Discovery BoxNumbers 8:21 
Context8:21 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
Context20:26 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.”
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.
