Ecclesiasticus 45: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

This chapter continues the praise of Israel's ancestors, turning to Moses, Aaron, and Phinees. It tells how God chose Moses, spoke with him and gave him the law, and how he raised up Aaron, gave him the priesthood by an everlasting covenant, and describes his robes, crown, and duties, along with the share he received and the fact that he had no land of his own. It recalls the conspiracy of Dathan, Abiron, and Core and their destruction, names Phinees as third in glory with his covenant of peace, and closes with a wish for wisdom to judge God's people.

Claim by Claim

1. 45:1
   • He brought out of him a merciful man.
   • That man found favour in the sight of all flesh.
   • That man is Moses.
   • Moses was beloved by God and by men.
   • The memorial of Moses is blessed.
2. 45:2
   • He made Moses like the glorious holy ones.
   • He magnified Moses.
   • Moses' enemies stood in fear of him.
3. 45:3
   • By Moses' words he caused the wonders to cease.
   • He made Moses glorious in the sight of kings.
   • He gave Moses a commandment for his people.
   • He showed Moses part of his glory.
4. 45:4
   • He sanctified Moses in his faithfulness and meekness.
   • He chose Moses out of all flesh.
5. 45:5
   • He made Moses hear his voice.
   • He brought Moses into the dark cloud.
   • He gave Moses commandments before his face.
   • The commandments were the law of life and knowledge.
   • The purpose was that Moses might teach Jacob the covenant.
   • The purpose was that Moses might teach Israel his judgments.
6. 45:6
   • He exalted Aaron.
   • Aaron was a holy man like Moses.
   • Aaron was the brother of Moses.
   • Aaron was of the tribe of Levi.
7. 45:7
   • He made an everlasting covenant with Aaron.
   • He gave Aaron the priesthood among the people.
   • He beautified Aaron with comely ornaments.
   • He clothed Aaron with a robe of glory.
8. 45:8
   • He put perfect glory upon Aaron.
   • He strengthened Aaron with garments of power.
   • The garments included breeches.
   • The garments included a long robe.
   • The garments included the ephod.
9. 45:9
   • He compassed Aaron about with pomegranates.
   • He compassed Aaron about with many golden bells.
   • The bells were to make a sound as Aaron went.
   • The sound was to be heard in the temple.
   • The sound was for a memorial to the children of his people.
10. 45:10
    • Aaron was clothed with a holy garment.
    • The garment was made with gold, blue, and purple.
    • The garment was the work of an embroiderer.
    • Aaron was given a breastplate of judgment.
    • Aaron was given the Urim and Thummim.
11. 45:11
    • The work was made with twisted scarlet.
    • It was the work of a skilled workman.
    • It had precious stones engraved like seals.
    • The stones were set in gold.
    • The setting was the work of a jeweller.
    • There was a writing engraved for a memorial.
    • The engraving was after the number of the tribes of Israel.
12. 45:12
    • He set a crown of gold upon the mitre.
    • Upon the crown was engraved the word Holiness.
    • The crown was an ornament of honour.
    • The crown was a costly work.
    • The crown was the desire of the eyes.
    • The crown was goodly and beautiful.
13. 45:13
    • Before Aaron there were no such things.
    • No stranger ever put those garments on.
    • Only Aaron's children wore them.
    • Only Aaron's children's children wore them, perpetually.
14. 45:14
    • Their sacrifices shall be wholly consumed.
    • The sacrifices are offered twice every day continually.
15. 45:15
    • Moses consecrated Aaron.
    • Moses anointed Aaron with holy oil.
    • This was appointed to Aaron by an everlasting covenant.
    • The covenant was also to Aaron's seed.
    • The covenant lasts as long as the heavens remain.
    • Aaron and his seed should minister to him.
    • Aaron and his seed should execute the office of the priesthood.
    • Aaron and his seed should bless the people in his name.
16. 45:16
    • He chose Aaron out of all men living.
    • Aaron was chosen to offer sacrifices to the Lord.
    • Aaron was chosen to offer incense and a sweet savour for a memorial.
    • Aaron was chosen to make reconciliation for the people.
17. 45:17
    • He gave Aaron his commandments.
    • He gave Aaron authority in the statutes of judgments.
    • Aaron was to teach Jacob the testimonies.
    • Aaron was to instruct Israel in his law.
18. 45:18
    • Strangers conspired together against Aaron.
    • They maligned him in the wilderness.
    • The conspirators were the men on the side of Dathan and Abiron.
    • The congregation of Core was among them.
    • They acted with fury and wrath.
19. 45:19
    • The Lord saw this.
    • It displeased the Lord.
    • They were consumed in his wrathful indignation.
    • He did wonders upon them.
    • He consumed them with a fiery flame.
20. 45:20
    • He made Aaron more honourable.
    • He gave Aaron an heritage.
    • He divided to Aaron the firstfruits of the increase.
    • He prepared bread in abundance for them.
21. 45:21
    • They eat of the sacrifices of the Lord.
    • He gave those sacrifices to Aaron and to his seed.
22. 45:22
    • Aaron had no inheritance in the land of the people.
    • Aaron had no portion among the people.
    • The Lord himself is Aaron's portion and inheritance.
23. 45:23
    • Phinees son of Eleazar is the third in glory.
    • Phinees had zeal in the fear of the Lord.
    • Phinees stood up with good courage of heart.
    • The people had turned back.
    • Phinees made reconciliation for Israel.
24. 45:24
    • Therefore a covenant of peace was made with Phinees.
    • The covenant made him chief of the sanctuary and of his people.
    • The covenant gave him and his posterity the dignity of the priesthood for ever.
25. 45:25
    • A covenant was made with David son of Jesse.
    • David was of the tribe of Juda.
    • The inheritance of the king passes to his posterity alone.
    • So the inheritance of Aaron passes to his seed.
26. 45:26
    • May God give you wisdom in your heart.
    • The wisdom is to judge his people in righteousness.
    • The purpose is that their good things not be abolished.
    • The purpose is that their glory endure for ever.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

45:1

This continues the roll call of Israel's ancestors begun in the previous chapter. "From him" means from Israel, that is Jacob, the last name mentioned before this. "Whose memory is blessed" was a standing formula attached to the name of an honored dead man, roughly "may he be well remembered."

