7 Moses said to Aaron, "Draw near to the altar, and offer your sin offering, and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself, and for the people; and offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them; as Yahweh commanded."
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar Here is repeated what was stated elsewhere, that the priest, as being himself a sinner, must first make entreaty for himself, before he propitiates God towards others. Hence the Apostle justly infers that the legal priesthood was weak and merely typical. (Hebrews 5:1.) For none can be a true peace-maker, except he, who, in reliance on his perfect innocence, presents himself before God to obtain pardon for others, and, being pure from every blemish, requires no expiation for himself. All else to the end of the chapter I pass over, because Moses only records how Aaron sacrificed according to God's command and the legal ritual.
It is to be remarked that Aaron offers no peace-offering for himself. It was enough that he should participate in the peace-offerings of the consecration Leviticus 8:31, and in the two peace-offerings about to be sacrificed for the people.
His sin-offering was probably regarded not so much as a sacrifice for his own actual sins as a typical acknowledgment of his sinful nature and of his future duty to offer for his own sins and those of the People. See marginal references. "The law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated (in the margin perfected, see Leviticus 8:22 note) forevermore, Hebrews 7:28.
Make an atonement for thyself - This showed the imperfection of the Levitical law; the high priest was obliged to make an expiation for his own sins before he could make one for the sins of the people. See the use made of this by the apostle, Hebrews 5:3; Hebrews 7:27; Hebrews 9:7.
And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering, and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement for (d) thyself, and for the people: and offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them; as the LORD commanded.
(d) Read for the understanding of this peace, (Hebrews 4:5, Hebrews 7:27).
And Moses said unto Aaron,.... This is only observed to show, that as Aaron did not take upon him this office of himself, but was called unto it, and invested with it, by the appointment of God, so neither did he enter upon it but through the call of God by Moses, in the sight of the congregation:
go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering, and thy burnt offering; the young calf and ram:
and make an atonement for thyself and for the people; first for himself, and then for the people; for, as Aben Ezra says, a man cannot atone for another until he is pure from all sin; which is a character only to be found in Christ, our great High Priest, and so a proper person to atone for and take away the sins of others: hence the priests under the law, with their sacrifices, could never take away sin really, only typically; and this shows the imperfection of the Levitical priesthood, that the priests of that order were obliged to offer first for their own sins; this our high priest, of another order, needed not to do; see Hebrews 7:27.
and offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them; typical of the true and full atonement made by Christ, when he offered himself without spot to God:
as the Lord commanded; Aaron to do, and as he commanded Christ, his Son and our surety, the antitype of Aaron, John 10:18.
Go and offer - Moses had hitherto sacrificed, but now he resigns his work to Aaron, and actually gives him that commission which from God he had received for him. For thyself and for the people - The order is very observable, first for thyself, otherwise thou art unfit to do it for the people. Hereby God would teach us, both the deficiency of this priesthood, and how important it is that God's ministers should be in the favour of God themselves, that their ministrations may be acceptable to God, and profitable to the people.
*More commentary available at chapter level.