Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 16:11
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:
11. According to the Mishna (Tal. Bab. Yoma), the high priest on presenting his bullock ( Lev 16:6) made a confession of sin to which the people answered ‘Blessed be the Name of the glory of His Kingdom for ever and ever.’ He cast lots upon the goats, and declared which was for the Lord, and they answered ‘Blessed be the Name, etc.’ (fol. 39 a). He put a tongue-shaped piece of scarlet wool upon the head of the goat to be sent away, and came beside his bullock ( Lev 16:11) the second time and repeated his confession, and they answered ‘Blessed be the Name, etc’ (41 b). He killed the bullock, and caught the blood in a bowl; he took the censer and put burning coals from the altar in it (43 b). They brought him the cup and the censer; he filled his hands with incense and put it into the cup; he took the censer in his right hand and the cup in his left (47 a), and went into the temple, and when he came to the altar, he heaped the incense on the burning coals and the whole house was filled with smoke; he returned, and offered a short prayer in the outer house, but did not prolong it, lest (by a lengthy absence) he should cause terror in Israel (51 b, 52 b). In the second temple the high priest placed the censer on a stone in the Holy of Holies, called ‘foundation, which was three fingers high. [There was no altar in the second temple.] He took the blood of the bullock and returned within the veil, and sprinkled of it once upwards and seven times downwards; he went out and placed the bowl on a column in the sanctuary. He then killed the goat, and brought the blood within the veil, and sprinkled it as he did with the blood of the bullock; he went out and placed the bowl on a column in the sanctuary [tradition varies as to whether the column was the same as that on which the bowl containing the bullock’s blood had been placed]; he then sprinkled the blood of the bullock on the veil on the outside, and afterwards the blood of the goat, both sprinklings being once upwards and seven times downwards, as he sprinkled the blood within the veil; he then mixed the blood of the bullock with that of the goat (53 b), and went out to the altar that is ‘before the Lord,’ the golden altar [but cp. note on Lev 16:18 ], and began cleansing it; he sprinkled on the middle [the clean place] of the altar seven times, and some of the remainder of the blood he poured out on the western base of the outer altar [the altar of Burnt-Offering] and the remainder of the blood he poured out on the southern base of that altar (58 b). If the high priest did not perform the work of the Day of Atonement in the prescribed order, it was invalid (60 b). Concerning the two goats for the Day of Atonement, it is commanded that they should be alike in colour, height, and price, with provision in the event of one of the goats dying (61 b). The high priest placed his two hands on the goat to be sent away, and said (Tal. Bab. Yoma, 66 a): O Lord, Thy people the house of Israel have committed iniquity, and transgressed, and sinned before Thee. O Lord pardon now the iniquities, the transgressions, and the sins which Thy people, the house of Israel, have iniquitously done, transgressed, and sinned before Thee, as it is written in the law of Moses Thy servant, ‘For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the Lord’ ( Lev 16:30).
And the priests and the people when they heard the Name from the mouth of the priest, bowed, and worshipped, and fell on their faces and said, ‘Blessed be the Name, etc.’ (66 a). The goat was conducted to a place called , about 12 miles from Jerusalem (66 b), where it was thrown backwards from the edge of a cliff. Booths were placed at the end of each of the first ten miles; the nobles of Jerusalem accompanied the goat to the first booth, and the rest of the people as far as the last booth from which they watched the actions of the man who took charge of the goat. Watchmen made signals when the goat arrived at the edge of the wilderness, and its arrival was thus made known to the high priest (67 a, 68 b).
This treatise, though it contains many additional directions not found in Scripture, throws light on some parts of the Biblical account. It makes clear the occasions on which the high priest enters the Most Holy place: (1) he goes in with the censer and the incense as ordered in Lev 16:12-13; (2) after going out to fetch the blood of the bullock he enters the Most Holy place the second time ( Lev 16:14); he then kills the goat, the Sin-Offering of the people; and (3) enters the Most Holy place the third time with the blood of the goat ( Lev 16:15). It also mentions the mixing of the blood of the bullock with that of the goat, which seems implied in Lev 16:18. The text of Lev 16:14-15 ordains sprinkling upon the mercy-seat, according to EVV, and the generally accepted meaning of the Heb. But according to the Jewish tradition the sprinkling was in front of the mercy-seat, and the mercy-seat itself was not touched with the blood.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
It is important, in reference to the meaning of the day of atonement, to observe the order of the rites as they are described in these verses.
