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1 And this is the thing that you shall do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest's office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish,

2 And unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shalt thou make them.

3 And you shall put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams.

4 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water.

5 And you shall take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod:

6 And you shall put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre.

7 Then shall you take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.

8 And you shall bring his sons, and put coats upon them.

9 And you shall gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them: and the priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons.

10 And you shall cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock.

11 And you shall kill the bullock before the Lord, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

12 And you shall take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.

13 And you shall take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar.

14 But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.

15 You shall also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.

16 And you shall slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar.

17 And you shall cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head.

18 And you shall burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the Lord: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

19 And you shall take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.

20 Then shall you kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.

21 And you shall take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him.

22 Also you shall take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration:

23 And one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord:

24 And you shall put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.

25 And you shall receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before the Lord: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

26 And you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord: and it shall be thy part.

27 And you shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons:

28 And it shall be Aaron's and his sons' by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the Lord.

29 And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them.

30 And that son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place.

31 And you shall take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place.

32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

33 And you shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.

34 And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

35 And thus shall you do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them.

36 And you shall offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.

37 Seven days you shall make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever touches the altar shall be holy.

38 Now this is that which you shall offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually.

39 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even:

40 And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering.

41 And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.

43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.

44 And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest's office.

45 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.

46 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord their God.

לקח This is the same as קח (the imperative, “Take thou” and must not be regarded as the infinitive). There are two forms of the root: one is קח and the other לקח, both having the same meaning. פר אחד ONE BULLOCK — to atone for the incident of worshipping the golden calf which is of the bullock species (cf. Sifra on Leviticus 9:2).

ולחם מצות וחלת מצת… ורקיקי מצות AND UNLEAVENED BREAD, AND PIERCED CAKES UNLEAVENED … AND WAFERS UNLEAVENED — Here you have these three kinds: “satured” with scalding water, and pierced cakes, and wafers. The לחם מצות, “unleavened bread” mentioned here is that which is termed further on in this section (v. 23) חלת לחם שמן, “pierced cake of oiled bread”, being so termed because they put unto the saturated dough as much oil as they put into the pieced cakes and wafers together (Menachot 89a). Of each of these kinds there were brought ten cakes (Menachot 76a). בלולת בשמן [CAKES] MINGLED WITH OIL — whilst they were still meal they poured oil into them and mixed them up (Menachot 75a). משחים בשמן ANOINTED WITH OIL — after they were baked they anointed them in the form of a Greek Chi (X), which is formed like our נ (Menachot 74b and Rashi thereon; Menachot 75a).

והקרבת אתם AND THOU SHALT OFFER THEM (lit., bring them near) to the court of the Tabernacle on the day when it will be first erected.

ורחצת AND THOU SHALT WASH [THEM] — This signifies the immersion of the entire body (cf. Targum Jonathan).

ואפדת AND THOU SHALT FASTEN [THE EPHOD ON] — adorn and arrange the girdle and the apron around him.

גזר הקדש THE DIADEM OF HOLINESS — This refers to the Plate. על המצנפת UPON THE MITRE, as I have explained above (Exodus 28:37) — by means of the middle string and the two strings at its (the Plate’s) ends which were, the three of them, tied together behind his neck he placed it upon the mitre as a kind of helmet.

ומשחת אתו AND THOU SHALT ANOINT HIM — This anointing also, was in the form of a X: he put a drop of oil on his head and another drop between his eyebrows and joined them with his finger into this shape (Keritot 5b).

והיתה להם AND SHALL BE UNTO THEM This “filling of hands” shall be for an everlasting priesthood. ומלאת AND THOU SHALT “FILL” by means of these following matters יד אהרן ויד בניו AARON’S HAND AND HIS SONS’ HANDS in the appointment and assigment to the priesthood.

פתח אהל מועד BY THE ENTRANCE OF THE APPOINTED TENT — i. e. in the court of the Tabernacle which was in front of the entrance.

על קרנות UPON THE HORNS — on top of the horns actually (the blood was not to be sprinkled from below so as to reach the horns but was to be placed by the finger actually upon the horns) (Zevachim 53a). ואת כל הדם AND ALL THE BLOOD i. e. all the remainder of the blood (that which is left after some of it had been placed upon the horns of the altar as just stated). אל יסוד המזבח AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ALTAR — A kind of projection that formed a receptacle was made right round it after it had risen to a height of one cubit from the ground (Sukkah 45a).

