Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 16:14
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.
He shall sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, to teach us that God is merciful to sinners only through and for the blood of Christ.
Eastward, i.e. with his face eastward, or upon the eastern part of it, towards the people, who were in the court, which lay eastward from the holy of holies, which was the most western part of the tabernacle. This signified that the high priest in this act represented the people, and that God accepted it on their behalf.
Before the mercy-seat; on the ground.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he shall take of the blood of the bullock,…. When the high priest slew the bullock, the blood was received in a basin, and given to another priest, that he might keep stirring it on a foursquare bench in the temple, that so it might not thicken and congeal n, but by a continual motion might become thin and liquid, and fit for sprinkling; and this was doing, while the high priest was gone into the most holy place to offer the incense; which being done, he came out again and took the basin of blood out of the hand of the priest, and went in a second time, and did with it as follows:
and sprinkle [it] with his finger upon the mercy seat, eastward; with his right finger, or forefinger, as the Targum of Jonathan; and the blood sprinkled with it did not fall upon the mercy seat, as our version seems to intimate, but it was sprinkled over against it, towards the upper part of it. Aben Ezra says, that according to their interpreters, “upon the face of the mercy seat”, as the words may be literally rendered, signifies above, between the two bars, and here it was the high priest stood; for, according to the Misnah o, he went in to the place where he had gone in, and stood in the place where he had stood, and then sprinkled, that is, in the same place where he had been and offered the incense; [See comments on Le 16:13]; and here he stood, not with his face to the east, for then his back must have been to the mercy seat, but he stood with his face to the eastern part of the mercy seat, and there sprinkled the blood upwards:
and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times; besides the first sprinkling that was upward, and those downward; so says the Misnah p, he sprinkled of it (the blood) once above, and seven times below; the same Jarchi observes; and the tradition adds, and he did not look in sprinkling neither above nor below; that is, he did not look to the mercy seat, nor was there any need of it, since the blood did not reach the mercy seat, but fell upon the ground; it was enough that it was done before it, and over against it, and with a respect unto it; or otherwise, had it, fallen on it, it would have been besmeared with it, and would not have been so comely and decent: the mystery of this was to represent the blood of Christ, and perfect purification and atonement by it, and that mercy and justice are reconciled to each other, and agree together in the forgiveness of sinners; and that there is no mercy but in a way of justice, no remission of sin, no justification of persons, no salvation for any of the sons of men, but through the blood of Christ, and the complete atonement made thereby.
n Misn. Yoma, c. 4. sect. 3. o Ibid. c. 5. sect. 3. p Misn. Yoma, c. 5. sect. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(14) And he shall take of the blood.Having left the Holy place and returned to the court, where the priest stood with the bowl of the blood of the bullock, stirring it, to prevent it coagulating (see Lev. 16:11), the high priest took it, and went back to the Holy of Holies, to the same place where he stood on his first entry.
Sprinkle it with his finger.During the second Temple the high priest sprinkled the blood once upwards and seven times downwards, in such a manner that the eight sprinklings formed a continuous line on the ground. As he sprinkled he was obliged to count one, two, three, &c, lest he should make a mistake.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Upon the mercy seat Eastward. Luther’s version is very literal, “Gegen den Gnadenstuhl sprengen vorn an,” Sprinkle against the mercy seat in front. Our English version is opposed to every Jewish authority. Ewald, however, supports it, while the Vulgate omits these words. Outram and Murphy insist that “the blood did not come upon the mercy seat, but fell upon the ground.” The “Seventy” follows the ambiguity of the Hebrew, which is, “upon the face of the mercy seat eastward.” This may direct that the eastern or front side of the ark and the front edge of its cover, the mercy-seat, be stained with blood, or that the blood drops be sprinkled on the east side of the ark, between it and the vail. If the latter be the meaning the last clause of the verse is a repetition for the purpose of emphasizing the seven times to denote the perfection of the expiation. “The bearing of the blood of expiation into the most holy place, where no Israelite ever entered save the high priest, taught that the true expiation could only be effected by one who should pass into the presence of God, and leave the door wide open for all to enter.” Dr. A. McLaren. “The anti-typal correlative of the presentation of the blood before the mercy seat was our Lord’s appearance before God the Father, bearing in his glorified body (identical with that which suffered) his own precious blood, now glorified, yet still identical with that which had been shed. That high-priestly self-presentation of the Redeemer is the eternal conclusion and ratifying seal of the work of redemption.” Delitzsch on the Epistle to the Hebrews. See Lev 6:27, note, on the blood of Christ in heaven.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And he shall take of the blood of the bull ox, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy-seat on the east, and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.”
