You Shall Have No Other Gods:
The Book of Exodus

Lesson 22 Consecration of Aaron & His Sons
the book of Exodus 29:1–46

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)*
New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)*
Catechism of the Catholic Church
ex libris (in our library)
glossary for the book of Exodus
cross references in the book of Exodus
next lesson: Worship Instructions; God Chooses His Artisans

This material coordinates with Lesson 22 on pages 108–112 in the study book You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus.

And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”—the book of Exodus 20:1–6

welcome to our in-depth study of the book of Exodus
We invite interested groups and individuals to check out the sample first lesson from this 28-lesson Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study. These online study pages link to our free lesson video overviews, as well as to a glossary and cross references in the biblical text. Other study aids include maps, additional commentary, and prayers based on the primary Scripture in each lesson. You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus has been granted an imprimatur and can be purchased from our website shop. If you have a Bible-related question or comment, click on one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons on any online study page.

open with prayer
It’s always wise to begin any Bible study with prayer, whether reading the Scriptures alone or meeting with others in a discussion group. You can pray using your own words or use one of the opening prayers on our website. We especially like the following:

Lord Jesus, you promised to send your Holy Spirit to teach us all things.
As we read and study your word today,
allow it to touch our hearts and change our lives. Amen.

let’s review—the book of Exodus 27:1—28:43
In Lesson 21 Holy Garments for the Priests, the LORD gives Moses instructions for building the altar of sacrifice and for preparing an outer court for the tabernacle. It’s in this outer court that the altar of sacrifice is to be placed, and it’s to be overlaid with bronze instead of gold. Its sole purpose is animal sacrifice. A lamp is to burn continually in the tabernacle outside of the holiest area where the ark is kept. That area is referred to as the most holy place. God also designates Aaron and his sons for the priesthood. Their priestly duties include killing the sacrificial animals and tending the lamp.

sacrifice is violent (57:33)
This section of the book of Exodus not only describes the consecration of Aaron as high priest and his sons as priests, it also describes in somewhat limited fashion their duties related to offering sacrifice. (More details about the specific laws of sacrifice pertaining to the priesthood can be found in the book of Leviticus.) In addition to consecrating Aaron and his sons, the blood of the sacrificial animals is used to consecrate everything it touches. Strict rules govern what kind of animals may be used for sacrifice and who’s eligible to consume various portions of the sacrifice. Rules also extend to which portions may be consumed and by whom. Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps explains differences in purpose of the various sacrifices.

oops—Matthew misspeaks on the video
On the video about 14 minutes in, Matthew starts out saying that Moses washes and dresses Aaron and his sons, but then he amends his comments to say it’s Aaron who does that. Matthew was correct the first time—it’s Moses who washes and dresses Aaron and his sons for ordination. That becomes clear later in the video. We apologize for any confusion.


The Scripture ranges for the videos that accompany this Catholic Bible study from Turning to God’s Word match the Scripture ranges for the sets of questions in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus. You can follow along as Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps discusses Lesson 22, “Consecration of Aaron & His Sons,” on pages 108–112 in the study book.

how lineage as a Levite is determined
Having the last name of Levi doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is considered a Levite. As part of a family’s genealogical tradition, status as a Levite is passed down from father to child, with the stipulation that the child must be born to a Jewish mother. Tribal status of Levite is determined by patrilineal descent (from the biological father’s side of the family), so a child whose biological father is a Levite also is considered to be a Levite. Jewish status, however, is determined by matrilineal descent (from the biological mother’s side of the family). For a child to be considered a Levite requires both biological parents to be Jewish and the biological father to be a Levite.

bloodstains: practical considerations
The heavy emphasis on cleanliness laws gets its start in the book of Exodus. Since the blood of a sacrificial animal is considered sacred (anything it touches is sanctified), it should come as no surprise that there are strict rules for washing garments stained by this blood. These can be found in the book of Leviticus 6:24–27. It also should come as no surprise that there are rules about how to launder cloth items used in the present-day Mass.

what Matthew says—not only the priests but also their garments are anointed
In the video overview for this lesson, Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps stresses that it’s extremely important that the garments worn by the Old Testament Aaronic priests at their anointing also are anointed. These vestments are tied to the office of priesthood in a way that isn’t the case in the present day, although our priests wear identifiable vestments when they celebrate the Mass. In the Old Testament, however, the priest’s clothes very literally make the man.

