Leviticus 16

This chapter describes the Day of Atonement, the holiest day in Israel’s year. Once a year the high priest entered the Most Holy Place with blood to cleanse the sanctuary, the priests and the people, and a living goat carried the nation’s sins away into the wilderness. It shows both how serious sin is and how far God goes to make a way for sinners to live near him.

Leviticus 16:1

The chapter opens with a reminder of Nadab and Abihu, who died when they came before the LORD in a way he had not commanded. Everything that follows is the right way to draw near. God’s holiness is not to be treated lightly, and he also provides a way in.

BSA: approached (“drew near, came close to”): The tragedy was not that they came near, but how they came; this chapter shows the way God allows.

See also: Leviticus 10:1-2.

Leviticus 16:2

Even Aaron, the high priest, could not walk into the Most Holy Place whenever he wished. God’s glory appeared in the cloud above the ark’s cover, and sinful people cannot simply step into that presence. Access is by God’s terms alone.

BSA: freely (“at all times, without restriction”): Entry was limited to one appointed day, so no one could treat God’s presence as casual. mercy seat (“the place of atonement”): The lid of the ark was the very spot where God met sinners in mercy through blood.

Hebrew: הַכַּפֹּרֶת (hakkapporet, H3727) — “the covering, the atonement cover.” The Hebrew word comes from the verb for making atonement. The ark’s golden lid was the place where sin was covered over by blood.

See also: Exodus 25:17-22.

Leviticus 16:3

Aaron must first bring his own offerings: a young bull for sin and a ram for a burnt offering. The sin offering deals with guilt, and the burnt offering, wholly consumed, expresses complete surrender. The priest needs cleansing before he can speak for others.

Leviticus 16:4

On this day Aaron lays aside his splendid robes and wears plain white linen. He bathes before dressing. The simple clothing suggests humility and purity, as a servant coming before the King rather than a man displaying his own honor.

BSA: bathe (“ritually purify”): The washing shows that the priest must be made clean before he can serve in God’s presence.

Leviticus 16:5

The people supply two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. The offering comes from the whole community, which shows that the sacrifice is made on behalf of all Israel, not only the priest.

Leviticus 16:6

Aaron first offers the bull for himself and his household. A priest who is himself a sinner must deal with his own sin before he can represent the people. Atonement here means sin is covered and the relationship with God is restored.

BSA: atonement (“cover, purify”): Atonement both covers sin from God’s sight and cleanses what sin has defiled.

Hebrew: כִּפֶּר (kipper, H3722) — “to cover over, make atonement.” This is the key verb of the chapter and appears again and again. It points to sin being dealt with, covered and put right, through a substitute’s blood.

See also: Hebrews 7:27.

Leviticus 16:7-8

The two goats stand together before the LORD at the tent’s entrance, and lots decide which is for the LORD and which is for removal. The choice is not left to Aaron. Both goats together make one picture of how sin is dealt with.

BSA: lots (“by divine decision”): The lot was understood as leaving the choice to God rather than to the priest’s preference.

Hebrew: גּוֹרָלוֹת (goralot, H1486) — “lots, small stones or markers cast to decide.” Casting lots was a way of putting a decision in God’s hands, as Proverbs 16:33 expresses.

See also: Proverbs 16:33.

Leviticus 16:9-10

The goat for the LORD is killed as a sin offering. The other is kept alive, presented before the LORD, and later sent into the wilderness. The first goat shows sin’s penalty paid by death. The second shows sin carried far away.

BSA: scapegoat (“Azazel, a goat sent into the wilderness”): The word names the goat’s destination or purpose, the far-off wilderness where the people’s sins are taken.

Hebrew: לַעֲזָאזֵל (la’azazel, H5799) — “for Azazel, for removal.” The meaning of this rare word is debated. Many understand it as a goat of complete removal, and others as a name for the wilderness or a power there. Either way, the goat carries sin out of the camp.

Leviticus 16:11

The bull is slaughtered for Aaron and his household. Blood is shed before anything else can happen. The high priest does not enter God’s presence on the strength of his own goodness but on the strength of a sacrifice.

Leviticus 16:12-13

Aaron carries burning coals and fragrant incense behind the veil. The rising cloud of incense covers the mercy seat so that he will not die. It acts as a shield between sinful humanity and God’s overwhelming glory, and it is a picture of reverent approach.

BSA: cover (“to fill up hollows or hide from view”): The incense cloud fills the space and veils the glory, so the priest is protected as he draws near.

Hebrew: קְטֹרֶת (qetoret, H7004) — “incense, sweet smoke.” The word comes from a verb meaning to make smoke rise. The rising fragrance pictures prayer and worship going up to God.

See also: Psalm 141:2.

Leviticus 16:14

Aaron sprinkles the bull’s blood on the mercy seat and seven times before it. Blood is life given up, and it is brought to the very place of God’s presence. Seven suggests completeness, a thorough and finished work.