Lev 16:12
A censer – See Exo 25:38 note.
The altar before the Lord – i. e. the altar of burnt-offering on which the fire was always burning.
Lev 16:14
The high priest must have come out from the most holy place to fetch the blood, leaving the censer smoking within, and then have entered again within the veil. He sprinkled the blood seven times upon the mercy-seat, on its east side (not eastward), and then seven times upon the floor in front of it. If the mercy-seat may be regarded as an altar, the holiest one of the three, on this one occasion in the year atonement was thus made for it, as for the other altars, with sacrificial blood.
Lev 16:15
Having completed the atonement in the holy of holies on behalf of the priests, the high priest had now to do the same thing on behalf of the people.
Lev 16:16
The holy place – Here the place within the veil, the holy of holies.
Tabernacle of the congregation – tent of meeting. atonement was now to be made for the tabernacle as a whole. The sense is very briefly expressed, but there seems to be no room to doubt that the high priest was to sprinkle the blood of each of the victims before the altar of incense, as he had done before the mercy-seat within the veil; and also to touch with blood the horns of the altar of incense Exo 30:10.
That remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness – Compare Lev 16:19. The most sacred earthly things which came into contact with the nature of man needed from time to time to be cleansed and sanctified by the blood of the sin-offerings which had been taken into the presence of Yahweh. See Exo 28:38 note.
Lev 16:18
The order of the ceremony required that atonement should first be made for the most holy place with the mercy-seat, then for the holy place with the golden altar, and then for the altar in the court. See Lev 16:20, Lev 16:33. The horns of the brazen altar were touched with the blood, as they were in the ordinary sin-offerings. Lev 4:25, Lev 4:30, Lev 4:34.
Of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat – Some of the blood of the two victims was mingled together in a basin.
Lev 16:21
Confess over him – The form of confession used on this occasion in later times was: O Lord, Thy people, the house of Israel, have transgressed, they have rebelled, they have sinned before Thee. I beseech Thee now absolve their transgressions, their rebellion, and their sin that they have sinned against Thee, as it is written in the law of Moses Thy servant, that on this day he shall make atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins, and ye shall be clean.
A fit man – literally, a timely man, or a man at hand. Tradition says that the man was appointed for this work the year before.
Lev 16:22
Unto a land not inhabited – Unto a place cut off, or (as in the margin) a place of separation.
It is evident that the one signification of the ceremony of this goat was the complete removal of the sins which were confessed over him. No symbol could so plainly set forth the completeness of Yahwehs acceptance of the penitent, as a sin-offering in which a life was given up for the altar, and yet a living being survived to carry away all sin and uncleanness.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The bullock, mentioned in general Lev 16:6; the ceremonies whereof are here particularly described. This was a differing bullock or heifer from that Num 19, as appears by comparing the places.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11-19. Aaron shall bring the bullockof the sin offering which is for himself, c.The first part ofthe service was designed to solemnize his own mind, as well as theminds of the people, by offering the sacrifices for their sins. Thesin offerings being slain had the sins of the offerer judiciallytransferred to them by the imputation of his hands on their head(Lev 4:4 Lev 4:15;Lev 4:24; Lev 4:29;Lev 4:33); and thus the youngbullock, which was to make atonement for himself and the otherpriests (called “his house,” Ps135:19), was killed by the hands of the high priest. While theblood of the victim was being received into a vessel, taking a censerof live coals in his right hand and a platter of sweet incense in hisleft, he, amid the solemn attention and the anxious prayers of theassembled multitude, crossed the porch and the holy place, opened theouter veil which led into the holy of holies and then the inner veil.Standing before the ark, he deposited the censer of coals on thefloor, emptied the plate of incense into his hand, poured it on theburning coals; and the apartment was filled with fragrant smoke,intended, according to Jewish writers, to prevent any presumptuousgazer prying too curiously into the form of the mercy seat, which wasthe Lord’s throne. The high priest having done this, perfumed thesanctuary, returned to the door, took the blood of the slain bullock,and, carrying it into the holy of holies, sprinkled it with hisfinger once upon the mercy seat “eastward”that is, onthe side next to himself; and seven times “before the mercyseat”that is, on the front of the ark. Leaving the coals andthe incense burning, he went out a second time, to sacrifice at thealtar of burnt offering the goat which had been assigned as a sinoffering for the people; and