Numbers 8:21

8:21 The Levites purified themselves ¹  and washed their clothing; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to purify them.

Numbers 20:26

20:26 Remove Aaron’s priestly garments ²  and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors ³  and will die there.”

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¹ tn The verb is the Hitpael of חָטָּא (khatta’). In this stem the meaning of the root “to sin” is likely to be connected to the noun “sin/purification” offering in a denominative sense, although some would take it as a privative usage, “to remove sin.” The idea is clear enough: They performed all the ritual in order to purify themselves ceremonially.

² tn The word “priestly” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “will be gathered”; this is a truncated form of the usual expression “gathered to his ancestors,” found in v. 24. The phrase “to his ancestors” is supplied in the translation here.