Kommentar zu Wajikra 8:11

ויז ממנו על המזבח AND HE SPRINKLED THEREOF UPON THE ALTAR — I do not know where he was given any command about these sprinklings (cf., however Nachmanides).

AND HE SPRINKLED THEREOF [i.e., of the anointing oil] UPON THE ALTAR. Rashi commented: “I do not know where Moses was commanded about these sprinklings.” It is possible that that which He said of the altar, and thou shalt sanctify the altar, and the altar shall be most holy,¹⁹³Ibid., Verse 10. means that he should add this sanctification to the altar through the sprinklings [of the anointing oil], and it could not be done merely by anointing the altar, for the expression and the altar shall be most holy, means that he should give it an additional sanctity above that of the other anointed things in the Tabernacle and all its vessels. Moses thus sanctified the altar in the same way that he was commanded to do to the ministering priests, concerning whom He said, and thou shalt sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments,¹⁹⁴Ibid., 29:21. since the altar, which is the vessel for the offerings, is not of a lesser degree of holiness than the garments of the ministering priests, and it is an inference from minor to major [that if the garments had to be sprinkled with the anointing oil, surely the altar, being more holy, had to be sprinkled]! And so also is it said with reference to the Day of Atonement, And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it [the altar] with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleannesses of the children of Israel.¹⁹⁵Further, 16:19. Thus [we see that] all sanctifications of the altar were done by sprinklings, and it follows all the more so that [when the altar was consecrated] at the very beginning that it had to be sanctified by sprinkling from uncleanness and “strangeness” [i.e., from that which is not holy].
Scripture did not mention here [in Verse 13] the anointing of Aaron’s sons, for it is self-evident that Moses did to them as he did to their father, in accordance with that which he was commanded, And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father,¹⁹⁶Exodus 40:15. and He included it here in saying with reference to the sons that everything was done as the Eternal commanded Moses.¹⁹⁷Verse 13.
It appears to me that the anointing of Aaron’s sons was not done by means of pouring the oil on their heads, for that is said only of Aaron, Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his [Aaron’s] head, and anoint him,¹⁹⁸Exodus 29:7. but the anointing of the sons is not mentioned there at all, as it was not done by means of pouring the oil as in Aaron’s case. It is [also] possible that there was no anointing of the sons, except for the sprinklings which Moses sprinkled on Aaron’s sons and their garments from the oil of anointment. Thus you see in the section of And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them¹⁹⁹Ibid., Verse 1. that He commanded to anoint the father [i.e., Aaron], as it says, Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head,¹⁹⁸Exodus 29:7. but did not command to anoint the sons at all, either by pouring of the oil, or by anointing. However, in the section of the erection of the Tabernacle He says, And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father,¹⁹⁶Exodus 40:15. because He did not mention the sprinklings there at all, [hence He mentioned “anointing,” whilst referring really to sprinkling]. Similarly, in the section of the oil of anointment [the verse mentions anointing of Aaron and his sons¹⁸⁸Exodus 30:26 and 30. because it does not mention the sprinklings at all]. But both sprinkling and anointing are nowhere mentioned with reference to the sons of Aaron in one place. Therefore I say that he only did one of the two to them, namely, the sprinklings.

[This apparent error in the sequence (we already had reference to verse 12) is not an error on my part, but I am copying the sequence as printed in my version of the Tur, where this does not appear in the corrections at the end as an error. Ed.] ויז ממנו על המזבח, “he sprinkled from it on the altar, etc.” Rashi claims that he does not know whence Moses had been instructed to do this. Nachmanides feels that it is possible that this was included in the verse in which the altar had been sanctified, i.e. in the instructions commencing in Exodus According to verse 10 of that chapter, the altar was to be both anointed and sanctified, as a result of which it would become “holy of holies.” The implication of the wording is that the additional sanctification may have been achieved through the sprinkling of this blood on the altar seven times. The sanctity status of the altar exceeded that of the rest of the Tabernacle because the altar had not only been anointed with the special oil, but had also had sacrificial blood sprinkled on it. It is no more than logical that the “additional” sanctity achieved by the altar was the result of it having been treated like the people who actively presented the offerings in the Tabernacle, i.e. by being anointed also with the same oil.

I do not know... The Ramban [suggests that the source of this command is] because it says regarding the altar (Shemos 40:10): “[Sanctify the altar] so that the altar becomes holy of holies,” which indicates that additional sanctification and sprinkling was necessary, more than [the sanctification] for the other vessels. But it appears to me it is because the altar was not like the other vessels of the Mishkan, in that the hollow of the altar was filled with earth and the anointing was for the copper [exterior] alone. However, there was no anointing for the earth that filled its hollow space. Therefore, he sprinkled unto the altar in the place where they were bringing sacrifices after it was filled with earth. It needed anointing because it was no less than other vessels (Gur Aryeh).