Leviticus 16:15-33
16:16 a 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 b).Summary for Lev 16:23-24: 16:23-24 c For this ceremony, the high priest had to put on special clothing (16:4 d), 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 e 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 f).
16:29 g must deny yourselves: The Hebrew term (‘anah, “humble, afflict yourselves”) is closely connected with fasting (Isa 58:3 h, 5 i).
• 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 j) 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 k).
16:31 l 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 m).
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