moses and Aaron and rebuked them, "You assume too much!  The entire community of Israel has been chosen to be holy by Jehovah and he is with all of us.  Why do you set yourselves up as being greater than the rest of Jehovah's community?"

Moses responded to their words by prostrating himself.  He then addressed Korah and his followers: "Tomorrow morning Jehovah will make known who is with him and who is holy and whom he allows to approach him.  The one he chooses, he will allow to approach him.  You, Korah, and your followers prepare your censers.  Tomorrow light fires in them and burn incense before the altar.  Then we will see who it is that Jehovah chooses as holy.  It's you Levites who assume too much!”

Moses said this as well to Korah: "Now listen, you Levites!  Isn't it enough for you that the god of Israel has single you out from the community of Israel to allow you to approach his altar and serve in his Tabernacle, to stand before your people and minister to them?  He has allowed you and your fellow Levites to approach his altar -- but now you demand the priesthood as well?  It is in opposition to Jehovah that you and this company have gathered.  What's wrong with Aaron that you object to him?"

Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they responded, "We won’t come!  Isn't it enough that you have brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to die in the desert, but must you lord it over us?  What’s more you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us a new homeland of fields and vineyards.  Are you trying to pull the wool over these men's eyes?  No, we will not come!"

Moses was enraged and complained to Jehovah, "Refuse their offerings!  I haven't taken so much as one donkey from them or harmed a hair on their heads."

Moses told Korah, "You and your followers are to appear before the altar tomorrow, you and your people along with Aaron.   Each of the 250 men is to take his censer and put incense into it and present it before the altar.  You and Aaron are to do likewise and present your own censers as well."

And so each of them took their censers and placed burning charcoal and incense in them and then stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tabernacle.  There Korah gathered all his followers, who opposed Moses and Aaron. 

Jehovah then gloriously appeared before all of them.  He told Moses and Aaron, "Move away from this gang so I can wipe them out in a moment.”

Moses and Aaron prostrated themselves and pleaded, "O God, the god that breathes life into all living creatures, must you vent your wrath upon an entire community when it is only one man who sins?"

But Jehovah told Moses, "Tell all the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."

Moses got up and went to see Dathan and Abiram.  The elders of Israel followed him, but Moses warned them, "Move away from the tents of these evil men.  Don't touch anything that belongs to them or else you will be destroyed because of their sins."  Thus, in every direction, they moved back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, while Dathan and Abiram emerged and stood at the entrance to their tents with their wives, sons, and small children.

Moses told them, "This is how you will know that Jehovah has ordered me to do these things and that it was not my idea.  If these men die a natural  death, as is the fate suffered by all mankind, then Jehovah did not send me.  But if Jehovah does something unprecedented, if the ground opens up and swallows them and all their worldly goods and they descend alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know it is because they have treated Jehovah with contempt."

No sooner had Moses spoken than the earth beneath their feet split; the ground opened up and swallowed the men along with their worldly goods, as well as the followers who were standing with them and all their possessions.  So they descended alive into the realm of the dead along with their worldly goods.  The earth closed, they perished and disappeared from the community.  The Israelites around them, hearing their screams, cried, "The earth is going to swallow us, too!"  From Jehovah's airship was sent a fiery discharge that incinerated the 250 men who were offering the incense.

Jehovah told Moses, "Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, to retrieve the censers from the burnt remains, for they are holy.  Tell him also to scatter the charcoal embers and ashes some distance away.  Take the censers belonging to the men who sinned at the cost of their lives and hammer the metal into thin sheets that can be used to overlay the altar, for the censers have been presented at the altar of Jehovah and have, therefore, become holy.  Let them be a warning to the people of Israel!"

Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers belonging to those who had been burned to death, and they were hammered into plates to overlay the altar.  This would be a warning to the Israelites that no unauthorized person, no one who was not a descendant of Aaron, may draw near the altar and burn incense upon it, lest what happened to Korah and his conspirators happen to him.  So Jehovah told Eleazar through Moses.

On the very next day, however, the entire Israelite community protested to Moses, "You have caused the death of Jehovah's people!"  But when the rebellious congregation that had gathered turned to the Tabernacle, they saw a cloud covering it and witnessed the glorious appearance of Jehovah.  Moses and Aaron went to the Tabernacle, and Jehovah told Moses, "Keep your distance from this gathering so that I can liquidate them in an instant."  Moses and Aaron, though, fell prostrate. 

Moses told Aaron, "Quickly, take a censer and place burning charcoal from the altar in it, fill it with incense, and take it out to the people so that you can make atonement for them.  Jehovah' wrath has already been kindled and a plague is spreading abroad!”  And so Aaron did as Moses told him, he seized the censer and ran out into the middle of the people who were already dropping dead from the plague.  He burned the incense upon the charcoal and made atonement for the people.  Being all that stood between life and death, Aaron succeeded in stopping the plague.  But, in addition to those who had been killed on account of Korah’s rebellion, 14,700 perished from this plague.   The plague being halted, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tabernacle.

Notes
1. Korah and the Levites who follow him are motivated to rebel against the leadership of Moses for two reasons.  Firstly, they believe Moses has assumed dictatorial powers and has claimed an honored position in relationship to Jehovah that they believe belongs to the people as a whole.  Secondly, they object to Aaron and the position of high priest being hereditary, falling only to the descendants of Aaron.  While the Levites have been given special privileges and service in the Tabernacle, no Levite who is not a descendant of Aaron may become high priest.  This seems unfair to Korah and his conspirators.  Korah, though probably spurred by personal motives and petty disgruntlement, can be viewed as an early populist democrat, but he is bucking the concept of hereditary power, which would remain in force through much of the world for the next 3000 years and more.  While the conspirators may have wished for a less centralized power structure -- Moses is pretty much a totalitarian tyrant, even as he is a mere tool and flunky of Jehovah -- they are kidding themselves if they believe that any of them can take his place with Jehovah.  Moses is Jehovah's man, the only human he seems comfortable communicating with directly.  (Why Jehovah is so insecure and unsociable is an open question.)   They seem to be forgetting that while Jehovah has freed them from slavery in Egypt and fed them in the desert (though with the despised manna), he has shown only contempt for his Chosen People.  There is probably more merit in the complaints against Aaron.  There can be no reason why Aaron would be the high priest save that he be Moses' brother.  (Nepotism tends to rub people the wrong way, especially when things are going badly, although it must be pointed out that Korah was Moses' first cousin.)  Aaron couldn't even instruct his own sons in the proper way to serve Jehovah or keep them from officiating while they were drunk.  And Aaron had been quick to give up faith and desert Moses when he was on the mountain, yet he escaped punishment for crafting the Golden Calf.  Aaron's competence and fidelity could certainly be questioned, and if Aaron possessed any admirable traits they are not revealed in the biblical narrative.  It is likely that Moses was blind to the shortcomings and unpopularity of his brother, but his defense of him was in obedience to Jehovah.  The other conspirators, non-Levites, probably had other axes to grind, objecting to the monopoly that Levites had on eligibility for the priesthood -- certainly a legitimate grievance.  Disparaging Moses' leadership, Dathan and Abiram specifically site his unfulfilled promise to bring them to another land flowing with milk and honey.  --- Rabbinical literature has furnished more details and background about this event and its participants, but in such cases one must always ask that, barring some greater access to historical records, why should those writing later know more about an event than those closer to it in time?  How likely to be true are later embellishments and explanations?