carrying its blood into the holy ofholies, he made similar sprinklings as he had done before with theblood of the bullock. While the high priest was thus engaged in themost holy place, none of the ordinary priests were allowed to remainwithin the precincts of the tabernacle. The sanctuary or holy placeand the altar of burnt offering were in like manner sprinkled seventimes with the blood of the bullock and the goat. The object of thissolemn ceremonial was to impress the minds of the Israelites with theconviction that the whole tabernacle was stained by the sins of aguilty people, that by their sins they had forfeited the privilegesof the divine presence and worship, and that an atonement had to bemade as the condition of God’s remaining with them. The sins andshortcomings of the past year having polluted the sacred edifice, theexpiation required to be annually renewed. The exclusion of thepriests indicated their unworthiness and the impurities of theirservice. The mingled blood of the two victims being sprinkled on thehorns of the altar indicated that the priests and the people equallyneeded an atonement for their sins. But the sanctuary being thusceremonially purified, and the people of Israel reconciled by theblood of the consecrated victim, the Lord continued to dwell in themidst of them, and to honor them with His gracious presence.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering which [is] for himself,…. In the same manner, and is to be understood in the same sense as in Le 16:6;
and shall make atonement for himself and for his house: by a confession of words, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, and which Jarchi calls the second confession; for the same was made, and in the same words as before, [See comments on Le 16:6];
and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which [is] for himself; which was a type of Christ; the creature itself was, being strong for labour, and patient in bearing the yoke; Christ had a laborious service to perform, the work of man’s redemption, and he was strong for it, able to go through it, and did not only readily take upon him the yoke of the law, and became obedient to every command of his divine Father, but even to death itself, the death of the cross; the kind of sacrifice was a sin offering, and such Christ in soul and body was made for his people; in order to which, as this sacrifice, he was put to death, the use of which was, to atone for all the sins of his mystical self, his body, the church; for all his family, his children, the priests of the Lord.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He was then to slay the bullock of the sin-offering, and make atonement for himself and his house (or family, i.e., for the priests, Lev 16:33). But before bringing the blood of the sin-offering into the most holy place, he was to take “ the filling of the censer ( machtah , a coal-pan, Exo 25:38) with fire-coals, ” i.e., as many burning coals as the censer would hold, from the altar of burnt-offering, and “ the filling of his hands, ” i.e., two hands full of “ fragrant incense ” (Exo 30:34), and go with this within the vail, i.e., into the most holy place, and there place the incense upon the fire before Jehovah, “ that the cloud of (burning) incense might cover the capporeth above the testimony, and he might not die.” The design of these instructions was not that the holiest place, the place of Jehovah’s presence, might be hidden by the cloud of incense from the gaze of the unholy eye of man, and so he might separate himself reverentially from it, that the person approaching might not be seized with destruction. But as burning incense was a symbol of prayer, this covering of the capporeth with the cloud of incense was a symbolical covering of the glory of the Most Holy One with prayer to God, in order that He might not see the sin, nor suffer His holy wrath to break forth upon the sinner, but might graciously accept, in the blood of the sin-offering, the souls for which it was presented. Being thus protected by the incense from the wrath of the holy God, he was to sprinkle (once) some of the blood of the ox with his finger, first upon the capporeth in front, i.e., not upon the top of the capporeth, but merely upon or against the front of it, and then seven times before the capporeth, i.e., upon the ground in front of it. It is here assumed as a matter of course, that when the offering of incense was finished, he would necessarily come out of the most holy place again, and go to the altar of burnt-offering to fetch some of the blood of the ox which had been slaughtered there.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
TEXT 16:1114
11
And Aaron shall present the bullock of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and shall make 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 coals of fire from off the altar before Jehovah, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil:
13
and he shall put the incense upon the fire before Jehovah, 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 on the east; and before second time. He again laid both his hands on the victim and repeated the confession for himself, for his house, and for the whole priesthood as in Lev. 16:6. (Ibid.)