החלב המכסה את הקרב THE FAT THAT COVERETH THE INWARDS — this is the membrane upon the maw (Tosefta Chullin 9:3) which is called tele in old French ואת היתרת This is the lobe of the liver which is called abris in old French על הכבד — Take with it (with the lobe) some of the liver also (cf. Sifra, Vayikra Dibbura d'Nedavah, Section 14 8).

תשרף באש SHALT THOU BURN WITH FIRE — We do not find that any “outside” sin offering was to be burnt except this (cf. Rashi on Leviticus 9:11).

וזרקת AND THOU SHALT SPRINKLE IT with a vessel: he held the basin and cast blood from it towards the horn in such a manner that it (the blood) showed on both sides of it. No offering except the sin-offering alone required that its blood should be smeared with the finger, but other sacrifices required neither “horn” nor “finger” (did not require that the blood should be placed on the horn of the altar by the fingers), for the sprinkling of their blood had to be upon the lower half of the altar, and he (the priest) therefore did not mount the ascent leading to the top of the altar but he stood on the ground and sprinkled the blood (Zevachim 53b). סביב ROUND ABOUT — This is how it is explained in the Treatise on Slaughtering the Sacrifices (Zevachim 53b): that סביב, “round about” signifies nothing more than that there were to be two sprinklings so made that they should constitute four — one on this corner and one at that which was diagonally opposite it, and so that each sprinkling showed on both sides of the corner, on this and on that side; it followed therefore that the blood was placed on the four sides round about, and for this reason it is here termed סביב.

על נתחיו [AND PUT THEM] TO ITS PIECES — i. e. together with (על) its pieces — added to the other pieces.

ריח נחוח AS A PLEASING ODOUR — as a gratification of spirit before Me — that I commanded and My will was carried out (Zevachim 46b). אשה AN OFFERING MADE BY FIRE a term connected with the word אש, fire: it denotes the burning of the parts which had been placed on the fire (cf. Rashi on Leviticus 1:9).

תנוך — This is the inner cartilage which is within the ear, which they call tendrons in old French (cf. Rashi on Leviticus 14:14). בהן ידם — i. e. the thumb; and the blood was placed on the middle joint (Chullin 11a).

החלב THE FAT — This means the fat of the gut, or, (according to the opinion of Rabbi Ishmael,) of the maw (Chullin 49b; cf. Rashi on Leviticus 3:3). והאליה AND THE FAT TAIL — This is the portion of the animal from the kidneys and lower down, as is explained in Leviticus, (3:9) because it is said, “[the whole fat tail], he shall take it off hard by the back bone (עָצָה)” i. e. by the place where the kidneys give counsel (עָצָה) (Chullin 11a). In the case of the fat portions of the bullock the “fat tail” is not mentioned, for the “fat tail” was offered only in the case of a male or female lamb and a ram, but an ox and a goat do not require the “fat tail” to be offered. ואת שוק הימין AND THE RIGHT SHOULDER — We do not find that burning if prescribed for the right shoulder together with the fat parts except in the case of this alone. כי איל מלאים הוא FOR IT IS A RAM OF מלאים — of שלמים (usually translated peace-offerings): מלואים has the meaning of “perfection” (מלא meaning “full”, so that מלואים is synonymous with שלמים) — something that is perfect in all respects. Scripture informs us that the מלואים (consecration sacrifices) are to be regarded as שלמים-sacrifices, in that they, like the שלמים, promote peace (שלום) between the altar and him who carries out the sacrifical rite (the priest) and the owner of the animal (the worshipper who brings the sacrifice”). Therefore, says God, in this case I make it a condition that the breast shall belong as a portion to him who performs the sacrificial rite, viz., Moses, who officiated at the installation into office (cf. v. 26). — The remainder, Aaron and his sons ate because they were the “owners”, as is expressly set forth in this section (cf. Sifra, Vayikra Dibbura d'Nedavah, Chapter 16 2; Midrash Tanchuma, Tzav 4).