2. It may be disappointing to many readers that Dathan, one of the Reubenite conspirators, is such a minor character in the biblical narrative.  In Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 film version of The Ten Commandments, Dathan, memorably portrayed by on-screen gangster, off-screen mensch Edward G. Robinson, is a major villain and the driving force behind the Golden Calf heresy (which, though, is somewhat misconstrued in the movie).

3. Moses calls the bluff of the conspirators and challenges them to a contest that will make known Jehovah's preference, which, Moses knows, is already evident.  Let them all burn incense before the altar to see whom Jehovah will favor.  (Gentlemen, prepare your censers!)  The contest seems absurd since it is not just between Aaron and his cousin Korah, but among 250 other candidates.  How could that many people fit into the Sanctum at one time?  How long would it take for 250 priests to individually make their incense offerings?  Or, if they all burned their incense at one time, wouldn't the resultant smoke and odor from 250 censers be overwhelming?  (It should be remembered that while the altar for sacrifices was located in the Tabernacle compound before the entrance to the Sanctum, the altar upon which the incense was burned stood inside the Sanctum before the Inner Sanctum where the Chest of Sacred Records [Ark of the Covenant] was housed.)  Moses' challenge is predicated on the idea that the deity recognizes the difference between incense being burned by one priest and the same incense being burned by another.  The contest, though, seems merely a devious ruse on Jehovah's part to get all the conspirators together so that he can appear and kill them en masse.

4. Here Jehovah gets to do again what he ostensibly loves best, to murder those who have offended him.  He chooses three separate methods to do so.  Firstly he causes the ground to open up and swallow Dathan and Abiram and their families.  (Are the wives and children guilty, too?)  Then he strikes Korah and his 250 supporters with fire, and, the next day, their 14,700 supporters with some sort of a plague.  Needless to say, there is no natural explanation for the ground to selectively swallow a group of people.  However, what is conventionally translated as "fire from the Lord" is likely an incendiary bomb or missile fired from Jehovah's airship.  The so-called plague presumably involves men dropping dead almost immediately.  This could scarcely be an illness.  What could it be?  Nerve gas?

5. The narrative borders on comic absurdity when we find Aaron running out into the middle of a crowd of people presently dropping dead from Jehovah's "plague" to burn incense and appease Jehovah.  He is successful, but only after 14,700 people have died.  The impression is given that Jehovah, once angered, becomes a violent madman who must be placated, a raging mass murderer whose bloodlust can only be mollified by some silly ritual.  Moses and Aaron must continually try to intervene and plead for the lives of their people whom Jehovah will, in a fit of pique, wantonly and gleefully exterminate without a qualm. 

6. The censers of Korah's 250 would-be priests are collected and the bronze from them used to overlay the Incense Altar.  But, wasn't the altar already finished, earlier in the story?  How could the altar have been a functioning altar, requisitely holy, unless it had been bronzed according to Jehovah's earlier instructions?  It also might be pointed out that surely the bronze from 250 censers would have been far more than what would have been needed for the job.

     

Moses is Challenged by His Siblings

(Book of Numbers 12:1 - 12:15) 
While they were staying at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on account of his Arabian wife, (for Moses had indeed married a woman from Arabia).  They declared, "Has Jehovah spoken exclusively through Moses?  Hasn't he spoken through us as well?"

Jehovah heard them.  (Moses himself was a singularly humble man, more so than anyone in the world.) Immediately, Jehovah called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam and told them, "Go out to the Tabernacle, the three of you!"  And so they went to the Tabernacle.  Jehovah descended in a pillar of cloud that settled before the entrance to the Sanctum.  He summoned Aaron and Miriam, who stepped forward. 

He said to them, "Now listen to what I have to say!  When there are prophets among you, I, Jehovah, make myself known to them through visions; I speak to them in dreams.   This is not true of my servant Moses, for he is the one in whom I have entrusted my people.  With him, I speak face to face, clearly, not in allegories.  And he has even glimpsed the true form of Jehovah.  Why then did you dare speak against my servant Moses?"

As he departed, Jehovah was seething with anger.  After his cloud had ascended above the Tabernacle, Miriam was left standing there with her skin diseased, scaly and white as snow.  Aaron turned to Miriam and lo and behold -- she had tzaraath!  He cried out to Moses, "My master, please don't punish us for this offense we have foolishly committed!  Don't let her be like a stillborn child emerging from the womb with her skin half eaten away.”

Moses cried out to Jehovah, "Oh, God, please heal her, I beg you!"

Jehovah answered Moses, "If her father had only spit in her face, wouldn’t she hide in disgrace for a week or so?  Well then, keep her outside of the camp for 7 days and after that you may let her back in."

And so Miriam was quarantined outside of camp for 7 days, and her people waited to set out again until she could return.  Afterwards, the Israelites departed Hazeroth and camped in the desert of Paran.