The animal must be killed by the high priest himself, since it is for his own sins. Aaron received the blood in a sprinkling bowl and according to tradition he handed it to an attendant who was to stir it while Aaron was in the Holy of Holies to prevent the blood from coagulating.
Before the blood of the bull can be sprinkled Aaron provides himself with two handfulls of the finest incense. This is probably carried in a bowl or cup in his left hand. The censer was carried in his right handthis was full of brightly-glowing coals which he hand taken from the west side of the altar of burnt offering, i.e. the side nearest the Holy of Holies. With these two bowls in his hands he approaches the veil and walks through it into the Holy of Holies. He moves to a spot in front of the ark and deposits the censer on the right side of the ark between the stoves. He now throws the incense upon the coals in the censer and waits until the room is filled with the smoke of the incense. He then backs out of the Holy of Holies while he bows before the presence of God. Upon arriving in the holy place he prays a prayer before going out to the outer court where his attendant still waits with the bowl of blood. With blood not his own but taken to atone for his own sins Aaron returns through the veil to the place where he was upon his first entrance. The blood was sprinkled by the finger of the high priest once upon the mercy seat eastward or on the frontin front (not on the front) he shall sprinkle the blood seven times (Cf. Heb. 2:17).
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 16:1114
345.
Is presenting the bull and sacrificing the bull two distinct actions? Discuss.
346.
Why not have someone else kill the bull i.e. other than Aaron?
347.
How many visits does the high priest make into the Holy of Holies? What does he take on his first visit?
348.
Why cover the mercy seat with the smoke of the incense?
349.
Try to visualize the action with the blood. Just where was it placed?
PARAPHRASE 16:1114
After Aaron has sacrificed the young bull as a sin offering for himself and his family, he shall take a censer full of live coals from the altar of the Lord, and fill his hands with sweet incense beaten into fine powder, and bring it inside the veil. There before the Lord he shall put the incense upon the coals, so that a cloud of incense will cover the mercy place above the Ark (containing the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments); thus he will not die. And he shall bring some of the blood of the young bull and sprinkle it with his finger upon the east side of the mercy place, and then seven times in front of it.
COMMENT 16:1114
Lev. 16:11-14 Having formally dedicated the bullock for his own sin offering (see Lev. 16:6), and after the two goats which constitute the peoples sin offering had been presented and their lots decided (Lev. 16:7-10), Aaron comes back to his own sin offering a mode of expression should occur so rarely, the answer is, the act described by it occurred rarely, and no other words could better express the act intended.
FACT QUESTIONS 16:1114
363.
Aarons sin-offering bull was dedicated (Lev. 16:6) but here it is slain. What happens to its blood?
364.
Describe in your own words Aarons first entrance into the Holy of Holies.
365.
What is the procedure for returning from the Holy of Holies? Why does he come out?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(11) And Aaron shall bring the bullock.Having formally dedicated the bullock for his own sin offering (see Lev. 16:6), and after the two goats which constituted the peoples sin offering had been presented and their lots decided (Lev. 16:7-10), Aaron comes back to his own sin offering a second time. He again laid both his hands on the victim and repeated the confession for himself, for his house, and for the whole priesthood, as given in Lev. 16:6.
And shall make an atonement for himself.His own sins had first to be expiated before he could offer the atoning sacrifices for the people. (Comp. Heb. 5:3; Heb. 9:7.)
And shall kill the bullock.Being a sacrifice offered up for himself the high priest, like any layman, had to slaughter the victim, and could not delegate this work to anyone else. (See Lev. 1:5.) He received the blood in the sprinkling bowl, which he handed over to a priest to stir the blood lest it should coagulate while he performed the fumigation.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN RITES, Lev 16:11-28.
