Leviticus 8:9

And he put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate, the holy crown; as the LORD commanded Moses.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) And he put the mitre.—See Exodus 28:36-38.

Benson Commentary

Leviticus 8:9. The holy crown — The crown signified the dignity of the high- priest, and its being termed holy, the sanctity of his person and office. Thus he was a type of Christ, crowned with glory and honour, perfectly holy, and consecrated for evermore.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:1-13 The consecration of Aaron and his sons had been delayed until the tabernacle had been prepared, and the laws of the sacrifices given. Aaron and his sons were washed with water, to signify that they ought to purify themselves from all sinful dispositions, and ever after to keep themselves pure. Christ washes those from their sins in his own blood whom he makes kings and priests to our God, Re 1:5,6; and those that draw near to God must be washed in pure water, Heb 10:22. The anointing of Aaron was to typify the anointing of Christ with the Spirit, which was not given by measure to him. All believers have received the anointing.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The holy crown - The golden plate of the mitre was so called as the distinctive badge of the high priest's consecration. See Leviticus 21:12.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

7-9. he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle—The splendor of the official vestments, together with the gorgeous tiara of the high priest, was intended, doubtless, in the first instance, to produce in the minds of the people a high respect for the ministers of religion; and in the next, from the predominant use of linen, to inculcate upon Aaron and his sons the duty of maintaining unspotted righteousness in their characters and lives.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

This here added, either because Nadab and Abihu had been led to their error by drinking too much, which might easily fall out when they were feasting and full of joy for their entrance into so honourable and profitable an employment; or at least because others might thereby be drawn to commit the same miscarriages, which they might now commit from other causes. Drunkenness is so odious a sin in itself, especially a minister, and most of all in the time of his administration of sacred things, that God saw fit to prevent all occasions of it. And hence the devil, who is God’s ape in his prescriptions for his worship, required this abstinence from his priests in their idolatrous service.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he put the mitre upon his head,.... Which was made of fine linen, and was a wrap of that of a considerable length about his head, Exodus 28:39.

also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate; which was put upon the forehead of the high priest, reaching from ear to ear, and was fastened to the mitre with a blue lace, and had on it this inscription, "holiness to the Lord": Exodus 28:36 and is here therefore called

the holy crown: denoting both the sanctity and the dignity of the high priest, and typical of Christ, who is holiness itself, and to his people, and is now crowned with glory and honour, being a priest upon the throne: hence the Jews (u) speak of the crown of the law, and of the crown of the kingdom, and of the crown of the priesthood: and this, as all the rest, was done

as the Lord commanded Moses; all these were made according to the divine order, and were put on in the manner and form he directed him; of the mystery of the mitre and the crown; see Gill on Exodus 28:39, Exodus 28:36, Exodus 28:37.

(u) Pirke Abot, c. 4. sect. 13.

Geneva Study Bible

And he put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate, the {a} holy crown; as the LORD commanded Moses.

(a) So called, because this superscription, holiness to the Lord was graven in it.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. the mitre] turban as R.V. mg. Heb. miẓnépheth in Lev. here and Leviticus 16:4 (the linen mitre) only: in Exod. (in the cognate passages) Exodus 28:4; Exodus 28:37; Exodus 28:39, Exodus 29:6, Exodus 39:28; Exodus 39:31. It was made of fine linen; tradition describes it as 24 ft. long, so it was probably wound round the head like a turban. Besides the passages quoted, where it denotes the headdress of the high priest, it occurs only in Ezekiel 21:26 (Heb. 31). (mitre R.V., diadem A.V.). Another word (ẓânîph) from the same root occurs Isaiah 62:3 (Ḳ’ri), translated ‘diadem,’ in parallelism with the common Heb. word for ‘crown’; and in Zechariah 3:5 with reference to the high priest Joshua. It is strange that ẓânîph should be used in the Zechariah passage to denote a mitre for the high priest, if miẓnépheth were already the technical term used for that portion of his attire.

Josephus (Ant. iii. 7. 6) says that the high priest’s mitre was like that of all the other priests, but another word is used (see Leviticus 8:13) for the head-dress of Aaron’s sons. He describes fully another mitre with a triple golden crown. This was probably an ornament added in later times. Alexander Balas sent a purple robe and a crown of gold to Jonathan which he wore at the Feast of Tabernacles b.c. 153 (1Ma 10:20). This may be the crown described by Josephus.

upon the mitre, in front] In A.V. ‘upon his forefront,’ ‘his’ refers to the mitre and in modern English would be ‘its.’

the golden plate, the holy crown] The golden plate is described Exodus 28:36-37. The Heb. word (ẓîẓ), translated ‘plate,’ implies something bright and glittering, and is elsewhere used of a flower. The plate was fastened by its lace of blue to the turban (Exodus 28:37, Exodus 39:31) and would appear as an ornament or diadem in the headgear of the high priest. It is called ‘the holy crown’ in Exodus 29:6, and here both names are given to it. The same combination occurs in Exodus 39:30 where the English ‘the plate of the holy crown of pure gold’ conveys the impression that the ‘plate’ and the ‘crown’ are different instead of synonymous.

Leviticus 8:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Then followed the clothing of Aaron. Moses put upon him the body-coat (Exodus 28:39) and girdle (Exodus 28:39 and Exodus 39:22), then clothes him with the mel (Exodus 28:31-35) and ephod (Exodus 28:6-14), and the choshen with the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:15-30), and put the cap (Exodus 28:39) upon his head, with the golden diadem over his forehead (Exodus 28:36-38). This investiture, regarded as the putting on of an important official dress, was a symbol of his endowment with the character required for the discharge of the duties of his office, the official costume being the outward sign of installation in the office which he was to fill.