Leviticus16
English Standard Version
1The Lord to the of the of , when they drew near the Lord and ,
2and the Lord to , your not to at any into the Place the , the that is on the , so that he may not . For I will in the over the seat.
3But in this shall come the Place: with a from the for a and a for a .
4He shall the and shall have the on his , and he shall the around his , and the linen ; are the . He shall his in and then put them .
5And he shall from the of the of for a , and for a .
6 shall the as a for himself and shall for and for his .
7Then he shall the and them the Lord at the of the of .
8And shall over the , for the Lord and the for .
9And shall the on which the for the Lord and it as a ,
10but the on which the for shall be the Lord to over it, that it may be into the to .
11 shall the as a for himself, and shall for himself and for his . He shall the as a for himself.
12And he shall a of of from the the Lord, and of , and he shall it the
13and the on the the Lord, that the of the may the that is over the , so that he does not .
14And he shall of the of the and it with his on the of the on the , and in of the he shall some of the with his .
15Then he shall the of the that is for the and its the and with its as he with the of the , it over the and in of the .
16Thus he shall for the , because of the of the of and because of their , all their . And so he shall for the of , which with them in the of their .
17No may be in the of from the time he to in the he and has made for himself and for his and for all the of .
18Then he shall to the that is the Lord and for it, and shall some of the of the and some of the of the , and it on the of the all .
19And he shall some of the on it with his , and it and it from the of the of .
20And when he has made an of for the and the of and the , he shall the .
21And shall his on the of the , and over it all the of the of , and all their , all their . And he shall them on the of the and into the by the of a who is in .
22The shall all their on itself to a , and he shall let the in the .
23Then shall come the of and shall the that he when he went the and shall them there.
24And he shall his in in a and his and and his and the of the and for himself and for the .
25And the of the he shall on the .
26And he who the go to shall his and his in , and he may come the .
27And the for the and the for the , whose was to in the , shall be the . Their and their and their shall be with .
28And he who them shall his and his in , and he may come the .
29And it shall be a to you that in the , on the day of the , you shall and shall no , either the or the who you.
30For on this shall be made for you to you. You shall be the Lord from all your .
31It is a of to you, and you shall ; it is a .
32And the who is and as in his place shall , the .
33He shall for the , and he shall for the of and for the , and he shall for the and for all the of the .
34And this shall be a for you, that may be made for the of in the because of all their . And as the Lord Moses.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Leviticus 16.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The great day of atonement. (1–14). The sacrifices on it, The scape-goat. (15–34).
vv1-14
Without entering into particulars of the sacrifices on the great day of atonement, we may notice that it was to be a statute for ever, till that dispensation be at an end. As long as we are continually sinning, we continually need the atonement. The law of afflicting our souls for sin, is a statue which will continue in force till we arrive where all tears, even those of repentance, will be wiped from our eyes. The apostle observes it as a proof that the sacrifices could not take away sin, and cleanse the conscience from it, that in them there was a remembrance made of sin every year, upon the day of atonement, Heb 10:1, 3. The repeating the sacrifices, showed there was in them but a feeble effort toward making atonement; this could be done only by offering up the body of Christ once for all; and that sacrifice needed not to be repeated. (Le 16:15-34)
vv15-34
Here are typified the two great gospel privileges, of the remission of sin, and access to God, both of which we owe to our Lord Jesus. See the expiation of guilt. Christ is both the Maker and the Matter of the atonement; for he is the Priest, the High Priest, that makes reconciliation for the sins of the people. And as Christ is the High Priest, so he is the Sacrifice with which atonement is made; for he is all in all in our reconciliation to God. Thus he was figured by the two goats. The slain goat was a type of Christ dying for our sins; the scape-goat a type of Christ rising again for our justification. The atonement is said to be completed by putting the sins of Israel upon the head of the goat, which was sent away into a wilderness, a land not inhabited; and the sending away of the goat represented the free and full remission of their sins. He shall bear upon him all their iniquities. Thus Christ, the Lamb of God, takes away the sin of the world, by taking it upon himself, Joh 1:29. The entrance into heaven, which Christ made for us, was typified by the high priest's entrance into the most holy place. See Heb 9:7. The high priest was to come out again; but our Lord Jesus ever lives, making intercession, and always appears in the presence of God for us. Here are typified the two great gospel duties of faith and repentance. By faith we put our hands upon the head of the offering; relying on Christ as the Lord our Righteousness, pleading his satisfaction, as that which alone is able to atone for our sins, and procure us a pardon. By repentance we afflict our souls; not only fasting for a time from the delights of the body, but inwardly sorrowing for sin, and living a life of self-denial, assuring ourselves, that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. By the atonement we obtain rest for our souls, and all the glorious liberties of the children of God. Sinner, get the blood of Christ effectually applied to thy soul, or else thou canst never look God in the face with any comfort or acceptance. Take this blood of Christ, apply it by faith, and see how it atones with God.
