He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil. He shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the covenant, so that he will not die. He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv12–14 The Holiest of all.
The Holiest of all.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Lev 16:12 And he shall take a censer full…
Lev 16:12 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:
Ver. 12. And bring it within the vail.] So to prepare the way into the holy place. This incense small beaten might prefigure Christ in his agony, praying more earnestly, before he entered with his own blood into the most holy place of heaven.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv12–15 From off the altar, to wit, of burnt-offering, where…
From off the altar, to wit, of burnt-offering, where the fire was always burning, and whence fire was taken for such uses as these.
Incense; of which see Exo 30:34,35,38.
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Within the veil, i.e. into the holy of holies, Lev 16:2.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v15 When the priest had come out from the sprinkling…
When the priest had come out from the sprinkling the blood of the bullock before the mercy-seat, 1. He must next kill the goat which was the sin-offering for the people (Lev 16:15) and go the third time into the holy of holies, to sprinkle the blood of the goat, as he had done that of the bullock; and thus he was to make atonement for the holy place (Lev 16:16); that is, whereas the people by their sins had provoked God to take away those tokens of his favourable presence with them, and rendered even that holy place unfit to be the habitation of the holy God, atonement was hereby made for sin, that God, being reconciled to them, might continue with them. 2. He must then do the same for the outward part of the tabernacle that he had done for the inner room, by sprinkling the blood of the bullock first, and then that of the goat, without the veil, where the table and incense-altar stood, eight times each as before. The reason intimated is because the tabernacle remained among them in the midst of their uncleanness, Lev 16:16. God would hereby show them how much their hearts needed to be purified, when even the tabernacle, only by standing in the midst of such an impure and sinful people, needed this expiation; and also that even their devotions and religious performances had much amiss in them, for which it was necessary that atonement should be made. During this solemnity, none of the inferior priests must come into the tabernacle (Lev 16:17), but, by standing without, must own themselves unworthy and unfit to minister there, because their follies, and defects, and manifold impurities in their ministry, had made this expiation of the tabernacle necessary. 3. He must then put some of the blood, both of the bullock and of the goat mixed together, upon the horns of the altar that is before the Lord, Lev 16:18, Lev 16:19. It is certain that the altar of incense had this blood put upon it, for so it is expressly ordered (Exo 30:10); but some think that this directs the high priest to the altar of burnt-offerings, for that also is here called the altar before the Lord (Lev 16:12), because he is said to go out to it, and because it may be presumed that that also had need of an expiation; for to that the gifts and offerings of the children of Israel were all brought, from whose uncleanness the altar is here said to be hallowed.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv12–15 And he shall take a censer,.... A fire pan,…
And he shall take a censer,.... A fire pan, a sort of chafing dish or perfuming pot; this was a golden one, as appears from Heb 9:4; hence Christ, the Angel of God's presence, our interceding High Priest, is said to have such an one, Rev 8:3; and so Josephus says (g), it was a golden one the high priest used on the day of atonement; with which agree the Misnic doctors (h), who say, on other days he took off the coals with a silver one, and poured them into a golden one, but on this day he took them off with a golden one:
full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord; these were bright lively coals, not smoking and half extinct; and they were taken from off the altar of burnt offering, from the western side of it, as Jarchi says, which was towards the holy of holies, where the Lord had his dwelling: these burning coals denoted the sufferings of Christ, which were properly punishments for the sins he bore, flowed from the wrath of God comparable to fire, were the curses of a fiery law, and equal to the sufferings of the wicked, often expressed by fire; they were many, and very painful and excruciating, though no ways inconsistent with the love of God to him as his Son, for they were endured by him as the surety of his people, and by which he expressed his flaming love and affection for them: he himself is altar, sacrifice, and priest, the altar which sanctifies the gift; and the coals as on the altar, denote the sufferings of Christ as upon him, which he was able to bear; and the taking off the coals signifies the cessation of his sufferings; and the altar, coals, and taking of them off, being before the Lord and in his sight, show that Christ, as a divine Person, is, and always was before him; that his sufferings were ever in view, being appointed and foretold by him, and when endured were grateful to him, a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour; and that the cessation of them was in his presence, and according to his will; and Christ now is the Lamb in the midst of the throne, as though he had been slain, where, as such, he is always beheld with pleasure and acceptance by the Lord:
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and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small; both his hands, as Aben Ezra, two handfuls of this he took and put into a cup: of this sweet incense and its composition, see Exo 30:34; this was small itself, but on the evening of the day of atonement it was put into the mortar again, as Jarchi says, and beaten very small, and so was, as expressed in the Misnah (i), "small of small": this may represent the intercession of Christ our high priest for his people; for as the prayers of the saints are set before the Lord as incense, Psa 141:2; so the intercession and mediation of Christ in favour of the acceptance of their prayers is signified by "much incense", Rev 8:3; and which is always acceptable to God, and may well be expressed by sweet incense: handfuls of it may denote the largeness of his intercession, being for all the elect of God, and for all things for them they stand in need of; and the infinite perfection and virtue of his person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, to make his intercession effectual: and being "beaten small" may signify his intercession made for particular persons, and those the meanest, and for particular things of every sort they want; as well as it may point at the fragrance and acceptance of Christ's mediation on such accounts, the incense being more fragrant the smaller it is beaten:
and bring it within the vail: not the incense only, but the burning coals of fire also, the one in one hand, and the other in the other hand; so the Misnah (k); they brought out to him (the high priest) the cup and the censer; he took his handful and put it into the cup, a large one according to its largeness, and a small one according to its smallness, and so was its measure; he took the censer in his right hand, and the cup in his left, and went into the sanctuary, until he came between the two rails which divide between the holy and holy of holies: this was typical of Christ our high priest, who is entered within the vail into the holiest of all, with his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, where he ever lives to make intercession for us; not that Christ is considered in heaven as in a suffering state, for he is in a most exalted one; but the virtue and efficacy of his sufferings and death always continue, and which he ever improves on the behalf of his people, by interceding for them; and their faith and hope enter within the vail, and deal with him as having suffered for them.