11. Bullock for himself It must be purchased with the money of the high priest.
And for his house The entire priesthood. There is an antitype; “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy-priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 1Pe 2:5.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And Aaron shall present the bull ox of the purification for sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bull ox of the purification for sin offering which is for himself,”
The detail of the ‘presenting’ of the bull ox is repeated from verse 6, in order to remind us what the offering is for, and then amplified into the actual offering up of it by slaughter. There is a certain repetition in the following verses in order to make quite clear precisely what happens and what its significance is. Such repetition was common in ancient writings.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Reader! do observe, that before the high priest of the Jewish church, could offer for the people, he must first be brought into a state of reconciliation himself. Sweet view of JESUS. He also was offered on the great day of atonement to reconcile his house, whose house are we. But though made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and indeed made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of GOD in him, yet he himself knew no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Compare Isa 53 with 1Pe 2:241Pe 2:24 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 16:11 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:
Ver. 11. An atonement for himself. ] That having first made his own peace, he may be in case to atone for the people. This was David’s method. Psa 25:1-22 Psa 51:1-19
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
atonement (See Scofield “Exo 29:33”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Lev 16:3, Lev 16:6
Reciprocal: Exo 29:14 – it is a Lev 4:3 – a young bullock Lev 16:17 – and have made Lev 17:11 – I have Lev 23:27 – offer Num 8:12 – atonement Num 16:46 – an atonement 1Ch 23:13 – sanctify Job 39:26 – the hawk Psa 141:2 – as incense Heb 7:27 – first
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 16:11. The bullock Mentioned in general, Lev 16:6; the ceremonies respecting which are here particularly described. This was a very different sacrifice from that of the red heifer spoken of Numbers 19., as evidently appears upon comparing the two places. He shall kill the bullock which is for himself Here we may clearly see, as the apostle to the Hebrews argues, the utter insufficiency of the Jewish dispensation to make the comers thereunto perfect, or to furnish those who were under it with every thing necessary for their complete justification and salvation. It made nothing perfect, because it made men priests that were sinful creatures like others, and had need to offer year after year for their own sins; for there was a remembrance made again of sins every year. But in Christ we have a very different high-priest and intercessor, who is, and when on earth was, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, and higher than the heavens, who needeth not daily (as the Jewish high-priests) to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for the peoples: for this he did; he offered for the peoples sins, having none of his own to expiate, once when he offered up himself. For the law made men priests which had infirmity, but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore, and is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2. Instructions concerning the ritual 16:11-28
More detail follows in this section that helped Aaron know exactly how to conduct the cultic ritual and that helps the reader appreciate the implications of atonement.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The blood-sprinkling rites 16:11-19
Lev 16:11-14 describe the purification offering that Aaron was to offer for himself and the other priests. The act of offering incense represented the act of offering prayer that God would mercifully accept the sacrifices offered to cover the nation’s sins and uncleanness.
"The purpose of the incense-smoke was to create a screen which would prevent the High Priest from gazing upon the holy Presence." [Note: Hertz, p. 156.]
The second stage of the ceremony, the casting of lots over the goats, was rather simple and required little explanation. The third stage was the sacrificing of one of the goats as a sin offering for the people (Lev 16:15-19). This sacrifice cleansed the sanctuary of the defilement that the sins of the people caused, making it possible for a holy God to continue to dwell among sinful people (Lev 16:16; Lev 16:19-20).
The sprinkling of the blood on the mercy seat once (Lev 16:15) was for the removal of the sins of the people. [Note: See Douglass Judisch, "Propitiation in the Language and Typology of the Old Testament," Concordia Theological Quarterly 48:2-3 (April-July 1984):221-43, which deals with the Hebrew words translated "cover."] The sprinkling of the blood before the mercy seat seven times (Lev 16:19) was for the cleansing of the sanctuary from the people’s sins. The high priest then sprinkled blood on and before the altar of burnt offerings (Lev 16:18-19).