Perhaps the definitive role
associated with the Levitical priesthood is the officiating of the sacrifice
and the duty of the high priest in assuming the burden of Israel’s sin. The
duty of bearing the burden of Israel’s sin is first set out to Aaron in a
chapter focused on a description of the high priestly garments. Moses is commanded
by Yahweh to make a pure plate of gold and engrave on it the words “Holy to the
Lord,” after which he is to fasten it upon the turban with a blue cord (Exod
28:36-37). By wearing the engraving upon his forehead, Aaron assumed the
guilt of the people (וְנָשָׂ֙א אַהֲרֹ֜ן אֶת־עֲוֹ֣ן הַקֳּדָשִׁ֗ים; εξαρει Ααρων τα αμαρτηματα των αγιων), which transfers from the officiant
to the high priest by means of the sacrifice. This transfer of guilt is also
seen in Lev 10:17, where Moses chastises Eleazar and Ithamar for not eating the
flesh of the goat of the sin offering and thus “bearing the iniquity of the
congregation” (נָתַ֣ן לָכֶ֗ם לָשֵׂאת֙ אֶת־עֲוֹ֣ן הָעֵדָ֔ה; ινα αφελητε την αμαρτιαν της συναγωγης). What is of significance here is
the transference of sin from one person/people group to that of the high
priest, who alone is able to bear the transferred sin. (Clifford B. Kvidahl, “’You
Are a Priest Forever’: An Exegetical and Biblical Theology of High Priestly
Christology,” in Written for Our Instruction: Essays in Honor of William
Varner, ed. Abner Chou and Christian Locatell [Dallas: Fontes Press, 2021],
249, emphasis in bold added)