Notes
1.  His older brother Aaron and older sister Miriam challenge the role that Moses has assumed of being the sole intermediary between Jehovah and the Israelite people.  Aaron is Jehovah's high priest and Miriam seems to have some claim as a prophetess.  It is hard to see, however, that they could view themselves as the equal of their brother in his relationship with Jehovah.  There seems to be some fierce sibling rivalry here.  How often it happens that when one family member becomes famous,  the siblings merely bask in his reflected glory; any modest success they may achieve is usually dependent upon the star of the family.  They resent the family star and delude themselves into believing that they are as good as he is and can do what he does.  In this case, the sibling rivalry is exacerbated by the fact that Moses was raised as an Egyptian and spent much of his adulthood among the Midians.  Moses would not be truly Israelite in their eyes -- or perhaps even a bona fide member of the family.

2.  Although it has nothing to do Moses' position, a bone of contention between Moses and his siblings seems to be his wife.  How often is the foreign wife resented by the family and regarded as an interloper.  That resentment would have been considerable among the Israelites, who were very xenophobic and race conscious, as well as suspicious and unaccepting of all that was alien to their culture.  This passage is quite problematic.  It refers to Moses' wife as a Cushite.  Cush was an ancient kingdom to the south of Egypt, generally synonymous with Nubia, inhabited by black Africans who, at an earlier period, established a civilization that rivaled that of Old Kingdom Egypt.  The term Cushite was also used more generally to refer to sub-Saharan, black Africa, just as the term Ethiopian was similarly used by the Greeks and even by the Europeans right up until the middle of the Nineteenth Century.  (Stephen Foster wrote Ethiopian songs.)  In Hebrew, a Cushi is a black person.  One might naturally conclude then that Moses' wife was a Negro.  However, it becomes more complicated: Cush also referred to Arabia.  (The Hebrews didn’t have the same conception of continents as we do.)  This is the most likely meaning, and that is why I have used the less ambiguous "Arabian" in the translation.  Sephora was a Midianite and, therefore, an Arabian, even though the Midianites were, in fact, Hebrews.  This seems the most likely explanation of this, at first, puzzling passage.  Rendered otherwise, it implies that Moses acquired an additional wife or remarried after Sephora's death, yet this remarriage is nowhere suggested.  It should be mentioned, though, that there is an alternative non-Biblical narrative in which Moses is sent by the Egyptian government to lead Pharaoh’s armies in Ethiopia and returns in triumph with an Ethiopian princess as his bride.  This would have been before his flight from Egypt and his marriage to Sephora.  Would this other wife, if she existed, have still been around by the time of the Exodus?  Even though the biblical account of Moses is, at best, more legendary than historical, this other account, no doubt of much later origin, is likely to be purely fabulous.   In considering the possibility of a second Mrs. Moses, one must ask how there could have been any opportunity for Moses to marry after his flight from Egypt to Midian, which was made alone.  He was a bit too busy dealing with the Pharaoh and the plagues to have done any courting and wooing after his return to Egypt.  And he was a man with a wife and young children.  Why would he contract a foreign marriage, when he was trying to establish his authenticity as a national leader of the Israelites?  And as leader of the Exodus, he had his hands full, while his actions were continually subject to "divine" as well as popular scrutiny.  How probable would it have been that some Cushite woman tagged along with the Israelites on their Exodus and found a way to marry the top man?  Improbable, surely.  And it's unthinkable that Jehovah would have allowed his man Moses to take a new foreign wife.  Therefore, the correct interpretation is probably the simple one: the reference is to his original, one and only wife, Sephora, daughter of Jethro, and that the description of her as Cushite only means Arabian and Midianite and not black African.

3.  The parenthetic reference to Moses’ humility or meekness probably explains why he doesn’t defend himself.  He allows Jehovah to do so.  (Odd, that if Moses were actually the author of the books ascribed to him, he would commend his own character, especially if he was really so humble!)

4.  Jehovah takes Aaron and Miriam to the woodshed (in this case, the Tabernacle) and, like a stern father, gives them a good talking to and puts them in their place.  However, the ever-irate Jehovah is not a father who spares the rod.  If he has an excuse to punish someone, he will take it.  Understanding, kindness, forgiveness, and mercy have, we've seen, little part in his nature.   When the people complain about not having any real food to eat, he doesn't tell them to man up and tough it out.  No, he gives them the food they desire and then arranges for the food to sicken and kill them -- a retributive act of devious cruelty.  Here, instead of letting Moses' brother and sister off with a warning, after he reproves them, he punishes Miriam by inflicting her with the dreaded tzaraath, a disease that makes her skin white and flaky.  When Moses appeals to him to have mercy, to heal her, Jehovah blows him off.  He dismisses the punishment with a casualness and callousness that is appalling.  "Big deal" he pretty much says, "she'll be OK in a week!"

5. Why Jehovah chooses to punish Miriam and not Aaron is unexplained.  Did Aaron, as high priest, have immunity?   Was Miriam more guilty?  At any rate, it seems unnecessarily severe and nasty, if not misogynistic to punish the woman and not the man.  (Gallantry is not a Jehovan virtue!)

6. Tzaraath is often translated as "leprosy."  However, the term is also used to described mold and mildew infestation of houses and clothes.  It is not known whether biblical leprosy is the same as modern leprosy or Hansen's disease, a chronic, infectious bacterial disease affecting the skin -- probably not.  But tzaraath, when applied to humans, does denote a defiling skin disease that rendered one ritually impure and usually required the sufferer to be isolated or quarantined.  Unlike leprosy, tzaraath infections often seemed to be of limited, even short durations.

7. Jehovah, as he is wont, descends to his Sanctum in a cloud.  The cloud is described as a pillar.  One might imagine his physical, human-like form coming down from the sky and being screened by the cloud.  Some translations have Jehovah standing at the entrance to the Sanctum, or perhaps it's the Inner Sanctum, but it seems likely he is still within the veiling cloud.   He insists that no one but Moses is allowed to see him in the flesh, in his real, physical form, yet we know that Moses only saw the back of his head and then only once.  We may therefore assume that although Aaron and Miriam are hearing his voice, they are only looking at his cloud.

8.  It is made clear by Jehovah that only Moses is his vicar, his human emissary, his agent.  Others with whom he communicates through dreams and visions may be prophets, but they do not represent him or act for him as Moses does.  Apparently Jehovah, not anxious to make friends and influence people, relies upon, trusts only Moses, whom he nevertheless uses and abuses, while treating his chosen people with a contempt that is exceeded only by the detestation with which he views the rest of mankind, the race he supposedly created.

