Or HaChaim on Leviticus 9:22/אור החיים על ויקרא ט׳:כ״ב

1 וישא אהרון אח ידיו, Aaron raised his hands, etc. Torat Kohanim claims that this verse is truncated and the words: "he descended from offering the sin-offering, etc." should have been written before the words "he raised his hands and blessed them." We therefore have to explore why the Torah chose this unusual sequence. Perhaps when Aaron realised that the Presence of G'd had not manifested itself (by consuming the fat and meat on the altar by means of heavenly fire) he may have felt that both he and the people had not yet been completely exonerated from their respective share in the sin of the golden calf. He therefore considered himself as having brought a curse on the people. By raising his hands already at this time and blessing the people, Aaron hoped to counteract that curse. Only after he had blessed the people did he feel that he had really completed the ritual of the sin-offering. He was then able to descend from the altar secure in the knowledge that he had done all he could. Perhaps the Torah wanted the blessing of the Israelites to be included in the procedure of offering the sin-offering because it also exonerated Aaron from his share in the guilt. The word וירד may also refer to a spiritual descent; when Aaron saw that the שכינה had not yet descended, he felt reduced in stature, i.e. וירד. Torat Kohanim on our verse reports Aaron as having cried out to Moses that the latter had commanded him to present these offerings on the altar only to now shame him when G'd had not indicated that He had accepted these offerings. Moses then entered the Tabernacle together with Aaron and after they asked G'd to show mercy the fire from heaven materialised.