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LEVITICUS 16

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")
FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. This chapter deals with the voluntary offering of an individual to ensure or restore favor with YHWH.
   
   
2. There are several types of the whole burnt offerings (holocaust). Probably they represent different socio-economic levels.
   1. the bull (herd), Lev. 1:1-9
   2. the male sheep or goat (flock), Lev. 1:10-13
   3. the bird, Lev. 1:14-17
   
   
3. My favorite commentator on these OT ritual texts is Roland deVaux, Ancient Israel, particularly for sacrifices at pp. 415-454.
     I also enjoy the discussion on "offerings and sacrifices" in NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 996-1021.
   
   
4. There seems to be some variety of procedures but this may be attributed to the assumed knowledge of the receivers and the brevity of the writer (i.e., laying on of hands on each type of animal, a set ritual pronouncement by the officiating priest).
     There is obviously a distinction where the animal was killed.

BACKGROUND STUDY

1. All of the feast days listed in Leviticus 23 are happy, joyful praise to God days. Only the Day of Atonement, found in Leviticus 16, is a penitent fast day (i.e., no peace offerings). We need to make a distinction between most of our worship times being rejoicing occasions and yet still provide a time for sorrow and penitence over the sin in our lives.
   
   
2. Several different animal sacrifices are involved (see NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 699, #20).
   1. a sacrifice for the priest beginning in Lev. 16:3
   2. a sacrifice for the nation beginning in Lev. 16:5
   3. a sacrifice for the Holy Place beginning in Lev. 16:16
   4. a sacrifice for the altar beginning in Lev. 16:19
   5. a sacrifice for the bearing away from the entire community and Tabernacle, Lev. 16:21
   
   
3. It needs to be understood that the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement were not so much for the removal of sin from individual people as it was the removal of the taint of their collective, unintentional sins from the Tabernacle (see Lev. 15:31). God symbolically dwelt over the wings of the Cherubim over the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies (cf. Exod. 25:21-22; Num. 7:89; Ps. 80:1; 99:1). He could only remain among His people if they were ceremonially clean. Much of what they did continued to make them unclean. It is a sign of the weakness of the Old Testament system that all of the sacrifices mentioned in Leviticus 1-7 were not able to deal with the sin problem of the nation of Israel. Once a year there had to be a special sacrifice just to remove the pollution of the people from the Tabernacle and the priesthood (it had to be rededicated year after year).
   
   
4. For a good brief discussion see Roland deVaux, Ancient Israel, pp. 507-510.
   
   
5. The ritual of the Day of Atonement has extreme significance in the life of Jesus, the Messiah (cf. The book of Hebrews, particularly chapter 9). See F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions, pp. 11-12.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:1-2a
  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:

16:1 "Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron" It is obvious that Leviticus is not in chronological order. Leviticus 10, as well as chapter 16, is historical narrative. See SPECIAL TOPIC: OT HISTORICAL NARRATIVE.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:2b-10
  ^2b"Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. ³Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for 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 girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on. ⁵He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. ⁷He shall 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."

16:2b "he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil" Although this seems to imply no entrance, in context it denotes entrance only once a year with the appropriate sacrifices and only by the High Priest. He is even warned that he will die unless he follows the exact procedures. This links chapter 16 with chapter 10.

There were two veils (BDB 827).

1. one to separate the inner shrine tent from the surrounding enclosure
2. one separating the Holy Place (entire inner shrine) from the Holy of Holies (cf. Exod. 26:31-35; Matt. 27:51), see SPECIAL TOPIC: TABERNACLE (chart)

▣ "the mercy seat" This translations comes from Martin Luther. This is the special golden lid (i.e., covering) on the ark of the covenant (BDB 498, KB 495, more literally "lid of covering") on which the two Cherubim are mounted. The symbolism seems to be that as the blood was sprinkled once a year on this particular item, God looked down from His abode in heaven and saw His Ten Commandments, the sin of Israel was covered (BDB 497, KB 493) by the placement of the blood of an innocent animal.

The AB, p. 1014, mentions that the rare term may reflect an Egyptian root meaning "sole of the feet." This is surely possible since the ark was viewed as YHWH's footstool (cf. 1 Chr. 28:2; Ps. 99:5; 132:7; Isa. 66:1; Lam. 2:1; Ezek. 43:7). Psalm 99:1 asserts that YHWH sits enthroned above the Cherubim (i.e., mercy seat, note Exod. 25:22; 1 Sam. 4:4).

See the following Special Topics.

