על חיי משה, ספר ב כ״טOn the Life of Moses, Book II 29
א׳
1[146] When he had attired them in these vestments, he took some very fragrant ointment which was compounded by the perfumer’s art, and applied it first to what stood in the open court, namely the great altar and the laver, sprinkling it on them seven times, then to the tabernacle and each of the sacred chattels, the ark, the candlestick, the altar of incense, the table, the libation cups or bowls, the vials, and everything else which was necessary or useful in sacrifices; and finally, coming to the high priest, he anointed him on his head plentifully with the unguent.
ב׳
2[147] Having performed all this religiously, he ordered a calf and two rams to be brought. The calf he purposed to offer to gain remission of sins, showing by this figure that sin is congenital to every created being, even the best, just because they are created, and this sin requires prayers and sacrifices to propitiate the Deity, lest His wrath be roused and visited upon them.
ג׳
3[148] Of the rams, one he offered as a whole burnt offering in thanksgiving for His ordering of the whole, that gift which each of us shares according to the part allotted through the benefits which he receives from the elements: from earth, for habitation and the food which it affords; from water, for drinking and cleansing and voyaging; from air, for breathing and perception through the senses, all of which operate by means of air, which also gives us the seasons of the year; from the fire of common use, for cooking and heating, and from the heavenly variety for light-giving and all visibility.
ד׳
4[149] The other ram he offered on behalf of those who were consecrated by the sanctifying purification for their full perfection, and accordingly called it the ram of “fulfilment,” from the full rites befitting the servants and ministers of God into which they were to be initiated.
ה׳
5[150] He then took its blood and poured part of it round the altar. The rest he received in a vial which he held underneath, and smeared it on three parts of the bodies of those who were being admitted to the priesthood, on the extremity of the ear, the extremity of the hand, the extremity of the foot, in all these on the right side. In this figure, he indicated that the fully-consecrated must be pure in words and actions and in his whole life; for words are judged by the hearing, the hand is a symbol of action, and the foot of the pilgrimage of life.
ו׳
6[151] And, as in each case the part smeared is the extreme end and on the right-hand side, we must suppose the truth indicated to be that improvement in all things needs a dexterous spirit, and seeks to reach the extreme of happiness, and the end to which we must press and refer all our actions, aiming our shafts, like archers, at the target of life.