וככר לחם AND ONE LOAF OF BREAD — of the cakes (mentioned in Exodus 29:2) (Menachot 78a). וחלת לחם שמן AND ONE PIERCED CAKE OF OILED BREAD — of the “saturated“ kind. ורקיק AND ONE WAFER — of the wafers there mentioned: i. e. one out of the ten which were comprised in each of these different kinds of bread (Menachot 76a; cf. Rashi on Exodus 29:2). We do not find that any heave-offering of bread brought with a sacrifice was burnt except this alone, for the heave-offering of the bread brought with the thanksgiving offering and with the ram of the Nazarite was given to the priest (and therefore not burnt) together with the breast and the shoulder, whilst of this the breast alone was given as a portion to Moses, as the officiating priest.

על כפי אהרן … והנפת [AND THOU SHALT PUT ALL] IN THE HANDS OF AARON … AND THOU SHALT WAVE THEM — The rule is that both of them take part in the waving ceremony, the “owner” and the priest. How is this done? The priest places his hand beneath the “owner’s” hand, and thus does the waving (Menachot 61b) — and in case of this offering Aaron and his sons were the “owners” and Moses the priest, and therefore Scripture enacts as stated here. תנופה A WAVE OFFERING — He moved it about horizontally in all directions to the glory of Him to Whom belong the four quarters of the world. This waving was symbolical of preventing and making of none effect misfortune and destructive winds. Then he moved it upwards and downward to the glory of Him to Whom belong heaven and earth and this was symbolical of keeping away injurious dews (Menachot 62a).

על העלה BESIDES THE BURNT OFFERING — besides the first ram which you had already offered up as a burnt offering. לריח ניחוח AS A PLEASING ODOUR — as a gratification of spirit to Him Who gave the command and found that His will was carried out (cf. Sifra, Vayikra Dibbura d'Nedavah, Chapter 6 10). אשה AN OFFERING MADE BY FIRE given over to the fire. לה׳ TO THE LORD — to the Name of the Omnipresent.

וקדשת את חזה התנופה ואת שוק התרומה וגו׳ AND THOU SHALT SANCTIFY THE BREAST OF THE WAVE OFFERING AND THE SHOULDER OF THE HEAVE OFFERING etc. — Declare these portions of the animal to have a sacred character for future generations in that the heaving of them and the waving of them shall be practised in respect of the breast and the shoulder of all peace-offerings, but the similarity between the שלמים and the מלואים shall not extend to burning the shoulder as was done in the case of the מלואים but (v. 28) “it shall be for Aaron and his sons” to be eaten. הונף WHICH IS WAVED — an expression for moving to and fro in a horizontal direction; venteler in old French הורם WHICH WAS HEAVED — an expression for moving up and down.

לחק עולם מאת בני ישראל AS AN ASSIGNED PORTION FROM THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL — because peace-offerings belong to the “owner”, and the breast and the shoulder shall they give to the priest. כי תרומה הוא FOR IT IS A HEAVE OFFERING — i.e. the breast and the shoulder form a heave-offering.

לבניו אחריו [SHALL BE] FOR HIS SONS AFTER HIM — for him who comes after him in this high office. למשחה means to be raised to dignity by means of them. For sometimes the word משח is used in the sense of “dignity”, as in (Numbers 18:8), “to thee I have given them as a dignity (למשחה)”, and (I Chronicles 16:22) “Touch ye not my nobles (משיחי)” (cf. Rashi on Exodus 30:29). ולמלא בם את ידם AND TO BE CONSECRATED BY THEM — through these garments he is to be invested with the high-priesthood (cf. Rashi on Yoma 73a).

שבעת ימים SEVEN DAYS in succession, on such a High Priest’s installation, ילבשם הכהן THE PRIEST SHALL PUT THEM ON — i. e. he who, from among his sons, will rise up in his stead in the high-priesthood at the time when they will appoint him to be High Priest. אשר יבא אל אהל מועד WHO WILL COME INTO THE APPOINTED TENT — These words qualify the word הכהן so that it refers to that priest who is designated to enter into the innermost part (the words לפני ולפנים in the Rashi text correspond to בקדש in the Biblical text) of the Sanctuary on the Day of Atonement — and this must mean the High Priest, since the sacrificial service on the Day of Atonement was not valid unless performed by him (Yoma 73a). תחתיו מבניו IN HIS STEAD FROM AMONG HIS SONS — This informs us that if the High Priest has a son who can fill his place they shall appoint him High Priest in his stead (Sifra, Acharei Mot, Chapter 8 5; cf. Rashi on Yoma 72b). [הכהן תחתיו מבניו — From here (from this phraseology) we have a proof that the word הכהן is everywhere a participle — meaning “he who is actually acting as the officiant”; therefore the tonic accent תביר on the word הכהן connects it with the word following it.].