Benediction

(Book of Numbers 6:22 - 6:27)
Jehovah instructed Moses, "When Aaron and his descendants confer a blessing upon the Israelites, they should do so in the following manner, saying these words:

'May Jehovah bless you and protect you,
May Jehovah smile upon you and be gracious to you,
May Jehovah show you his favor and give you peace.'

“Whenever Aaron and his descendants bless the people in my name, I myself will bless them."

Notes
1.  Benediction, conveying the blessing of the god has always been a function of the priesthood in most religions.  The priest is an ordained intermediary, standing between man and god.  Therefore, he is charged with conferring the blessings of the deity upon his worshipers.  Religious people today still seek the affirmation of the blessing and prefer it to the preaching they probably need more.

2.  This particularly blessing expresses what is desired most by Jehovah's worshipers, the favor of their god, security, and peace.  Not included is prosperity or happiness, or the wish that the recipient of the blessing become good, loving, and wise, and worthy of Jehovah’s blessing, only that he may please Jehovah.

Ritual of Atonement

(Leviticus 16:1 - 16:34)

Jehovah spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons who were killed while improperly ministering at the altar.  "Warn your brother Aaron that he must not enter the Inner Sanctum beyond the veil and approach the Judgment Seat (that is, the lid of the Chest of Sacred Records) any time he wishes, or he is apt to be killed when I manifest myself in a cloud above the Judgment Seat.  Aaron should carefully follow this procedure whenever he enters the Inner Sanctum:  He must present a young bull as a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.  He must garb himself in the sacred vestments: he must don the linen tunic and the linen undergarments, fasten the linen sash round his waist, and put the linen turban on his head.  And he must bathe before putting them on.

"From the congregation of Israel he should receive two male goats as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering.  Aaron must offer in sacrifice his own bull as a sin offering to make atonement for himself and the other members of the priesthood.  Then he should take the two goats and bring them to the Sacrificial Altar that stands before the entrance to the Sanctum. 

“He is to cast sacred lots for the goats to determine which one will be sacrificed to Jehovah and which will banished as the scapegoat.  The goat chosen by lot for Jehovah is to be sacrificed as a sin offering.  The one chosen by lot to be the scapegoat should be presented live before the altar and then sent off into the desert to complete the ritual of atonement for the people.

"Aaron is take the bull as the sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household and slaughter it as a sacrifice.  After he has done so, he should take a censer full of burning embers (from the Sacrificial Altar that stands before the Sanctum) and two handfuls of powdered aromatic incense.   When he has passed through the veil into the Inner Sanctum, he should sprinkle the incense into the censer so that smoke from the burning incense will rise up and cover the Judgment Seat, that is, the lid of the Chest of Sacred Records.  --- If he does not follow these instructions, he will die.

"He should take some of the blood from the sacrificed bull and dab it upon the top of the Judgment Seat and with his finger he should sprinkle blood seven times in front of it.  He should sacrifice the goat that is the sin offering of the people and bring its blood into the Inner Sanctum so that he may sprinkle it upon and before the Judgment Seat, as was done with the bull's blood.  This will purify the Inner Sanctum, to make atonement for the impurity and rebelliousness, and all the sins of the Israelites.  But he must do the same for the entire Tabernacle which remains standing in the midst of their impurity.  No one should be allowed in the Tabernacle from the time Aaron enters the Inner Sanctum to purify it, and no one should be allowed to enter it until after he leaves, having made atonement for himself and the priests and atonement for the entire community of Israel. 

"Aaron should then go out to the Sacrificial Altar that stands before the entrance to the Sanctum and purify it.  He should do this by taking some of the blood from the sacrificed bull and goat and dabbing it on each horn of the altar.  With his finger he should sprinkle blood seven times over the altar in order to purify and consecrate it and make atonement for the impurities of the Israelites.

"When Aaron has finished purifying the Inner Sanctum, the Tabernacle, and the Sacrificial Altar, he should present the live goat.  He will hold the goat's head in both of his hands and confess to it all the sins and transgressions and iniquities of the Israelite people, the guilt of which is thus transferred to the head of the goat.  A designated person will then take it into the desert.  When a desolate, uninhabited country is reached, the person will set the goat free, so that it may carry away all the people's sins.

"Aaron should then return to the Sanctum and take off the linen vestments he donned before he entered the Inner Sanctum; he should leave them there. While in the Tabernacle he should bathe himself and change his clothes.  He should then come out of the Sanctum and present his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering to make atonement both for himself and for the people.  The fat of the sin offering will be burnt on the altar.

"The person chosen to lead the scapegoat into the desert should wash his clothes and bathe and may afterward come back into camp.  The carcasses of the bull and the goat that were sacrificed as sin offerings and whose blood was used to purify the Inner Sanctum should be taken outside of camp, where their hides, flesh, and organs are to be burned.  He who burns them must bathe and wash his clothes before returning to camp.

"This shall be for you an established practice: every year on the tenth day of the seventh month you should do penitence and refrain from doing any work -- both citizens and resident aliens alike  -- for this will be the Day of Atonement when offerings are made to cleanse you of your sins in the eyes of Jehovah.  It will be a Sabbath-like day of rest and penitence; this will be a permanent observance.  Wearing the sacred linen vestments, Aaron's successor, anointed and consecrated as high priest, will purify the Inner Sanctum, the Tabernacle, the Sacrificial Altar, the priests, and the entire congregation.  Making this atonement for the sins of Israel’s people must be done every year."

Moses would do what Jehovah had instructed him.

Notes
1.  The Hebrew text makes no clear distinction between atonement and purification, whether they are two different things or the same.

2.  One is again reminded what a bloody business being a priest was -- rather like a butcher who gets to wear fancy clothes, but who, if he makes a misstep, may be struck down dead.  One wonders how the linen garments of the priest could have remained clean with all that blood being splattered about.  Did Israelite laundries possess advanced methods of stain removal?