WHAT DO YOU THINK about the order of these sacrifices?
The twenty-ninth chapter of the book of Exodus introduces three sacrifices involved in the ordination of Aaron and his sons to the hereditary priesthood. These are the sin offering (the book of Exodus 29:10–14)—the burnt offering (the book of Exodus 29:15–18) and the peace offering (the book of Exodus 29:19–28). You can learn more about these sacrifices in the commentary, “Sin Offerings, Burnt Offerings & Peace Offerings,” on page 112 in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus. The book of Leviticus also deals at length regarding liturgical practices of the priests.

?  Although all three offerings are required at the consecration of Aaron and his sons, only the sacrificial victim of one of them is designated as being specifically for consecration. Which offering is that?
?  Consider the order in which the offerings are to be made. Why might the LORD stipulate this particular order?
?  What is there about the consecration of Aaron and his sons that makes it different from all other consecrations since then?
?  Who appears to be presiding over these consecrations?
?  What qualifications does this person, who isn’t a priest, possess?
?  What necessitates that the LORD establish an ordination rite?

laying hands on the sacrificial animal
Consider the purpose of Aaron and his sons laying hands on the animals offered in all three of these ritual sacrifices. Who is it who does the actual killing of the animals? What might this signify?

WHAT DO YOU THINK about the rituals involving sacrificial blood?
In the twenty-ninth chapter of the book of Exodus, the blood of the sacrificial animal is treated differently in each of the three ritual offerings.

?  How is the blood handled in the first sacrifice, the sin offering?
?  How is the sacrificial blood handled in the second sacrifice, the burnt offering?
?  What does this difference suggest about the purpose of each offering?
?  Finally, what is done with the blood from the third sacrifice, the peace offering?
?  Consider why it is that the blood of the second ram is handled in this way.
?  What does an exchange of blood indicate in Scripture?

read the Catechism—Jesus is our high priest
Paragraph 1548 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that the hereditary priesthood established in the book of Exodus is fulfilled and made perfect through Jesus Christ.

1548   In the ecclesial service of the ordained minister, it is Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive sacrifice, Teacher of Truth. This is what the Church means by saying that the priest, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in persona Christi Capitis:

It is the same priest, Christ Jesus, whose sacred person his minister truly represents. Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal consecration which he has received, is truly made like to the high priest and possesses the authority to act in the power and place of the person of Christ himself (virtute ac persona ipsius Christi).

Christ is the source of all priesthood: the priest of the old law was a figure of Christ, and the priest of the new law acts in the person of Christ.

read the Catechism—all Christians participate in the priesthood of Christ
Paragraph 783 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that all Christians are participate in Jesus Christ’s three offices of priest, prophet, and king. This goes into effect with our Baptism.

783   Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet, and king. The whole People of God participates in these three offices of Christ and bears the responsibilities for mission and service that flow from them.

the LORD requires daily libations
The book of Exodus 29:38–41 introduces the idea of a libation. This wasn’t uncommon in the ancient world, where drink offerings were considered a standard way to please the gods. What is rather unusual is that while this passage in the book of Exodus specifies offering a libation of wine to the LORD in the morning and evening, it’s unlikely much wine would have been available to the Israelites while they were in the wilderness. This suggests that at least this part of the biblical text was written down some time after such offerings had become commonplace in the Promised Land of Canaan. You can learn more about libations in the commentary, “What Is a Libation?” on page 112 in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus.

consecration—you could look it up in our archives
The twenty-ninth chapter in the book of Exodus describes how Aaron and his sons are to be consecrated to the priesthood. To learn more about the meaning of the word “consecration” and how it’s related to ordination, sanctification, and holiness, read Lost in Translation, an online column in which Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps helps readers connect with ideas expressed in the original languages of the Scriptures. New Lost in Translation entries are posted on Mondays, and past entries are archived on our website. Contact us if you’d like to receive Lost in Translation by email every week.

a lot of blood
There’s more blood in this section of You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus than you’ll see in most slasher movies. Is this just overkill—pun intended—or does it also represent some basic Christian understanding? Blood is an important symbol. The sacrament of the Eucharist most definitely isn’t a symbol, but the symbolism that underlies it nevertheless is ancient, deep, and very powerful. In the sixth chapter in the Gospel According to John, Jesus tells his followers that they’ll have to eat his flesh and drink his blood. There’s more than meets the modern eye about why the Jews who heard Jesus speaking found this requirement so unsettling. You can learn more about Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse in Lesson 7 A Lad with Five Barley Loaves and Lesson 8 I Am the Living Bread, both in the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study The Gospel According to John: An Encounter with Grace & Truth.