45:2

Where the King James has "glorious saints," the Greek word means "holy ones," a usual term for the heavenly beings around God rather than for holy human beings.

45:3

The "wonders" are the plagues of Egypt, which Moses both called down and called off by a word. The "kings" before whom he was honored means Pharaoh and his court.

45:4

The Greek word behind "gentleness" covers both mildness of temper and humility. It echoes Numbers 12:3, which calls Moses the meekest man on earth.

45:5

At Sinai the mountain was wrapped in thick cloud and darkness, and Moses went up into it to receive the law. "Face to face" was an ordinary idiom for dealing directly, as one person deals with another. "Jacob" and "Israel" are both names for the nation descended from the man who bore them; Hebrew poetry regularly pairs the two.

45:6

Levi was one of the twelve tribes, set apart for work at the sanctuary. Within it, only the family of Aaron served as priests; the rest of the Levites did the supporting work of guarding, carrying and singing.

45:7

A priest was a man whose job was helping people worship God.

45:8

The ephod was a sleeveless vestment worn by the high priest over his robe, with the breastpiece fastened to it. The "breeches" of the King James are the linen undergarments priests were required to wear when serving at the altar, for modesty.

45:9

Small woven pomegranates and gold bells alternated around the hem of the high priest's robe, so that he could be heard as he moved in the sanctuary. "Temple" is loose here: in Aaron's day the sanctuary was a portable tent, but the writer, living many centuries later, uses the word for the Jerusalem temple he knew.

45:10

The "breastplate of judgment" was a folded pouch of cloth worn on the chest; it is called a breastpiece of judgment or decision because of what it held. The Urim and Thummim were two objects kept inside it, used to obtain a yes or no answer from God. How they worked is never described, and the two words, which seem to mean something like "lights" and "perfections," are never explained.

45:11

A seal was a small stone carved in reverse and pressed into wet clay or wax to mark a document as yours; a stone "cut like a seal" is one with lettering engraved into its face. The twelve stones on the breastpiece carried the names of the twelve tribes, one to a stone.

45:12

A thin plate of gold was tied to the front of the high priest's headdress, engraved with the words "Holiness to the LORD." The King James "mitre" means a turban of linen wound around the head, not the pointed hat later worn by bishops.

45:13

"Stranger" here does not mean a foreigner. It means anyone outside Aaron's family, including other Israelites and even Levites of other families, none of whom could wear the priestly vestments.

45:14

"Burned up completely" is the technical description of a whole burnt offering, one in which nothing is held back to be eaten by the priest or the worshiper. The twice daily offering meant is the grain offering the high priest presented every morning and evening.

45:15

Anointing meant pouring perfumed olive oil over a man's head, the ceremony that installed him in office. The same act made kings, and the words "Messiah" and "Christ" both simply mean "anointed."

45:16

"As a reminder" translates a technical term. A handful of a grain offering was burned on the altar and called the memorial portion, the part that brought the giver to mind before God. "Reconciliation" renders the word usually translated as atonement: the ritual covering or removal of an offense.

45:17

Priests were not only sacrificers but judges and teachers. Part of the office was giving rulings in disputes and deciding what was clean or unclean, which is what "the rules for making decisions" refers to.

45:18

Core and Abiron are the Greek spellings of Korah and Abiram. Numbers 16 tells of their revolt against Moses and against Aaron's family holding the priesthood alone. "Strangers" again means outsiders to that family, not foreigners.

45:19

In the account the ground opened and swallowed the ringleaders with their households, and fire burned up the two hundred and fifty men who had offered incense as a challenge to Aaron.

45:20

The firstfruits were the first and best part of each harvest, owed to the sanctuary and assigned to the priests as their living. The bread meant is the loaves that came to the priests from the offerings brought in.

45:21

Priests were fed from the offerings: fixed portions of most sacrifices went to them and their families rather than being burned. This was their income, not a privilege added to one.

45:22

When Canaan was divided among the tribes, Levi received no territory of its own, only towns to live in, and was supported by tithes and offerings instead. "Portion and inheritance" was the ordinary legal language for a family's allotted farmland, used here for what the priests had in place of land.

45:23

Phinees is the Greek spelling of Phinehas, grandson of Aaron. Numbers 25 tells how, during a plague that followed Israelite involvement in the worship of Baal of Peor, he ran a spear through an Israelite man and a Midianite woman, and the plague stopped. "Zeal" here means fierce, jealous defense of God's honor, not eagerness in the modern sense.

45:24

The "covenant of peace" comes from Numbers 25:12, where Phinehas and his descendants are promised the priesthood permanently. Being "head of the holy place" means holding the chief office at the sanctuary, the high priesthood.

45:25

The covenant with David is the promise that the kingship would stay in his family. The Greek of this verse is awkward and translations differ: it can be read as saying that a king's inheritance passes to a single heir, while Aaron's passes to all his descendants alike, or simply that both lines are hereditary in the same way.

45:26

The "you" is plural, and the writer breaks off his third person praise to address his readers directly. The chapter ends as a spoken blessing over the priests of his own day.