Leviticus16

Leviticus 16 details the annual Day of Atonement rituals, initiated after the death of Aaron's sons. Aaron, as High Priest, performs specific ceremonies to make atonement for himself, his household, and the entire congregation of Israel. This involves sacrifices, blood sprinkling in the Most Holy Place, and the symbolic sending away of a scapegoat bearing the people's sins into the wilderness. This day is established as a perpetual statute for cleansing from sin.
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Introduction to the Day of Atonement

1
And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died; ​
2
And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. ​

The High Priest's Preparation and Offerings

3
Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.
4
He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. ​
5
And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
6
And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
7
And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
8
And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. ​
9
And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
10
But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. ​

Atonement for the Priest and Sanctuary

11
And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself:
12
And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:
13
And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: ​
14
And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
15
Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
16
And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. ​
17
And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.
18
And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.
19
And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

The Ritual of the Scapegoat (Azazel)

20
And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
21
And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: ​
22
And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. ​
23
And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there:
24
And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people. ​
25
And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.
26
And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.
27
And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung. ​
28
And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

The Annual Statute of Yom Kippur

29
And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: ​
30
For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. ​
31
It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
32
And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:
33
And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.
34
And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses. ​

Study Notes for Leviticus 16

Verse 1

Links the establishment of this ritual directly to the unauthorized approach and subsequent death of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10), stressing the mortal danger of approaching God improperly.

Verse 2

The most sacred area, the Holy of Holies, could only be entered once a year by the High Priest, demonstrating God’s absolute holiness and the necessity of strict mediation.

Verse 4

The High Priest wears simple white linen garments instead of his usual ornate robes. These emphasize humility, purity, and equality before God during this solemn rite.

Verse 8

The two goats function together as a single sin offering, divided by lot. One is sacrificed to the Lord, and the other is sent away, symbolizing two aspects of atonement: propitiation and removal.

Verse 10

The term 'scapegoat' is a translation of the Hebrew *Azazel*, which likely refers either to the place of removal or the complete removal of sin, carried away to an uninhabited land.

Verse 13

The heavy cloud of incense shielded the High Priest from the direct, unbearable presence of God (the Shekinah glory appearing on the mercy seat), preventing immediate death.

Verse 16

This verse highlights a unique aspect of Yom Kippur: the atonement not only covers the people but also ritually cleanses the holy objects and the sanctuary itself from the defilement caused by Israel's sins.

Verse 21

The laying on of hands symbolizes the transfer of all the nation’s sins and transgressions onto the living goat, which then physically carries the guilt away from the community.

Verse 22

The sending away of the goat into an uninhabited land illustrates the totality of God’s forgiveness and removal of guilt, ensuring the sins are completely severed from the camp.

Verse 24

After completing the most sacred work, Aaron changes back into his regular, ornate priestly garments to resume the standard burnt offerings.

Verse 27

The sin offerings whose blood was used inside the Holy Place were considered extremely holy yet highly contaminated by sin, and therefore had to be burned completely outside the camp.

Verse 29

'Afflict your souls' is the fundamental requirement for the people on this day, understood in Jewish tradition as mandatory fasting, abstinence, and deep repentance.

Verse 30

Yom Kippur is the only day mandated in the Law where a comprehensive, corporate cleansing and atonement is made for the entire nation's sins accumulated over the whole year.

Verse 34

This emphasizes the yearly necessity of the ritual, pointing toward the New Testament understanding that Christ's once-for-all sacrifice fulfilled and transcended this repeated annual requirement (Hebrews 9:25-28).

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