Blood was associated with pagan religious rituals, but the reason God forbade the Hebrews to consume blood is its connection with life and death, two areas that fall under the jurisdiction of God. The book of Leviticus 17:10-11 warns: “If any man of the house of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life.”

the blood prohibition in Scripture
Blood is prohibited to the Israelites by God to counteract idolatrous practices they may have picked up from the Egyptians or other pagans. Worship of false gods of the time involved drinking the blood of animals. The people who were falsely worshiping the animal as a god believed that drinking the animal’s blood would then impart its life force and any presumed god-like qualities to the idolater. The LORD’s prohibition focuses on the fact that only the one God of the Israelites is the God of life.

a prophetic passage
The most mysterious thing about the passage from the book of Leviticus is the prophetic nature of God’s words to the Israelites: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls.” This appears to point ahead to Jesus Christ, and especially to the explanation in the Letter to the Hebrews about how it is that Jesus is able to bring about our salvation. You can learn more in Lesson 10 Mediator of the New Covenant in the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study The Letter to the Hebrews: An Explanation of the Mechanism of Our Salvation.

Jesus lifts this prohibition against drinking blood when he establishes the sacrament of the Eucharist. Jesus can do this because he’s God. The reasoning behind what Jesus is suggesting isn’t apparent, even to Peter, who nevertheless recognizes this truth enough to express it. In the case of the Eucharist, the life force that resides in Jesus’ blood is connected to eternal life and not to a false god. It’s this that the Jews fail to understand in the sixth chapter in the Gospel According to John.

WHAT DO YOU THINK about the sacrament of the Eucharist?
The Eucharist, in which Catholics receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, is often called the sacrament of sacraments.

?  What do you do to prepare to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist each week at Sunday Mass?
?  How has receiving the Eucharist effected your day-to-day life?
?  How would you explain the Eucharist to a non-Catholic friend?
?  What can you do to increase your awareness of the gift that is the sacrament of the Eucharist?

the best Catholic commentary about Scripture
To find out more about how Church teaching is supported by Scripture passages in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus, check out the Index of Citations in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Links to the primary Scripture passages in the lesson (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition [RSVCE*]) and relevant paragraphs in the Catechism are provided here. Not every passage in the biblical text for this Catholic study is referenced in a Catechism paragraph, however.

the book of Exodus 29:1–30—paragraph 1539
the book of Exodus 29:7—paragraph 436

ways our glossary might prove helpful
In addition to providing extra information about geographical locations, our glossary also points out when a person or place is mentioned in the biblical text under more than one name or more than one spelling. If you can remember a name but aren’t sure in which lesson it shows up, you can find it in the glossary, which lists every proper noun that appears in the biblical text for every lesson in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus.

to learn more, read more Scripture
If you’re having difficulty with a particular passage of Scripture, it can be helpful to read the relevant cross references—but looking these up can take time. To make that easier, we’ve compiled the cross references from the Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE)—the translation that we reprint in our study books. That list can be found at the top of every online study page accompanying this study, and it includes links to each of the cross references in the primary biblical text for You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus.

don’t forget about our indexes & extra online material
If you’re trying to locate information about a specific Scripture passage, you can look it up in the index at the back of the study book or sample lesson. If you want to find a particular commentary, you can look up its title in the topics index. To learn more about another book of the Bible for which there’s a Turning to God’s Word study, visit the online study directories to read the commentaries and watch any accompanying videos. Finally, if you have a question or would like to make a comment about any of our studies, you can use one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons to email our authors.