במקום קדש IN A HOLY PLACE in the court of the tent of meeting because these peace-offerings were holy in the highest degree (cf. Rashi on Leviticus 6:9).

פתח אהל מועד BY THE ENTRANCE OF THE APPOINTED TENT — the whole court is thus named (cf. Rashi on Exodus 29:11).

ואכלו אתם AND THEY SHALL EAT THOSE THINGS i. e. Aaron and his sons because they are the “owners” of them (cf. Pesachim 59b). אשד כפר בהם THROUGH WHOM THERE WAS EXPIATED everything that was strange and objectionable. למלא את ידם TO INITIATE THEM INTO OFFICE by means of this ram and bread. לקדש אתם TO SANCTIFY THEM — for by means of this initiation-sacrifice they were installed and sanctified to the priesthood. כי קדש הם BECAUSE THEY ARE HOLY — i. e. holy in the highest degree. From this we derive the prohibition against a “stranger” (a non-priest) eating anything that is holy in the highest degree (Makkot 18b), since Scripture assigns a reason for the matter (why a stranger may not eat of these), viz., because they are holy in the highest degree (cf. Pesachim 24a).

ועשית לאהרן ולבניו ככה AND THUS SHALT (i. e. must) THOU DO TO AARON AND HIS SONS — Scripture recites a second time in this general statement all that has been already commanded in order to impede the validity of the rites; i. e. that if they do not do this and a single thing is omitted of all that is prescribed in this section their initiation to be priests must be regarded as not having taken place and their act of sacrifice is consequently invalid (Yoma 5a). אתכה is the same as (another form of): אוֹתָך “thee”. שבעת ימים תמלא ידם SEVEN DAYS SHALT THOU CONSECRATE THEM in this manner and by means of these sacrifices on each day.

על הכפרים means for the purpose of expiation — to expiate for the altar for all that is “strange” (not holy) and objectionable that may happened to it. Now since it is said. (v. 35) “Seven days shalt thou consecrate them” after having stated that if a single thing is omitted the ceremony is invalid, I can infer nothing more than that this alludes to a thing that is offered on account of them personally as, for example, the rams and the bread, but as regards anything that is offered on account of the altar as, for example, the bullock, which is intended to serve as expiation for the altar, we cannot infer from that verse that if this is omitted the ceremony of initiation is invalid; consequently this verse is necessary to inform us of this. An explanation in Torath Cohanim (the Sifra) states: atonement for the altar was necessary because perhaps a man had donated for work in connection with the construction of the Tabernacle or the altar something which he had stolen (Sifra, Tzav, Mechilta d'Miluim 1 15). וחטאת — The Targum translates this by ותדכי AND THOU SHALT PURIFY [THE ALTAR]; the expression for placing upon the altar the blood that is placed there with the finger is called חַטַּא (hence it is followed by the preposition על “upon”). ומשחת אתו AND THOU SHALT ANOINT IT with the oil of anointing: every anointing was done in the form of a Greek Chi (X).

והיה המזבח קדש AND THE ALTAR SHALL BE [MOST] HOLY — and in what consists its holiness? In this: כל הנגע במזבח יקדש that WHATSOEVER TOUCHETH THE ALTAR SHALL BECOME HOLY — that even a sacrifice which is really invalid that has been brought upon it — even that does the altar sanctify making it a valid sacrifice in so far that it must not be taken down from the altar. Now since it is said, “Anything that toucheth the altar shall become holy”, I might infer that this applies to a thing whether it was fitting to be an offering at the time when it was brought into the Sanctuary or whether it was not so fitting as, for example, in the latter case, something the disqualification of which did not happen within the Sanctuary itself but had happened before it was brought there, such as, an animal, male or female, with which sexual sin had been committed, or an animal which had been set aside as a sacrifice to an idol, or one which had been worshipped as a god, or one which showed signs of incapacity to live owing to certain diseases (technically termed טרפה) and animals similar to these (with similar disqualifications); consequently it states, “Now this is that which thou shalt offer [upon the altar]”, which follows immediately after this (in v. 38). Now how is it in the case of the burnt-offering which is mentioned in the next verse as something commanded to be brought upon the altar? It must be fitted to be brought upon the altar! So, also, the preceding statement, “Whatever [touches the altar shall become holy]”, refers only to whatever was fitting, i. e. what was already fitting to be brought upon the altar and became disqualified only after it had been brought into the fore-court of the Sanctuary, as, for example, that which had been left over night (the blood or fat of a sacrifice which had been left until the morning without having been placed upon the altar), or that which, before it had been placed upon the altar, had been taken (lit., had gone forth) outside the forecourt, or that which had become unclean, or an animal which had been slaughtered with the intention to sprinkle the blood or to burn the fat or to eat the flesh outside the prescribed period or outside the prescribed place, and animals similar to these (Zevachim 83b).

