Leviticus 16

Leviticus 16:1-15

Leviticus 16:1-15. Atonement Rite for High Priest and his Family.—The holy place within the veil, i.e. the inner of the two compartments of the shrine, is not to be entered at will, but only on New Year’s Day (Leviticus 16:29). Otherwise the intruder would be killed by the Shekinah which dwelt there in solitary majesty. (For the veil, see Exodus 26:31; for the mercy-seat, see Exodus 25:17 ff.) The priest, wearing less ornate robes than at his consecration (Leviticus 8:7 ff.), presents the bullock as his own sin offering, and the two goats; on these he casts lots (“to make atonement for him” (Leviticus 16:10) is probably a gloss; atonement is not mentioned in connexion with this goat; and to whom does “him” refer?). He enters the inner shrine twice; first with the censer to produce the protecting cloud (cf. Judges 6:22; Isaiah 6:5, Exodus 24:1; Exodus 24:9), and then with the bullock’s blood, which he has to sprinkle seven times on the mercy seat (cf. Leviticus 8:11).

Leviticus 16:16-19

Leviticus 16:16-19. The Atonement for the People.—The priest has now to offer the goat assigned by lot for the atonement of the people; less valuable than the bullock, as the holiness of the priest is more important than that of the people. With the people is joined the holy place, and the shrine, which will suffer by infractions of ritual duty (cf. the defilement of the land by disobedience, Ezekiel 36:18). The atonement is made within the shrine, as before (the prohibition in Leviticus 16:17 is curious; but a priest, who might enter the outer shrine, might have wished to see the passage of the High Priest within). The altar is also atoned for, “un-sinned” (cf. Leviticus 8:15), by sprinkling it with the blood seven times. The altar of burnt offering is, of course, the altar referred to here.

Leviticus 16:20-22

Leviticus 16:20-22. The Scape-Goat.—Over the second goat confession is now made (for the first time in the rite) with the laying on of the High Priest’s hands (cf. the laying on of hands by the offerer at every sacrifice). The Mishna tractate “Yoma” gives the text of this prayer. The goat is then led off into the “wilderness” or untilled land, such as constituted a large part of SE. Judah, especially after the Exile. To some minds this “carrying away” of sin would be symbolic, to others doubtless a real transaction.

Leviticus 16:23-28

Leviticus 16:23-28. Conclusion of the Ceremony.—The High Priest must leave his robes in a holy place, so as not to communicate their character to the people, who, of course, would not be allowed to enter there (cf. Ezekiel 44:19, Isaiah 66:5). He must then bathe, as having been in contact with sin (cf. Leviticus 16:26; Leviticus 16:28). Finally, he must offer the burnt offering, the reconciliation having now been made by the sin offering. The sin offering itself is not burnt at the altar—neither the bullock nor the goat—but carried away and burnt outside the camp or city. The fat, however, is burnt by the priest (cf. Leviticus 4:8-10) (RS2, p. 351).

Leviticus 16:29-34

Leviticus 16:29-34. Final Directions.—For the date, see above. The people are to afflict their souls, i.e. to fast; this, and the whole-day service, are the chief features of the modern Day of Atonement. It is also a Sabbath, i.e. no work is to be done, to secure leisure for the solemn import of the day. The solemnity of this occasion, when all the sins of the year not definitely atoned for before are got rid of, is natural to P. To the mass of the people it might otherwise have occasioned feelings of a very different kind.