3.  And it seems a shame that the spectacularly beautiful gold Judgment Seat and the stunning bronze horns of the Sacrificial Altar should be sullied by blood.  Was it later wiped off?  There is no reference to cleaning up after sacrifices, only instructions on the disposal of the carcasses of sacrificed animals.  How long, might one ask, would it take for the dried blood encrusted on the altar horns to become gross and unsightly?  And one wonders whether that incense was strong enough to banish the inevitable stench of the slaughterhouse that must have regularly pervaded the Tabernacle.

4.  The Inner Sanctum is Jehovah's special place, and he demands special rituals to be performed before the priest may enter it.  Jehovah manifests himself there as a cloud above the Judgment Seat.  There is a great deal of ambiguity in the Torah concerning the physical appearance of Jehovah.  In Genesis he is as a man who walks and talks and eats cottage cheese.  In Exodus he is a burning bush, whatever that might have been.  He appears in an airship during the Exodus.  He communes with Moses on the mountain more or less man-to-man.  It can be assumed he had the form of a man, though even Moses is not allowed to glimpse his face.  His appearance, nevertheless, is awe-inspiring, fearsome even.  But, more and more, Jehovah becomes less and less material.  He is now a cloud.  Does this cloud suddenly materialize in the Inner Sanctum or does it travel from elsewhere and enter the Inner Sanctum?  Is his being contained in the cloud, or does the cloud obscure a physical, even humanoid form?  And then there is the matter of the incense Aaron must burn in the Inner Sanctum.  The burning incense is intended to create a cloud of smoke obscuring the Judgment Seat.  Jehovah arrives there in a cloud and now he needs another cloud in which to hide himself?  This may have a practical purpose of obscuring the form of Jehovah so that no one may see him as he really is, or it may merely a means of creating a mystique, an aura of mystery surrounding religious worship -- the Wizard of Oz effect.

5.  Many translations refer to burning coal being placed in the censor, or incense burner.  Coal, as we define it today, a mined mineral, was scarcely known, let alone used in ancient times.  Charcoal, almost pure carbon obtained by slowly burning wood, is probably meant -- more likely than dried animal dung, which was a common fuel at that time.

6.  The ritual of the scapegoat is interesting but not unique.  (I use the traditional term “scapegoat,” since it is so familiar.  The meaning of the Hebrew word Azazel is conjectural -- a desert demon?)  Man has always had a strong desire to free himself from the burden of guilt his sins impose upon him. Primitive and ancient man found an easy out by transferring guilt into an inanimate object, or, in this case, an animal and then destroying or banishing the receptacle of that guilt.  Most peoples seem to have folk or religious traditions of this sort.  Often effigies are burned.  Sometimes a human sacrifice is made.  Communal guilt and communal expiation exist in societies where the group, the collective, has primacy over the individual, who is significant only as a part of the whole.  The transfer of guilt, though, is tenuous philosophically.  It is contrary to the concept, held by most people today, that individuals are only responsible for their own acts and not for the acts of others, and that others should not pay for what we have done.  Generally we believe that guilt can be expunged only by remorse, repentance, compensatory good deeds, and sometimes a period of ostracism -- or the Catholic method of expiation consisting of confession, prayer, and attendance of mass.

7.  Lots are cast to see which goat is to be sacrificed and which is to be the scapegoat and sent into the desert.  Perhaps this was a use for the mysterious Urim and Thimmim (small tablets, stones?) that the high priest carried inside the chest piece of his vestments and were used in divination.

8.  Aaron is supposed to bathe after he has performed the purification ceremony and leave his priestly vestments in the Sanctum.  One assumes he undressed in the curtained Sanctum and not in the more open Tabernacle courtyard, considering Hebrew prohibitions against viewing the naked body.  It is not clear, though, what bathing facilities would have existed in the Sanctum: he would not have had access to, nor would he have found sufficient, the bronze wash basin that stood outside the Sanctum.  (It was meant for hand washing.)  Would there be a portable bath tub or maybe a handy bucket of water, sponge, and towel? 

9.  Jehovah's harping on the sins and impurities of the Israelites gives the impression, perhaps not a false one, that they were a pretty rum lot.  Jehovah expresses obvious contempt for his Chosen People.  Why, one might ask, did he choose them?  Wouldn't the Hittites or the Nubians or the Minoans, or even the Scythians have been more worthy of his patronage?    
    
10.  The Day of Atonement occurs in early autumn (in the northern hemisphere) in the month of Tishrei of the Hebrew lunar calendar. Traditionally, it is believed to be the date that Moses received the second set of Ten Commandment tablets and the Israelites made atonement for their sin of the Golden Calf.  The Day of Atonement is observed by Jews today as Yom Kippur (literally, “day to atone”), the holiest day in the religious calendar and one celebrated even by those who are non-practicing Jews. Depending upon the moon, it may occur from mid September to mid October.

Aaron's Sons

(Leviticus 10:1 - 10:20)
Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, started a fire in their censers, sprinkled incense into them, and burned it -- but with a fire from an unconsecrated source, contrary what was commanded by Jehovah.  Consequently, a flame roared up from the Incense Altar and set them afire so that they perished in front of the Inner Sanctum.

Moses told Aaron, "This is what Jehovah meant when he said, 'Those who minister to me will respect my divinity; before the entire people I will be honored.’”

Aaron had nothing to say in response.

Moses summoned Aaron's cousins, Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of his uncle Uzziel, and told them, "Come here and carry the bodies of your cousins out of the Sanctum to a place outside of camp."  They picked them up by their linen clothes and conveyed them outside the camp, as Moses had ordered.

Moses commanded Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not let your hair become disheveled or rend your garments in mourning, or else you will be put to death and Jehovah will vent his anger upon the entire community.  Your relatives, indeed all the Israelites will, however, be permitted to mourn for those Jehovah destroyed in the fire.  But you are forbidden to leave the confines of the Tabernacle on pain of death, for you have been anointed by the oil of Jehovah."  They did as Moses had bid them.

Jehovah warned Aaron, "You and your successors must never drink wine or any alcoholic beverage before entering the Tabernacle.  If you do so, you will suffer death.  This will be a permanent rule that must be observed through the generations.  It is necessary so that you are able to recognize what is sacred and what is common, what is ritually pure and what is ritually impure, and so you can teach the Israelite people all the decrees that I have given them through Moses."

