What Does Exodus 40:15 Mean?
You shall anoint them with oil, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests; for their anointing shall be a priesthood of the ages throughout their generations.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office: for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.THE KEY
The oil marks particular people for a priesthood that continues through generations.
THE MEANING
This verse presents priestly service as a received role: anointing marks the sons for service to God, and their priesthood continues through generations. Each generation carries the same office forward.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a role of service ends with the person first entrusted with it: the verse carries the priesthood through their generations.
THE ROOT
וּמָשַׁחְתָּ
ūmāšaḥtā
GROWS FROM
משח
to smear, anoint
“anoint, anointed, anointing” in this verse is ūmāšaḥtā. The root also gives מִשְׁחָה (mishchah, anointing) and מָשִׁיחַ (mashiach, anointed one). Here the repeated act marks a role that is conferred on the sons and carried forward through generations.
ALSO GROWS
mishchah: anointing
מִשְׁחָה
It names the act that marks the sons for their priestly role.
mashiach: anointed one
מָשִׁיחַ
It shows how the same root can name the person marked by anointing.
וְכִהֲנוּ
wə-kihănû
GROWS FROM
כהן
to serve as a priest
“serve as priests” in this verse is wə-kihănû. The verb translated “minister” shares its root with כֹּהֵן (kohen, priest) and כְּהֻנָּה (kehunah, priesthood). The Hebrew ties their service directly to the priestly office that continues through generations.
ALSO GROWS
kohen: priest
כֹּהֵן
It identifies the specific role the sons serve in.
kehunah: priesthood
כְּהֻנָּה
It names the office linked to their service and its continuation.
THE PATTERN
Anointing marks a calling that continues beyond the moment it is received.
You gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and set the caps on them. The priest's office is theirs by statute for the ages, and you fill the hands of Aaron and his sons.Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the breath of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.But the anointing you have received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. As the same anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is no lie, you will remain in him, even as it has taught you.THE THREAD
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the breath of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.The Hebrew root מָשַׁח (māšaḥ, to anoint) is the same root behind “anointed” here and in David’s anointing. There, the LORD’s breath comes upon David from that day forward; here, the anointing carries a priesthood through generations.
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