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and you shall slaughter the ram and take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar.
Exodus 29:16 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB You shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the altar.
  • KJV And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar.
  • BSB You are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and sprinkle it on all sides of the altar.
  • NKJV and you shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it all around on the altar.
  • NLT Then slaughter the ram, and splatter its blood against all sides of the altar.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The ram was killed and its blood sprinkled around the altar. The blood again signified atonement and consecration.

Overview

Sprinkling the ram's blood on the altar set apart this offering and the priests being ordained. Blood marked the seriousness of approaching a holy God. This anticipates the sprinkled blood of Christ, which cleanses the conscience and brings us near to God (Heb. 12:24).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 1

  • Exod 29:11–12You shall kill the bull before Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 29:16YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.

How Exodus 29:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.