Moses told Aaron and his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, "Take what remains of the grain offering after a portion has been sacrificed as a burnt offering and eat it beside the Sacrificial Altar -- but make sure it contains no yeast, for it is sacred.  It must be consumed in a sacred place, because it has been given to your and your successors as their share of the burnt offerings made to Jehovah.  I have been so instructed.  But the breast that was waved before the altar and the thigh that was elevated in the sacrifice may be eaten by your family as well in any place that is ritually pure.  They have been allotted to you and your family as their share of the peace offerings made on behalf of the people of Israel.  They should be elevated above the altar and presented to Jehovah along with the fat of the burnt offerings, but they will belong to you and your successors as a permanent right, ordained by Jehovah."

Moses asked what had happened to the goat that was the sin offering.  When he found it had been entirely burnt, he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's surviving sons.  "Why did you not eat the sin offering on the sanctuary grounds?  It is sacred; it was given to you so that you could make atonement with Jehovah for the sins of the community.  Since its blood was not brought into the Sanctum, you were to eat it in the Tabernacle, as I had commanded you."

Aaron answered Moses, "Look, today they presented to Jehovah the sin offering and the burnt offering -- and then this tragedy befell me.  If I had eaten from the sin offering today, would that really have made Jehovah happy?"

When Moses heard what he had to say, he could not but agree with him.

Notes
1.  Moses has succeeded in getting the Tabernacle set up, the structures and appurtenances of worship installed, the priests ordained, and the inaugural sacrifices performed, all without a hitch, but then disaster strikes the community of Israel.  Aaron's eldest sons and priests of Jehovah violate the correct procedure for Jehovan worship and, as a result, are burned to death by Jehovah.  --- The sin of Nadab and Abihu has been the source of much comment and speculation.  Their procedural violation may have been burning incense together when it was the role of a single priest, using common incense instead of the approved Temple brand, violating the Inner Sanctum, or performing the ceremony at the wrong time of the day, but most likely their transgression was lighting the incense from their own fire and not from the fire of the Sacrificial Altar, the holy flame that was always to be tended.  At this point, this had not been specified as a violation of sacred law, but it is hinted at later in the Bible.

2.  That a small violation of temple etiquette should result in a sudden fiery death emphasizes the importance Jehovah placed on having his will obeyed, especially in matters of his worship.  He has clearly set up the procedures for his worship and does not want them deviated from even in the smallest way.  To do so is to challenge his authority as a god.  No one is let off with just a warning, no excuses or alibis are permitted, no extenuating circumstances considered.  Make one mistake, step out of line just once and that's the end of you; your body will rot with the hides and guts of sacrificed animals.

3.  The reason for the transgression of Nadab and Abihu has also been the subject of considerable biblical commentary.  It has been suggested that they had become arrogant and presumptuous and were consciously rebelling against divine law.  Jehovan apologists prefer to believe this since it provides a moral lesson and justifies the harshness of Jehovah's retribution, but there is no indication from the original story that this is true.  Something entirely different, though, is suggested.  Jehovah speaks directly to Aaron (and not through Moses, as is customary) and tells him that there will now be a strict rule against priests drinking alcohol before they officiate.  Why the need for a new rule?  It seems apparent that Nadab and Abihu must have been drinking beforehand, and it was their inebriated state that caused them to carelessly or willfully make an error in the ritual, to light the incense from their own fires and not from the fire of the Sacrificial Altar, as was proper.  The need for the non-drinking rule was probably not obvious to Jehovah when the priesthood was established.  One would have thought, as he apparently did, that a priest would appreciate the solemnity of his office and not need to be advised against being drunk on duty.  It was not the first, nor would it be the last time, he would be disappointed in his Chosen People.

4.  Aaron's cousins are deputized to removed the bodies of Aaron's sons from the Sanctum.  The fact that it is specifically mentioned that the bodies were carried out by their clothes suggests that those removing them would have rendered themselves ritually impure, or worse, if they had actually touched the bodies.  Some translations, however, say that they were carried in their clothes, rather than by their clothes.  I believe the latter interpretation is more likely to be correct, as there is no reason to state that they simply had their clothes on, but that their bodies should not be touched might have been a point worth making.

5.  Aaron and his surviving sons are told they must not mourn the dead Nadab and Abihu, or at least may not exhibit the traditional manifestations of grief, allowing one's hair to become disheveled and tearing one's clothes.  The show must go on!  However, Moses gives them a pass when they don't have the stomach to eat their portion of the sin offering.  After the tragic and sudden loss of two family members, it is understandable that goat meat would not be very appetizing.  Nevertheless, it is amazing that even the priests, Moses' own family, are so remiss in abiding by instructions set down by Moses and Jehovah.  Haven't they, Moses and Jehovah, done enough to command respect and obedience?

6.  The incident would have occurred in the Sanctum where the Incense Altar stood before the entrance to the Inner Sanctum that housed the Chest of Sacred Records containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments.  The Sacrificial Altar stood outside the Sanctum in the Tabernacle courtyard.  

7.  It's a wonder the fire that burned Aaron's sons did not set alight the curtains of the Inner Sanctum, especially considering that it must have been a roaring flame that rose up to incinerate them.  Also, it is curious that their clothes were not more burned.  Of course, if the fire is of miraculous origin, Jehovah could manipulate the miracle to suit his purposes.

8.  In the end, one wonders whether this incident truly happened or happened the way in which it is related.  Was it included in the narrative as a warning to priests?  Does Jehovah take care to watch every ritual performed before his altars, ever ready to catch and punish any deviation from prescribed ritual?  It is interesting that Jehovah's preferred method of execution seems to be fire, not an angel sent down with a sword, nor a bolt of lightning coming out of the sky.  This, fire, is the same means by which he awed the Israelites when he made his presence known to them.    

Inaugural Sacrifices

(Leviticus 9:1 - 9:24)

On the eighth day Moses called together Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.  He instructed Aaron, "Take a male calf for a sin offering and a ram for the burnt offering-- both without defect -- and sacrifice them to Jehovah.  Tell the people of Israel, 'Select a male goat for a sin offering and for the burnt offering, a calf and lamb, both yearlings and without defects.  And, for the peace offering, bring a bull and a ram, for the grain offering, flour moistened with cooking oil.  These will be sacrifices to Jehovah -- for today he is going to make an appearance before you!'"