See also: Leviticus 17:11.

Leviticus 16:15

Now the people’s sin offering is made. The goat is killed and its blood is taken behind the veil, where Aaron does with it exactly as he did with the bull’s blood. What was done for the priest is now done for the whole nation.

Leviticus 16:16

The sanctuary itself needed cleansing, because the people’s sins and rebellion had defiled it even though God lived among them. God’s dwelling stays among a sinful people only by this yearly cleansing. His nearness is a gift of mercy.

BSA: abides (“dwells, remains”): God truly lives in the midst of his people, which is why the defilement around the tent has to be dealt with. rebellious acts (“transgressions, revolts”): The sins in view include deliberate revolt, not only accidental failures.

Leviticus 16:17

No one else may be in the Tent while Aaron is making atonement. He stands alone as mediator, and the people wait outside. The work of reconciliation is accomplished for them, not by them.

See also: Hebrews 9:7.

Leviticus 16:18-19

Aaron then cleanses the altar with the blood of the bull and goat, putting it on the horns and sprinkling it seven times. Even the place where sacrifices were offered had been touched by the people’s uncleanness. Everything near God needs cleansing.

BSA: consecrate (“set apart, dedicate”): The altar is not only cleaned but set apart again for God’s holy use.

Leviticus 16:20-22

With the sanctuary cleansed, the living goat is brought forward. Aaron lays both hands on its head and confesses the people’s sins over it. The goat then carries them away into a land where no one lives. It is a vivid picture of sin removed from the people’s presence.

BSA: iniquities (“moral evil, sin”): The word names sin as crookedness or guilt that weighs on a person, and it is this weight that the goat bears away. carry (“to lift, to bear”): The goat lifts up the guilt and takes it away, as one who bears a burden for others.

Hebrew: וְהִתְוַדָּה (vehitvaddah, H3034) — “and he shall confess, acknowledge openly.” The verb means to speak out and own sin plainly. The sins are named aloud before they are placed on the goat.

See also: Isaiah 53:6; Psalm 103:12.

Leviticus 16:23-25

Aaron leaves the linen garments in the Tent, bathes, and puts on his usual priestly clothes. He then offers the burnt offerings for himself and the people and burns the fat of the sin offering. The most solemn work is finished, and ordinary worship resumes in gladness.

Leviticus 16:26-28

Those who handle the scapegoat and burn the sin offering carcasses outside the camp must wash before coming back in. Sin’s removal is serious business, and even those who help must be cleansed. The carcasses are burned outside the camp, away from the place of God’s people.

See also: Hebrews 13:11-12.

Leviticus 16:29

The tenth day of the seventh month is set as a permanent yearly observance. Everyone, native-born or foreigner, is to humble themselves and do no work. It is a day to stop striving and face honestly one’s need of God’s mercy.

BSA: humble (“afflict, oppress”): The word points to bringing oneself low, which Israel understood as fasting and sorrow for sin.

Hebrew: תְּעַנּוּ (te’annu, H6031) — “you shall humble, afflict.” The verb means to bring oneself low. It is the Bible’s way of calling for self-denial and heartfelt repentance, often understood as including fasting.

See also: Leviticus 23:27-32.

Leviticus 16:30

The purpose of the day is stated plainly: atonement is made for the people, so that they are cleansed. God does not only cover over their guilt in some vague way. He declares them clean from all their sins before him, which is a wonderful promise.

BSA: cleanse (“purify, make clean”): The day’s goal is full cleansing, not partial relief.

See also: Hebrews 10:1-4.

Leviticus 16:31

The day is a Sabbath of complete rest. Israel brings no work of its own to the day, since atonement is God’s gift. The people rest and humble themselves while the priest does the work for them.

BSA: Sabbath (“of solemn rest, a day of stillness”): The day is marked by deep stillness, as people cease from their own efforts and rely on God’s provision.

Hebrew: שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbat shabbaton, H7676) — “a Sabbath of complete rest.” The doubled form is intense, something like a Sabbath of Sabbaths, the most solemn kind of rest.

Leviticus 16:32-33

In later generations the successor of Aaron, anointed and ordained as high priest, will do the same work in the same linen garments. The atonement covers the sanctuary, the priests and all the people, so no one is left outside its reach.

Hebrew: מִלֵּא (mille, H4393) — “he filled.” Ordination is literally to fill the hand. The priest’s hands were filled with the offerings and duties of his office, a picture of being given his work.

Leviticus 16:34

The Day of Atonement is to be kept every year, and Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded. The yearly repetition shows that these sacrifices pointed beyond themselves. Christians see their fulfilment in Christ, who entered once for all.

BSA: once a year (“every year, annually”): The yearly return reminds Israel that sin is a constant problem and that God’s provision for it is constant too.

See also: Hebrews 9:24-26; Hebrews 10:19-20.