Commentaire sur L’Exode 40:27

ויקטר עליו קטרת AND HE CAUSED THE INCENSE OF AROMATICS TO ASCEND UPON IT in the morning and in the evening, as it is said, (Exodus 30:7, 8) “[And Aaron shall cause incense of aromatics to ascend thereon in fumes] every morning when he trimmeth the lamps, [and when he trimmeth the lamps at even etc.]”.

AND HE BURNT THEREON INCENSE OF SWEET SPICES. All the seven days of the installation Moses burnt the incense on the golden altar, and even though he was not specifically told to do so when he was commanded,⁹⁷In Verse 5: And thou shalt set the golden altar for incense… he did so nonetheless, for he understood that he was to do so from all the other acts of service, since G-d had commanded him here that he should set the bread⁹¹Above, Verse 4. and kindle the lamps.⁹¹Above, Verse 4. Similarly, and he offered upon it the burnt-offering and the meal-offering⁹³Further, Verse 29. means that Moses was the one who offered them, for thus he was commanded, Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar,⁹⁸Above, 29:38. meaning that he was to begin to do this when performing the Service during the days of the installation, for all commands there [about the burnt- and the meal-offering]⁹⁹Ibid., Verses 39-41. refer to Moses’ service. Afterward, it says, It shall be a continual burnt-offering throughout your generations,¹⁰⁰Ibid., Verse 42. meaning that the priests shall do throughout the generations as Moses now did. Therefore in the section of Pinchas it says about this Daily Offering, It is a continual burnt-offering, which was offered in Mount Sinai,¹⁰¹Numbers 28:6. meaning that Moses began doing it there. Thus Moses our Teacher was the first priest in all these acts of service, therefore he also burnt the incense. Perhaps this is included in the words, and thou shalt put the golden altar for incense,⁹²Ibid., Verse 5. meaning that he should immediately burn the incense on it. And that which is said at the time of the command, And thou shalt put it before the veil… and Aaron shall burn thereon the incense of sweet spices,¹⁰²Above, 30:6-7. refers to the proper time, from the day that Aaron begins his service and forever afterwards, [and does not exclude Moses’ service during the seven days], for so He said, And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at dusk,¹⁰³Ibid., Verse 8. and he only lit them from that day on, for here Moses was clearly commanded: and thou shalt light the lamps thereof.¹⁰⁴Above, Verse 4. Accordingly, the verse here in this chapter must refer to the seven days of the installation when Moses acted as the priest, and the verses above (30:6-8) refer to the time when Aaron would take charge of the service.
Now in Rashi’s commentary I have seen this text:¹⁰⁵It is not found in our texts of Rashi. “And he — Aaron — burnt thereon incense (of sweet spices) morning and evening, as it is said, every morning, when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at dusk etc.”¹⁰⁶Above, 30:7-8. But I do not know if this is the scribe’s mistake.¹⁰⁷For, as explained above, the verse here speaks of Moses doing the service, and not Aaron, since the account here is of what happened during the seven days of the installation.

,ויקטר עליו קטורת סמים “he burned up incense on it.” According to Rashi the subject of the word ויקטר is Aaron. Nachmanides writes that this is a scribe’s error, and it has to be Moses who offered this incense for he had been doing so for all the eight days of the inaugural rites. The same applies to such statements as (verse 23) ויערוך עליו ערך לחם, that he arranged the show-breads on the table, or verse 25) “that he lit the Menorah, or (verse 29) that he offered burned offerings on the altar. All the directives commencing with 40,2 were given for Moses personally to carry out. [Nachmanides is borne out by Rashi writing on verse 29 that Moses performed all these tasks on the eighth day just as he had during the preceding seven days. Ed.] The words עולת תמיד לדורותיכם in Exodus 29,42 where the priests have been charged with the Temple service (commencing with 29,38) are meant to become operative after conclusion of the inaugural rites on the first of Nissan. Even though in the chapter commanding Moses to perform all these rights, no specific mention is made of Moses also offering the incense, he understood this to be an integral part of all the other steps of the Temple service he was to perform during these seven days of inaugural consecration rites. Alternately, the presenting of the incense is automatically included in the commandment (40,5) ונתתה את מזבח הזהב לקטורת לפני ארון העדות, וגו', “you are to place the golden altar for burning incense in front of the ark of testimony, in front of the dividing curtain.” As to Exodus 30,6 where the Torah commands Moses to place the golden altar for incense in front of the dividing curtain, and for Aaron to offer incense on it, every morning, etc., this refers to the duties Aaron is to perform on a regular basis after the conclusion of the inaugural rites. We know that Aaron’s commencing his duties began with his lighting the lamps on the Menorah on the evening of the 1st of Nissan, i.e. at the end of the eighth day. In other words, he did not offer incense before, as Moses was specifically described as lighting the Menorah on the evening preceding the 1st of Nissan (40,25) as he had been commanded in 40,4.