Leviticus 16
Summary for Lev 16:1-34: 16:1-34 a The Day of Atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month (see 16:29 b; 23:27 c; Num 29:7 d), was the most solemn day of the year for Israelites. It was the only required fast, and it was a Sabbath of rest for all the people (Lev 23:32 e). Introduced by the Festival of Trumpets (Num 29:1 f, 7-11 g), it was the day when the corporate sins of the community were atoned for. Only the high priest (Aaron) could officiate, because only he could represent all the people, including other priests (Aaron’s sons). The Day of Atonement is celebrated today as Yom Kippur.16:2 h An inner curtain separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Conceptually, the sanctuary was God’s palace, the Most Holy Place was his throne room, and the Ark was his throne (see 1:1 i). In the ancient Near East, entering the presence of a king without invitation meant risking death (Esth 4:11 j). The Most Holy Place, therefore, was not a place that Aaron could enter casually. It was off-limits even to the high priest, except when his presence was required by God as part of the ritual of the Day of Atonement.
16:4 k For most of the ritual of the Day of Atonement, the high priest wore plain linen clothing rather than his normal robes. This seems to symbolize the humility that should characterize all the people on this solemn occasion. When the high priest stood before God on behalf of his people, he had nothing to commend himself or the people. But when he stood before the people on God’s behalf, his official robes reflected the glory and splendor of God (16:23 l).
16:6 m The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews makes a clear analogy between Aaron’s work for Israel and Christ’s work for the believer. Both brought atonement to their people. Before Aaron could offer a sin offering for the people, he had to offer a sacrifice for himself to make certain his own sins were forgiven (Heb 5:1-3 n). However, although Christ was tempted, he did not sin (Heb 4:15 o). Therefore, in his role as high priest for all Christians, he had no need to make a similar sacrifice (Heb 7:26-28 p).
16:8 q The Hebrew term ‘aza’zel (Azazel) is found only in 16:8 r, 10 s, 26 t. This word has generally been interpreted in four different ways: (1) as a word meaning “the goat of going away”; (2) as a demon that lived in the wilderness; (3) as a strengthened form of the Hebrew word for “go, leave,” meaning “utter loss”; and (4) as a rocky cliff over which the goat was pushed. Since this goat represented the removal of the sins of Israel from the camp (16:22 u), the first interpretation is probably the simplest solution.
16:16 v The high priest needed to purify the Most Holy Place and the rest of the Tabernacle because, over the course of the year, the sins the Israelites had committed had brought uncleanness on the whole sanctuary. If the Tabernacle was to remain the place for meeting God in the coming year, it had to be purified. The same applied to the altar (16:18 w).
Summary for Lev 16:23-24: 16:23-24 x For this ceremony, the high priest had to put on special clothing (16:4 y), which he used for no other purpose. When the ceremony concluded, he was to leave the garments in the Most Holy Place. Many scholars believe that the bathing and changes of clothing were necessary because handling the sin offering brought defilement.
16:27 z For the Day of Atonement, the high priest took the blood of the sin offerings ... into the Most Holy Place. As a result, the offerings were burned and not eaten (4:3-21 aa).
16:29 ab must deny yourselves: The Hebrew term (‘anah, “humble, afflict yourselves”) is closely connected with fasting (Isa 58:3 ac, 5 ad).
• foreigners (Hebrew ger): The Hebrew term denotes those who were not Israelites yet lived among the Israelites. Foreigners participated to some extent in Israelite worship (see Num 9:14 ae) and represented potential converts. They probably did not own land but were day laborers, share-croppers, or tenant farmers. However, if they lived among the Israelites, they were expected to abide by Israelite law and customs (see, e.g., Lev 24:16 af).
16:31 ag The Day of Atonement was regarded as a Sabbath day. No one in the camp, Israelite or foreigner, was permitted to work (see 19:30 ah).
Leviticus 17
Summary for Lev 17:1-2: 17:1–26:46 ai This section deals with how the community of Israel was to observe holiness. Holiness does not describe one attribute of God among many. Rather, it is the sum of all attributes of his person, nature, and character (see study note on Exod 3:5). His “glory” is the manifestation of his perfect person, nature, and character (see Lev 9:6 aj). God’s covenant with Israel meant that the people and the nation participated in God’s holiness. This holiness depended on Israel’s relationship with God. This relationship brought certain ethical and ritual expectations for Israel to uphold.Summary for Lev 17:3-9: 17:3-9 ak These regulations (see also Deut 12:15-21 al) indicate that unsupervised sacrifice could easily lead to the integration of pagan elements into the true worship of the Lord (Lev 17:7 am). Israel was camped around the Tabernacle (Num 2:2-34 an), so it was not inconvenient to bring an animal to the sanctuary for slaughter. Deuteronomy 12:20-24 ao anticipates Israel’s settlement in the land and the hardship imposed by this regulation. It permitted slaughtering and eating meat without bringing it to the sanctuary, as long as the blood was not consumed.
17:4 ap will be as guilty as a murderer: The person had shed an animal’s blood in an unlawful manner. The life of the animal had been given by God; it had to be returned to him in the blood of the sacrificed animal.
• cut off: See study note on 7:20-21.
17:7 aq be unfaithful (Hebrew zanah, “commit fornication”): Israel was not to worship any god but the Lord (Exod 20:3 ar). Israel’s covenant relationship to the Lord was even compared to a marriage (see Hos 1:2 as), and worshiping other gods could be described as spiritual adultery. In addition, many of the Canaanite religions were fertility cults. This verb reflects the prostitution conducted at Canaanite shrines to induce fertility in the land through rites of magic involving sexual intercourse.
• The Hebrew word translated goat idols is the plural for a male goat. In the ancient world, the male goat was often a symbol of fertility or of a god of the underworld. During the reign of Jeroboam I, many Levites from the northern kingdom moved south to Jerusalem; they had been appalled by the use of goats and bulls in the northern kingdom’s worship (2 Chr 11:15-16 at).
17:11 au the life of the body is in its blood: Israel was forbidden to consume blood (17:10 av) because it was symbolic of the life given by God and was reserved as God’s portion of each animal offering. God had also designated the sacrificial blood as the means of atonement. In other words, God’s grace permitted the life of the animal to be accepted in exchange for the life of the sinner. In the New Testament, the blood of Christ—representing his life freely given—has provided eternal redemption for believers (Heb 9:12 aw).
17:13 ax cover it with earth: This restriction kept the hunter from using an animal’s blood for food. Just like the blood of animals presented in altar offerings, the blood of wild game also represented life. Uncovered blood was also the sign of violent crime; innocent blood defiled the land (Num 35:33 ay) and cried out to God for justice (Gen 4:10 az; see Job 16:18 ba). Covering the blood of a slain animal gave it a symbolic burial. This demonstrated reverence both for the animal’s life and for God, the life-giver. The burial signified the return of that life to God, just like the disposal of the blood by the priest in the altar offerings.
Summary for Lev 17:15-16: 17:15-16 bb An animal killed by a predator or which died of natural causes still had undrained blood in its tissues. This rendered it ceremonially unclean and a potential source of defilement (22:8 bc). Israelites were to throw such an animal to the dogs (Exod 22:31 bd) or give or sell it to a non-Israelite (Deut 14:21 be). If an Israelite happened to eat an animal with undrained blood, he or she became ceremonially unclean and had to wash in water. The uncleanness itself was not a sin, but neglect of the unclean state brought punishment.
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