1. SPECIAL TOPIC: ARK OF THE COVENANT
2. SPECIAL TOPIC: CHERUBIM
3. SPECIAL TOPIC: MERCY SEAT
4. SPECIAL TOPIC: BLOOD

▣ "I will appear in a cloud over the mercy seat" At first it seems that refers to the Shekinah cloud which was a symbol of the presence of God (cf. Exod. 13:21-22; 19:9; 24:15-16,18; 34:5; 40:34-38; Num. 9:15-23). However, because of Lev. 16:13, this may refer to the cloud of incense which the High Priest caused from the incense altar (see SPECIAL TOPIC: ALTAR OF INCENSE) so that he would not see God and die (cf. Gen. 16:13; Exod. 33:20; 1 Kgs. 19:13; Isa. 6:5; John 1:18; 6:46; 1 Tim. 6:16) when he entered behind the second veil.

16:3 "with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering" The rabbis say that the bull and the ram must belong to Aaron personally (cf. Lev. 16:6) because this first ritual deals with his sin. Here again is a series of sacrifices.

1. first, the sin offering, making one acceptable to God
2. then the burn offering, showing complete commitment to God

16:4 "and he shall put on the holy linen tunic" His High Priestly robes (see SPECIAL TOPIC: GARMENTS OF THE HIGH PRIEST) and accouterments are described in Exod. 39:27-29. This very plain, working garment is a combination of a slave's working garment and the material of the priest's normal clothing. It was a sign of humility and openness to God. See SPECIAL TOPIC: LINEN.

16:5 "two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering" These two male goats formed a uniqueness of the Day of Atonement (cf. Lev. 16:6-10). One goat would be sacrificed on the altar showing that sin costs a life. The other goat would be sent out into the wilderness to symbolically bear sin out from the camp.

16:6 "for himself and his household" Some say that this refers to Aaron and his immediate family, while others say that it refers to his family, the priests. It may be a collective sacrifice for all the priests. See SPECIAL TOPIC: ATONEMENT.

16:8 "Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats" The method of the casting of lots is somewhat uncertain. The rabbis say that two rocks were used: one marked "for the Lord" and the other, "for Azazel." Others say that it was the use of the Urim and Thummim and was simply a way of determining which goat would be killed and which would be sent away. See SPECIAL TOPIC: URIM AND THUMMIN.

For a good brief discussion about casting lots to know God's will, see Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 512-514.

This is a very difficult term (BDB 736) to interpret. It occurs only in this chapter. Some try to make it a place; some a person; and some an abstraction. There have been several suggestions for the meaning of the root.

1. from the Hebrew words (i.e., goat and the verb "to send away"); this same understanding is found in the LXX's translation of "one to be sent out"
2. in Enoch 8:1; 9:6; 10:4-8; 13:1-2; 54:5; 55:4; 69:2, it refers to a desert demon; this interpretation has been followed by rabbinical Judaism, which makes it either a name for Satan or a desert demon (Satyr III, Lev. 17:7); the desert was the abode of the demonic (cf. Isa. 13:21-22; 34:11-15)
3. the New English Bible translates this word as "for the precipice"
   1. the wilderness where the goat is driven, which was rough and desolate (Arabic root)
   2. shows the post-exilic procedure of throwing the second goat over a cliff to make sure it died

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:11-14
  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, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat 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 mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times."

16:12 "He shall take a firepan full of coals from upon the altar before the Lord" The rabbis have identified the altar before the Lord as the incense altar inside the Holy Place, just before the veil. Most Christian commentators assume that it is the brazen altar at the door of the Tabernacle. The Jews would say that the High Priest stayed inside the Holy Place, while Christian commentators say that he moved in and out of the Holy Place between the bronze altar and the inner shrine.

▣ "two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil" This was a huge amount of incense and its purpose was to put forth large billows of smoke which would fill the internal part of the shrine (i.e., Holy Place) and, therefore, veil the eyes of the High Priest from seeing God when he entered the Holy of Holies. They believed that God symbolically dwelt above the wings of the Cherubim (cf. Exod. 25:21-22; Num. 7:89; Ps. 80:1; 99:1). For a person to see YHWH meant death. It is also true that even seeing the ark itself could cause death (cf. Num. 4:20; 1 Sam. 6:19).

16:14 "sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat" Remember that the mercy seat was that special place of atonement (cf. Hebrews 9). It was used in the ritual only on the Day of Atonement, where the High Priest first offered a sin offering for himself and then for the nation. See SPECIAL TOPIC: MERCY SEAT. It was an annual cleansing of the Tabernacle and the priesthood.

