Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Clifford B. Kvidahl on the High Priest in the Old Testament assuming the guilt of the people

  

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)