Leviticus 16

Leviticus 16 mandates the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the annual, solemn day where the High Priest mediates for the sanctuary, the priesthood, and the entire nation of Israel. It serves as a necessary response to the holiness of God and the defilement caused by human sin.

• The Lord speaks to Moses following the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, establishing strict conditions for Aaron's approach to the Holy of Holies.
• Aaron undergoes ritual purification and prepares sin and burnt offerings for himself and the people.
• The High Priest enters the veil (פֹּרֶכֶת [H6532]) with blood to make atonement at the mercy seat (כַּפֹּרֶת [H3727]).
• The ritual of the two goats occurs, where one is sacrificed and the other is sent away as a scapegoat to bear away iniquity.
• The high priest cleanses the sanctuary, the tabernacle, and the altar, followed by a final ritual washing and the institution of the day as an everlasting statute.

• The death of Nadab and Abihu (v. 1)
• The mercy seat (כַּפֹּרֶת [H3727])
• The two goats (one for the Lord, one for Azazel/the scapegoat)
• The seventh month, tenth day
• The requirement of ritual bathing (רָחַץ [H7364])

This chapter provides the essential framework for Israel's annual reconciliation with God, highlighting that God’s presence requires purity. New Testament authors in Hebrews 9-10 contrast the annual, repetitive nature of these sacrifices with the final, efficacious sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

True atonement requires a mediator and the shedding of blood to cleanse the defilement of sin, foreshadowing the finality of Christ's work.

The text moves from a specific, urgent context (the death of Aaron's sons) to a broader, perpetual ordinance for the nation, emphasizing the necessity of precise obedience to divine procedure.

• Aaron shall not come at all times into the holy place (v. 2)
• Aaron shall wash his flesh in water and put on linen garments (v. 4)
• The congregation shall afflict their souls and do no work (v. 29)

• Aaron must follow these instructions or he will die (v. 2)
• There shall be no man in the tabernacle when he goes in to make an atonement (v. 17)

• Follows the tragic, unauthorized entry into the Holy of Holies by Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, which resulted in their death (Leviticus 10).

• Holiness was understood in the ancient Near East as a physical, intense reality; proximity to the divine was dangerous and required rigorous ritual separation and purification.

• Chapter 16 serves as the theological and structural center of the book of Leviticus, bridging the laws of ritual purity with the holiness code that follows.

• The passage establishes the pattern of the high priesthood that the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 9:7) cites as the primary shadow of Christ’s superior high priesthood.

• Leviticus 16:21 alludes to the concept of vicarious bearing of iniquity, which is later fully developed in the Suffering Servant passage of Isaiah 53:11-12.

• חַטָּאָה [H2403] (sin offering): The Hebrew root relates to missing the mark or an offense; it functions here as a technical term for the sacrifice that deals with the penalty of sin.
• פֹּרֶכֶת [H6532] (veil): Derived from a root meaning to separate or exclude, referring to the screen between the Holy Place and Most Holy Place.
• כַּפֹּרֶת [H3727] (mercy seat): Derived from the verb kpr (to cover/atone), emphasizing that this lid on the ark is the specific site where atonement is achieved.

• The specific distinction between the High Priest's personal purification (v. 6) and the national purification (v. 15).
• Matthew Henry observes that the repeating of these sacrifices showed their 'feeble effort' toward making atonement, pointing toward the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ.

• The identity of the 'scapegoat' (the word 'Azazel' in Hebrew) remains a subject of intense scholarly debate, with theories ranging from it being a demonic entity, a desolate place, or a symbolic reference to a 'goat for removal'.