Leviticus16
New American Standard
1Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died.
2The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the atoning cover which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the atoning cover.
3Aaron shall enter the Holy Place with this: with a bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering.
4He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be wrapped about the waist with the linen sash and the linen turban wound around his forehead (these are holy garments). He shall bathe his body in water and put them on.
5And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering.
6Then Aaron shall offer the bull as the sin offering, which is for himself, so that he may make atonement for himself and for his household.
7He shall then take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
8Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat.
9Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering.
10But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
11“Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself.
12He shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil.
13He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud of incense may cover the atoning cover that is on the ark of the testimony, otherwise he will die.
14Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the atoning cover on the east side; also in front of the atoning cover he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15“Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the atoning cover and in front of the atoning cover.
16He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and he shall do so for the tent of meeting which remains with them in the midst of their impurities.
17When he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, so that he may make atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.
18Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it; he shall take some of the blood from the bull and some of the blood from the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides.
19With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, and consecrate it from the impurities of the sons of Israel.
20“When he finishes atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat.
21Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the wrongdoings of the sons of Israel and all their unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and he shall place them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands ready.
22Then the goat shall carry on itself all their wrongdoings to an isolated territory; he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
23“Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there.
24And he shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.
25Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
26The one who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp.
27But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire.
28Then the one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; and afterward he shall come into the camp.
29“This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work, whether the native, or the stranger who resides among you;
30for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
31It is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, so that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute.
32So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall put on the linen garments, the holy garments,
33and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
34Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did.
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