Comentário sobre Êxodo 29:7

ומשחת אתו AND THOU SHALT ANOINT HIM — This anointing also, was in the form of a X: he put a drop of oil on his head and another drop between his eyebrows and joined them with his finger into this shape (Keritot 5b).

THEN SHALT THOU TAKE THE ANOINTING OIL, AND POUR IT UPON HIS HEAD. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote that this was before the setting of the mitre upon his head [mentioned in the preceding verse], for it is upon the head itself that Moses was to pour the oil. But this does not appear to me to be correct. For at the actual installation also, Scripture says, And he set the mitre upon his head etc.,¹⁷⁵Leviticus 8:9. and afterwards it says, And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the Tabernacle,¹⁷⁶Ibid., Verse 10. and subsequently it states, And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head.¹⁷⁷Ibid., Verse 12. But the correct interpretation is that he wound [the mitznepheth] around and around the head, but left the middle of the head uncovered, and it was on that place that he poured the oil. But if the anointing was upon the entire head as Rashi said,¹⁷⁸Rashi here in Verse 7: “This anointing was in the form of an X. He put a drop of oil on his head and another drop between his eyebrows and joined them with his finger.” In that case he could not have put the drop of oil on top of the head, for the mitre would then intervene between it and the drop of oil between his eyebrows. Ramban concludes that according to this comment of Rashi we must say, that the pouring of the oil etc. then [we must say] that the pouring of the oil was upon the place where the phylacteries lay, which was left uncovered, and from there he joined [the oil with his finger to the drop between his eyebrows] in the form of an X.

ויצקת על ראשו ומשחת אוהו, "and pour it upon his head and anoint him." The verse means that the oil had to be poured on his head. The same applied to the anointing of Aaron's sons. Aaron and his sons each required a separate pouring of oil upon their heads seeing that the verse referred to both of them in the same way as we know from 28,41. This is further reinforced by the wording in 40,15 where the Torah said: "you will anoint them just as you have anointed their father. Torat Kohanim on Parshat Tzav explains the meaning of that verse in the same spirit.