ex libris—Church documents & books about religious topics
Link to magisterial documents referred to in our Bible studies at ex libris—magisterial documents. This listing includes significant recent encyclicals as well as a number of historical Church documents. Recommended books related to Scripture study can be found at ex libris—main bookshelf.

wondering how to pronounce some of these words?
The following link is to a reading from the New International Version (NIV) Bible. To listen, open the link and click on the audio icon above the printed text. Although not taken from the translations used in our study materials, the NIV reading provides an audio guide to pronunciation of words in this lesson’s primary biblical text. A close online version of the translation of the Bible used in Catholic liturgy in the United States as well as an audio guide for daily Mass readings for the current month can be found on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

the book of Exodus 29:1–46 (NIV)

round black doveclose with Bible-based prayer related to this lesson
Many of our Catholic study groups like to conclude their discussions with a prayer based on the scriptural focus of their lesson, and some participants include Scripture-specific prayer in their individual study. If you’re uncomfortable composing your own Bible-based prayers, you can follow our four easy steps. If you prefer, you can use the following short prayer based on this lesson’s text from the book of Exodus.

O God, you exercise divine patience in bringing about
the possibility of salvation for all of humanity.
Help us to embrace the opportunities you provide
for us to exercise patience in our own lives,
and increase our understanding of your will and our individual holiness.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ,
who exhibited divine patience in all of his dealings with sinful humanity. Amen.

Lesson 23 Worship Instructions; God Chooses His Artisans, the book of Exodus 30:1—31:18
Lesson 21 Holy Garments for the Priests, the book of Exodus 27:1—28:43

you also may like our study of the book of Revelation
REVELATION LOOK 022516The Revelation of Jesus Christ: The Faithful Witness, a 23-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, examines ways in which our traditional Christian view of heaven is built on Hebrew apocalyptic visions recorded in the Old Testament. This recently revised study includes maps and additional commentary and takes a close look at the role of the prophets in present-day Christianity. Illustrations by Tami Palladino depict the often-misunderstood images in the book of Revelation. Click on the book’s cover to view a sample lesson.

start a Turning to God’s Word Bible study
Thank you for your interest in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus. Information about beginning a Turning to God’s Word Bible study can be found at start a Bible study. Tami, Matthew, and I are available to answer your questions and to offer support. You may use this email to contact us directly if you’re interested in starting a Turning to God study or in having your study schedule listed with other TtGW study groups on our website. —Jennifer

*There are seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament—the Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and First and Second Maccabees, as well as some passages in the Books of Esther and Daniel. Protestants usually refer to these works as “apocryphal,” a word that means “outside the (Protestant) canon” because they’re excluded from most Protestant Bibles. The word “deuterocanonical” means “second canon”; Catholics use that word to refer to any section of the Catholic Old Testament for which there are no extant, or existing, Hebrew manuscripts. All of the deuterocanonical books appear in the Septuagint, the earliest remaining versions of which date to the 1st century B.C. This Greek translation of the Old Testament was in common use by Jews at the time of Jesus. Learn more by reading How Do Catholic & Protestant Bibles Differ?

Turning to God’s Word printed Bible studies use the 2006 Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE) translation for all Scripture references except those to the Psalms, which are taken from The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey and published in 2020 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). All Scripture links for the online study pages for You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus are to the 1966 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) translation. The New International Version (NIV) audio recordings follow the same chapter and verse numbering as the RSV Catholic translations, but the NIV translation doesn’t include the deuterocanonical books and passages.

The 1966 RSVCE uses archaic pronouns and verb forms such as “thee,” “thou,” “didst” in the Psalms and in direct quotations attributed to God. The 2006 RSV2CE replaces those with more accessible English. The few significant translation changes in the RSV2CE include rendering almah as “virgin” in the Book of Isaiah 7:14 and restoring the term “begotten” in the Gospel According to John 3:16.

Numbering varies for some passages in this Bible study. Turning to God’s Word studies (print and digital) follow the numbering in the Revised Standard Version Catholic translations (RSV2CE and RSVCE). Discrepancies in the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) are noted in the Index of Scripture Citations in the study book and the online sample.

You can learn more about the Psalms by viewing a sample lesson from the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. The second part of that study, Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline, is scheduled for publication in 2025. Some verse numbers may vary in different translations of the Psalms.