Key Words
דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
אַחַר: properly, the hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjunction, after (in various senses)
מָוֶת: death (natural or violent); concretely, the dead, their place or state (hades); figuratively, pestilence, ruin
שְׁנַיִם: two; also (as ordinal) twofold
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אַהֲרוֹן: Aharon, the brother of Moses
פָּנִים: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
מוּת: to die (literally or figuratively); causatively, to kill
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
Cross References
Leviticus 16The High Priest enters the inner room alone once a year, typifying Christ's unique mediatorial entry.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
The scapegoat bearing away Israel's iniquities typifies Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away worldly sin.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The sin offering burned outside the camp directly prefigures Jesus suffering outside the gate of Jerusalem.
The high priest entering the most holy place once a year prefigures Christ's entrance into heaven.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Refers to the immediate historical catalyst: the deaths of Nadab and Abihu for unauthorized incense offering.
Supported by JFB
Contrasts the Levitical high priest's need to offer for his own sins with Christ's sinless offering.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The annual repetition of the Day of Atone-ment served as a yearly remembrance of sins.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Laying hands on the goat to transfer guilt parallel's Yahweh laying on Christ the iniquity of all.
The goat bearing the people's iniquities typifies Christ Himself bearing our sins in His own body.
The annual command to make atonement on the horns of the altar on the Day of Atonement.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Contrast between priests needing daily/annual sacrifices for themselves and Christ offering Himself once.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Expands on the specific details of making an atonement with the live scapegoat.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Christ entered the Holy Place by His own blood, not the blood of goats and calves.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Sending the goat into a remote land illustrates God removing our transgressions as far as east from west.
The goat bearing away iniquities typifies Christ, who was offered once to bear the sins of many.
The goat lost in the wilderness represents God casting all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Parallel instruction establishing the tenth day of the seventh month as the Day of Atonement.
The detailed execution of the High Priest's bullock offering introduced generally in verse 6.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
These repeated sacrifices serve as an annual reminder of sins, demonstrating their ultimate insufficiency.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Christ entering into heaven itself, the true holy place, appearing before the presence of God.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallel instruction on applying blood to the altar of incense to cleanse it from uncleanness.
Supported by JFB
Explains the physical and spiritual practice of 'afflicting one's soul' through fasting and self-humiliation.
Mandates that Aaron make atonement upon the horns of the altar once in a year forever.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Establishes the location of the mercy seat within the second veil of the tabernacle.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The multitude praying outside the sanctuary while the priest offers incense inside.
Supported by JFB
The NT reference to 'the Fast' denotes the Day of Atonement described in this passage.
Reiterates the command to have a holy convocation and afflict your souls on this day.
Indicates the yearly repetition of these sacrifices proves they could never make the comers perfect.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Reinforces the mandate that the priest must first offer for himself before offering for the people.
Supported by JFB
Verbal echo and parallel action of casting lots to decide a matter under divine providence.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Instructions for burning sweet incense, which forms the protective cloud over the mercy seat.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the specific ritual action of sprinkling sacrificial blood seven times before the sanctuary.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Summarizes the Day of Atonement cleansing for the sanctuary, altar, priests, and people.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Prescribes the specific linen breeches required to cover the priest's nakedness during service.
Supported by Matthew Poole
New Testament parallel of casting lots to discover the divine will and selection.
Supported by Matthew Poole