ועשרן סלת A TENTH DEAL OF FLOUR — i. e. a tenth part of an ephah: a capacity of forty three and a fifth eggs (cf. Rashi on Exodus 16:36). בשמן כתית [MINGLED] WITH OIL, BEATEN — Not to make this obligatory is it stated “beaten” but to make it lawful if such oil be at all used. Since it is stated, (Exodus 27:20) “beaten for the light” and the implication is that for the light it must be beaten and not for the meal-offerings, one might think that this is expressly stated in order to declare it unfitting for the meal-offerings; therefore it states here “beaten”, meaning that for the meal-offerings beaten oil may be used if one so wishes. And it is stated “beaten for the light”, only to exclude the meal-offerings from the command: that beaten oil is not obligatory for them — that oil obtained from olives ground in a mill is also permissible for them (Menachot 86b). רבע ההין THE FOURTH PART OF A HIN — three logs. ונסך AND A LIBATION — for the bowls, as we learn in Treatise Sukkah 48a: there were two silver bowls above the altar pierced with holes, as it were like two slender nostrils. He poured the wine into these and it ran through and gushed forth by way of this “nostril”, falling upon the top of the altar. Thence it ran down into the subterranean channels in the case of the altar in the Temple, but in the case of the copper altar in the Tabernacle it ran down from the altar to the ground.

לריח ניחח FOR A PLEASING ODOUR — This is said in reference to the meal-offering just mentioned and not only to the lamb mentioned in the first half of the verse, for also the meal-offering brought with the libation was all of it entirely burnt, unlike other meal-offerings. The order when offering them was: first the limbs of the animal and afterwards the meal-offering, since it is said (Leviticus 23:27) “burnt-offering and meal-offering”.

תמיד A CONTINUAL [BURNT-OFFERING] i.e. from day to day: there shall not be an interval of a day between them (between two successive morning or afternoon offerings; cf. Rashi on Exodus 27:20). אשר אועד לכם WHERE I SHALL BE MET BY YOU — when I shall appoint a place of meeting to speak unto you I shall appoint it there (at the entrance of the tent of meeting) as the spot to which to come. Some of our Rabbis learn from this that it was from above the copper altar that the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with Moses after the Tabernacle was erected, for this was at the entrance; but some say that He spoke from above the cover of the Ark (the כפרת), as it is said, (Exodus 25:22) “And I will speak to thee from above the cover”, and that the words “where I shall be met by you” which are said here are not used in reference to the altar which was at the entrance of the tent of meeting, but in reference to the tent of meeting itself which is mentioned in this verse (so that the meaning is: “at the entrance of the tent of meeting where, viz., in the tent of meeting, I shall be met by you”; cf. ברייתא דמלאכת המשכן at the end).

ונעדתי שמה AND I WILL BE MET THERE — I will come together with them in a conversation as a king who appoints a place of meeting where he will speak with his subjects. ונקדש AND IT — the Tabernacle — SHALL BE SANCTIFIED, בכבדי BY MY GLORY — for my Shechina shall rest there. A Midrashic comment is: Read not here בִּכְבוֹדִי “by My Glory”, but בִּכְבוּדַי, “through My honoured ones”. Here He gave him some slight intimation of the death of Aaron’s sons on the day when it (the Tabernacle) would be erected. This is the meaning of what Moses then said, (Leviticus 10:3) “That is what the Lord said, Through those that draw near to Me will I be sanctified”. But where had he said this? Here, in the words, “and it shall be sanctified through My honoured ones” (Zevachim 115b).

לשכני בתכם means under the condition that I may dwell in the midst of them.