The people presented these sacrifices at the entrance to the Tabernacle, per Moses' instructions.  The whole community came forward and congregated in front of the Sanctum.  Moses told them, "This is what Jehovah demands of you that he may, in all his glory, appear before you."  Moses instructed Aaron, "Approach the Sacrificial Altar and make your sin offering and the burnt offering, in order to make atonement for yourself and for the people.  Then, make the sacrifices that were brought by the people, so that you may achieve atonement for them, in accordance with Jehovah's instructions."

Aaron thus approached the altar and slaughtered the calf of his own sin offering.  Aaron's sons offered him the blood of sacrificed calf.  Aaron dipped his finger in the blood and dabbed it on the horns of the altar.  The rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar.  On top of the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys, and the long lobe of the liver of the sin offering, as Moses was instructed by Jehovah.  (The meat and the hide of the calf were burned outside of camp.)

Then Aaron slaughtered the ram of the burnt offering.  His sons offered him its blood and he dashed it against all the sides of the altar.  Then they offered him the cut-up pieces of the burnt offering, including the head, and he burned them on top of the altar.  The internal organs and the legs he also burned on the altar with the rest of the offering, but only after they were washed in water. 

Next, Aaron presented the people's offerings.  The goat that was to be the people's sin offering he slaughtered and sacrificed it as he had done with his own sin offering.  Then he made the burnt offering and did so according to proper procedure.  He presented as well the grain offering, taking a handful of it and sprinkling it upon the altar, on top of the morning's customary burnt offering.  He slaughtered the bull and the ram of the peace offering.  His sons offered him the blood, which Aaron dashed on all sides of the altar.  The fat of each of the sacrificed animals, the fat of the broad tail and the fat surrounding it, the kidneys, and the long lobe of the liver were placed on top of the breasts and burned.  The breasts and right thighs (the priests’ share) Aaron elevated above the altar and presented to Jehovah, as Moses had instructed.

Afterwards, Aaron raised his hands over the people and gave them his blessing.  Completing the sin offerings, the burnt offerings, and the peace offerings, he stepped away from the altar.  Moses and Aaron entered the Sanctum and blessed the people when they came out.  Then, all the people witnessed the glorious presence of Jehovah.  With his appearance, the fire flared up upon the altar and consumed the burnt offering and the fat that was on top of it.  Everyone saw this, and when they did, they shouted for joy and fell to the ground in worship.

Notes
1.  Jehovah's insistence on the sacrifice as the primary means of worship is emphasized here.  Important, too, is the proper procedure for the sacrifice.  The modern mind wonders why all this attention to superfluous detail.  Adherence to ritual makes the bloody slaughter of some animal a matter of importance, lends it dignity, gravity, and solemnity.  Doing things in a certain prescribed manner can make even an offensive, heinous, or ostensibly immoral act seem right and proper.  Executions, even today, must be carried out with set procedures, or else they will seem acts of murder.  In more traditional times men used to commit adultery following certain rules and conventions that lent, in their minds, quasi-legitimacy to their lustful liaisons.

2.  The redundant descriptions of sacrifices are recorded in order to reassure the people that all the priestly rituals originate with Jehovah and are done on direct orders from him and, therefore, must be followed without question and must never be changed.  The truth is that they were probably established by the priests and evolved during many years, centuries even -- but no worshiper must suspect that.  Their rightness and legitimacy rests upon their being the absolute will of God Almighty and ancient, unalterable practice.

3.  After the sacrifices have been made, Moses and Aaron enter the Sanctum.  It must be remembered that the Sacrificial Altar is positioned in the Tabernacle courtyard just outside the entrance to the Sanctum.  Inside the curtained Sanctum is the menorah, the table for the showbread, the Incense Altar, and the curtained Inner Sanctum, where rests the Sacred Chest of Records (or Ark of the Covenant) housing, among other things, the tablets upon which the Ten Commandments are inscribed and specimens of manna.  What Moses and Aaron did after they entered the Sanctum is not revealed.  Did they have contact with Jehovah, who is supposed to come down to earth and sit upon the Judgment Seat, the lid to the Sacred Chest of Records?  Did he materialize?  Or did his voice speak to them?  Regardless of what occurred, when they appeared again, Moses and Aaron blessed the people.  Jehovah then manifested himself before the people.  How, is unclear, save that as a result of his presence the fire on the altar flared up.   This apparently impressed the people sufficiently that they cried out in joy and fell to the ground in worship.  Did Jehovah actually make a personal, physical appearance? Or did something spectacular occur?   Did the fire come out of Jehovah’s body, as some translations suggest?  It seems more likely that all the people saw was the flaring fire -- pretty lame, pretty underwhelming, one would think, but then again the masses are often moved to wonder by small things presented in the proper setting in the proper way.  The people were told to expect an appearance from Jehovah.  They were put in a credulous frame of mind.  A fire flaring up might be more than enough to convince them of a godly visitation.  Imagining the scenario, one unfortunately feels as if the whole thing is a conjurer's trick -- the witch doctor pretends to have an audience with the god, blesses the people in his name, then, to impress the ignorant and unsuspecting, surreptitiously tosses something into the fire to make it flare up, a miracle eliciting a worshipful awe, but not really a very sophisticated trick.  (Of course, the fire may have been the work of Jehovah, or, the fall-back possibility, the incident is fictitious.)

Ordination of Priests

(Leviticus 8:1 - 8:36)

Jehovah then instructed Moses, "Bring Aaron and his sons, the vestments of the priesthood, the Anointing Oil, the bull to be sacrificed for the sin offering, the two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread to the entrance of the Tabernacle and assemble the entire people there."

Moses did as Jehovah had commanded him.  When the congregation had assembled at the entrance to the Tabernacle, he addressed them, "This is what Jehovah has commanded us to do!" --- He presented Aaron and his sons and washed them with water.  He garbed Aaron in the tunic and tied the sash around his waist.  He put the robe on him and the sacred vest, securing it with its decorated sash.  He fitted the chest piece on him and inserted into its pocket the Urim and the Thimmim.  On Aaron's head he placed the turban and on the front of it attached the holy gold medallion, all according to Jehovah's instructions.