Then he must retire to collect the blood of the bull ox and make a second entry into the Holy of Holies in order to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat on the east, and before the mercy seat seven times. Note that he sprinkles on the nearest side only, not on all four sides. He is only a temporary visitor here with restricted rights, and even now must not come too close. The ‘seven times’ indicates completeness. He then retires again.
The Holy of Holies would be in complete darkness lit only by the coals from the censer and a very faint light coming through from the golden lampstand through the gap in the veil through which the High Priest comes. And there in the dark shadow would be the famed and revered Ark of the covenant of Yahweh. (After the Exile all that would be there was a large stone put there to serve as a substitute until the Ark could be returned. Or at least the latter was what many believed). But the Priest would not be gazing. He would be carrying through his ministry as discreetly as possible, probably with his head bowed.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Lev 16:14. And he shall take of the blood, &c. Houbigant renders this verse, Then, taking part of the blood of the bullock, he shall sprinkle it seven times towards the east, over-against the vail: in like manner he shall sprinkle it seven times with his finger before the mercy-seat. Note; Jesus, our better High-Priest, is for us entered into the holy place, with nobler Blood, even his own; an Atonement which once offered, is complete and everlasting. Blessed be God for such a High-Priest!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Did not the sprinkling with the blood, signify the blood of sprinkling to which true believers are come? Heb 12:24 . Did not the applying of it upon the mercy-seat, eastward, and before it, signify that the church and ordinances must all be washed and made clean in the blood of the LAMB? And did not the very act of sprinkling, imply that the merits and efficacy of the blood of JESUS must be applied to the sinner’s conscience, as well as shed for the sinner, to render it efficacious? Rom 4:25Rom 4:25 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 16:14 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.
Ver. 14. Upon the mercy seat eastward. ] This and the following verses signify, saith one, that even heaven itself is defiled unto us by our sins; until it be made clean by the blood and obedience of Christ, who is entered thither, “not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood,” and thereby hath “purified the heavenly things themselves.” Heb 9:12 ; Heb 9:23
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 4:5, Lev 4:6, Lev 4:17, Lev 8:11, Rom 3:24-26, Heb 9:7, Heb 9:13, Heb 9:25, Heb 10:4, Heb 10:10-12, Heb 10:19, Heb 12:24
Reciprocal: Exo 29:12 – the blood Exo 29:20 – sprinkle Exo 40:3 – General Lev 14:7 – seven times Lev 17:11 – I have Num 19:4 – sprinkle 2Ki 5:10 – seven times Heb 9:19 – the blood Heb 9:21 – General Heb 13:11 – the bodies
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 16:14. He shall take of the blood He went out of the holy place, and then entered it a second time. We must observe, that as the burning of the incense preceded the sprinkling of the blood, it was hereby signified that he was to be prepared for entering into the most holy place by prayer, and was to enter it in a spirit of prayer, which was figured by incense, and which the offering of incense accompanied, Rev 8:3-4. A lively emblem this of the intercession of our great High-Priest, and the efficacy of his merits. He shall sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat To teach us, that God is merciful to sinners only through and for the blood of Christ. With his face eastward, or upon the eastern part, toward the people, who were in the court which lay eastward from the holy of holies, which was the most western part of the tabernacle. This signified that the high-priest in this act represented the people, and that God accepted it on their behalf; before the mercy-seat On the ground.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
16:14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle [it] with his finger upon the mercy seat {d} eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
(d) That is, on the side which was toward the people: for the head of the sanctuary stood westward.