For "sprinkle" see note at Lev. 1:5 and Robert B. Girdlestone, Synonyms in the OT, pp. 151-152.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:15-19
  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 mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. ¹⁶He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides 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, 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, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of 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 from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrate it."

16:16-19 "shall make atonement for the holy place. . .and cleanse it" This shows that the purpose of this ritual was not so much for the cleansing of the people that should have been done in the sacrifices described in Leviticus 1-7, but the cleansing of the Tabernacle and the priesthood (cf. Exod. 30:10; see SPECIAL TOPIC: ATONEMENT) for the continuation of its mediatory activities.

16:18 "put it on the horns of the altar and on all sides" Horns were a normal part of Canaanite altars. They were the most holy part of the altar that lifted the sacrifices to God or it expressed the power of that altar in its efficatory significance. See full note at Lev. 7:4.

16:19 See the following Special Topics for more information.

1. SPECIAL TOPIC: BLOOD
2. SPECIAL TOPIC: SYMBOLIC NUMBERS IN SCRIPTURE, "seven," #4
3. SPECIAL TOPIC: ALTAR OF SACRIFICE

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:20-22
  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 iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. ²²The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness."

16:21 "lay both hands on the head of the live goat" It usually states to lay a hand (singular; see note at Lev. 1:4), but here both hands were laid on the goat as Aaron confessed the sins of the whole nation. This animal symbolically took the place of the nation as it bore the corporate sin outside the camp. See SPECIAL TOPIC: LAYING ON OF HANDS.

▣ "the iniquities. . .transgressions. . .sins" these are the major terms which describe Israel's violations of their covenant with YHWH.

1. iniquities ‒ BDB 833
2. transgressions ‒ BDB 833
3. sins ‒ BDB 308

All three of these terms appear in Exod. 34:7; Lev. 16:21; Job 13:23; Ps. 32:5; Isa. 59:12; Ezek. 21:24; Dan. 9:24. Together they express Israel's sin

1. in many areas
2. over and over again

The word for "evil" (BDB 948 II) appears with #2 and #3 in Gen. 50:17. Israel, with all her special blessings (cf. Rom. 9:4) could not/would not follow YHWH. See SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S COVENANT REQUIREMENTS OF ISRAEL and SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FALL. This is why there must be a "new covenant" (cf. Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-36; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; 2 Cor. 3:6; Heb. 9:9,13; 9:15).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:23-28
  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. ²⁴He shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes, and come forth 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, then afterward he shall come into the camp."

16:24 "put on his clothes" The beautiful garments described in Exodus 28 and 39 (see SPECIAL TOPIC: GARMENTS OF THE HIGH PRIEST) are now put on and the High Priest comes out of the inner shrine to let the people know that the sacrifice has been accepted. In later years, the Jews tied a rope to the leg of the High Priest in case he died inside the Holy Place and they could pull him out without having to enter the Holy Place themselves!

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:29-34
  ²⁹"This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns 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, that you may humble your souls; 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 thus 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.

16:29-34 The Israelite people had a part in the ritual of the annual Day of Atonement.

1. cessation of work
2. fasting
3. attitude of humility
4. sense of need for corporate, annual cleansing

16:29 "shall be a permanent statute for you" The Hebrew concept of "permanent" (lit. 'olam, cf. Lev. 16:29,31,34) had several possible connotations. See SPECIAL TOPIC: FOREVER ('olam).

▣ "in the seventh month" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CALENDARS.

▣ "you shall humble your souls and not do any work" From Ps. 35:13 the words "humble your souls" implies fasting. We also believe that there were other unexpressed penitent acts (i.e., liturgy or symbolic actions) involved in this day of national mourning for the sins of the entire nation and the cleansing of the Tabernacle and the priesthood.

16:33 "to make atonement for. . ." This is a summary of the purpose of the ritual of the Day of Atonement and the five different things that were cleansed.

1. the inner shrine (Lev. 16:17,24)
2. the tent of meeting (Lev. 16:16,20,33)
3. the altar (Lev. 16:18-19,20,33)
4. the priests (Lev. 16:6,11,17,24,33)
5. the people (Lev. 16:15,17,19,22,24,30,34)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. What is the purpose of the Day of Atonement?
2. What does the word "scapegoat" mean?
3. Find the two unnamed men who performed rather mundane functions but are mentioned to describe how they can become clean and return to camp. Why are these people singled out?
4. How do the two goats seem to speak to the ministry of Christ (cf. Hebrews 9)?
5. What does it mean "to humble your soul"?

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