With the Anointing Oil Moses consecrated the Tabernacle by sprinkling the oil over everything in it.  He sprinkled oil upon the Sacrificial Altar seven times, anointing it, its utensils, as well as the wash basin and its stand.  He poured oil over Aaron's head and by that anointment consecrated him as holy.  Next, Moses presented Aaron's sons.  He garbed them in tunics, tied sashes round them, and placed the caps of priesthood upon their heads, all according to the instructions of Jehovah.

Moses presented the bull for the sin offering. Aaron and his sons held it by the head while Moses slaughtered the animal.  Moses took some of its blood and with his finger dabbed it on the four horned corners of the Sacrificial Altar to purify it.  The rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar.  By means of this ritual he consecrated the altar and made it holy.  Moses took the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat around them and burned it all on the altar.  But the bull itself with its hide, meat, and intestines he incinerated outside the camp, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

Moses presented the ram for the burnt offering.  While Aaron and his sons held it by the neck, Moses slaughtered it.  Moses took the ram's blood and splattered it on all sides of the altar.  He cut up the ram and burned on the altar the head, the cut-up pieces of flesh, and the fat.  He washed the internal organs and the lower part of the legs in water and burned the entire ram on the altar.  This food offering, prepared in accordance with Jehovah's instructions, created an aroma that was very pleasing to him.

Next, Moses presented for sacrifice the second ram, the ram for the ordination.  While Aaron and his sons held it by the neck, Moses slaughtered it.  Moses dabbed some of the ram's blood on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and the big toe of his right foot.  Moses brought Aaron's sons forward and similarly dabbed blood on the lobes of their right ear, the thumbs of their right hand, and the big toes of their right foot.  Then he splashed the rest of blood against the sides of the altar.  Moses took the ram's fat, including the fat of the broad tail,  the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat surrounding them, and the right thigh.  On top of them he placed a thin cake of unleavened bread, a cake of bread mixed with oil,  and a wafer with oil spread on it.  (These were taken from the basket of unleavened breads that was on display before the Sanctum.)  He placed these into the hands of Aaron and his sons who elevated them and waved them as an offering to Jehovah.  Moses took back the offerings and burned them on the altar on top of the former burnt offering.  This comprised the ordination offering, a food offering with an aroma very pleasing to Jehovah.  Moses took the breast of the sacrificed ram as his share of the ordination offering,  and waved it before the altar, as Jehovah instructed.  Then Moses took some of the Anointing Oil and blood from the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and on his vestments, and on his sons and their vestments, and thereby consecrated Aaron and his sons and their vestments.

Moses instructed Aaron and his sons, "Cook the meat just inside the entrance to the Tabernacle and eat it there along with the bread that was in the basket made up for the ordination.  This will conform to my instruction, 'Aaron and his sons may eat it.' Any left-over meat or bread must be burned.  You must not leave the Tabernacle compound for seven days, the duration of the ordination ceremony.   Everything we have done this day, we have done so that you may be purified and achieve atonement in the eyes of Jehovah.  But you must, on pain of death, remain within the confines of the Tabernacle both day and night during those seven days in order to fulfill the requirements set down by Jehovah, for this is what I have been commanded."

And so Aaron and his sons did all that Jehovah had demanded of them through Moses.

Notes
1.  The term "entrance to the Tabernacle" is probably used in two ways here.  The entire populace is gathered at the "entrance to the Tabernacle;" this surely means outside the Tabernacle, but in front of the entrance.  Even if the Israelite community consisted of only a few thousand individuals, as one suspects would be true, then it would be impossible for all of them to be massed inside the Tabernacle courtyard.  (The enclosure was only 150 by 75 feet, and yielded an interior space of 11,250 square feet, but, excluding the Sanctum, which was 45 x 15 feet (675 square feet), it would be only 10,575 square feet.  Given that each man occupies 4 square feet, then only 2,644 persons could have been packed into the Tabernacle courtyard, but, from a practical standpoint, far fewer.  It is conceivable that a few thousand persons could have gathered outside the Tabernacle.  However, if the Israelite community consisted of millions of people, as is asserted in Exodus, it is inconceivable that all of them could have gathered at the Tabernacle’s entrance -- or, for that matter, gathered anywhere.)   Later, the text refers to the requirement that priests must remain at the "entrance to the Tabernacle," for seven days during their period of ordination.  One would assume that this means inside the Tabernacle courtyard.  This no doubt means that they were to be confined to the Tabernacle during their ordination.  I have reflected this is my translation.

2.  The qualifications for priesthood, aside from being descent from Aaron, seems to rest upon adhering to certain ordained rituals.  (You can’t be a priest unless you get that big toe dabbed with ram’s blood!)  There is no mention, at least as yet, of good personal character being a requisite.

3.  In most societies the high priest places himself as an intermediary, a middle man, between the god and the people.  In Christian society this function is assumed by the church.  (Woe be to mystics like Joan of Arc who seem to bypass the church and commune directly with the divine.) Here, Moses is an intermediary between Jehovah and the high priest, Aaron, who serves his god with sacrifices and the people by furnishing the means by which they can achieve atonement for their sins.  Jehovah tells Moses what to do and Moses tells Aaron.  Aaron, unlike most high priests, does not communicate directly with the god he serves.

4.  The fine linen garments made for the priests are stained with blood and oil during the ordination ceremony.  Did the Israelites have great skill in removing stains from clothes?  (One worries that the Jehovan priests must have run up really big laundry bills.)

5.  One wonders how Jehovah thought up all this stuff, the rigamarole with the blood of sacrificed animals, the oil, and so forth, but it all seems to be a part of common practice with primitive religions.  It would be interesting to investigate how these procedures, the sacrifices, the ordination of the priests, compare to the rituals of other religions of the time, those practiced by the Egyptians, Babylonians, Canaanites, etc.  It is doubtful that there is anything unique in these early Jehovan practices, save for one thing, that Jehovah prohibited his worship through idols or images of any kind.  The reason for this anomaly is never made clear.  (One may imagine that Jehovah is like a camera-shy celebrity who doesn't want his picture in the papers, the man behind the curtain who never emerges to reveal himself, but manifests his will through his chosen agent.  Or, one may see him as an extraterrestrial being who wishes to exert his will upon earth men and exact their submission, while remaining aloof, invisible even, but working through his human contactee, Moses.)