(g) Antiqu. l. 3. c. 8. sect. 3. (h) Misn. Yoma, c. 4. sect. 4. (i) Misn. Yoma, c. 4. sect. 4. (k) lb. c. 5. sect. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv12–15 Within the veil - That is, into the holy…
Within the veil - That is, into the holy of holies, ver. 2.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv13–15 Lev 16:13. He shall put the incense upon the…
Lev 16:13. He shall put the incense upon the fire — The high-priest, having begun the solemn service with slaying the bullock, as a sin-offering of deprecation and atonement for himself and the other priests, lighted his incense-vessel, or censer, at the great altar of burnt-offering, and at his entrance into the holy of holies, threw the incense upon the burning coals, and so filled the place with a cloud of smoke, to prevent him from seeing the ark, and being struck with the glory issuing from between the cherubims, where the Shechinah or emblem of the divine presence resided: or, as others say, that he might not offend by too curiously gazing on the symbols of the divine glory. If we may believe the Jews, he entered sideways, as not daring to look directly on the glory of the place, and that, having filled the sanctuary with a cloud of smoke, he went out backward, having his face directed toward the mercy-seat, in reverence for the divine majesty, which was there represented.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 15 Censer, which resembled one of our chalices; without any…
Censer, which resembled one of our chalices; without any chains, &c., Apocalypse v. 8. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv12–14 12. The altar before the Lord — The great…
12. The altar before the Lord — The great or brazen altar.
Sweet incense — Aromatic spices. Since the cloud of sweet incense symbolizes ascending prayer perfumed by the merits of the great Mediator, the Hebrew was taught that after his representative had with all pains purified himself, he must come into the holy presence, not on the ground of right, but as a suppliant imploring mercy.
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Beaten small — It was pulverized, that, when thrown into the censer, it might instantly produce a cloud of smoke, to soften the intense brightness of the shekinah between the cherubim.
Within the vail — The holy of holies.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v13 13. the testimony] ‘çduth, always with the definite article,…
13. the testimony] ‘çduth, always with the definite article, except in the Psalms. This was something put into the ark, Exo_25:16; Exo_25:21; Exo_40:20; cp. ‘which I shall give thee,’ Exo_25:16, with Exo_31:18, ‘And he gave unto Moses … the two tables of the testimony.’ They are so called Exo_32:15, and are identified with the first tables on which the ten words were written, Deu_5:22; Deu_9:10-17. The first tables being broken were replaced by others which were put into the ark, Exo_34:28-29; Deu_10:1-5. Hence the ark is called the ‘ark of the testimony,’ and the tabernacle is called the ‘tabernacle (mishkân) of the testimony,’ Exo_38:21; Num_1:50; Num_1:53; Num_10:11, and the ‘tent (’ohel) of the testimony,’ Num_9:15; Num_17:7; Num_18:2 (note that of these three passages which are all that contain the expression, the first is correctly rendered by A.V., but the other two are rendered ‘tabernacle of witness’).
The mercy-seat (kappôreth) which is upon the ark is described here as ‘the mercy-seat that is upon the testimony’; and the veil (pârôkheth) which is before the ark is described (Exo_27:21) as ‘the veil which is before the testimony,’ and (Lev_24:3) as ‘the veil of the testimony.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv12–15 (12) A censer full of burning coals.—After the bullock…
(12) A censer full of burning coals.—After the bullock was slain, and before its blood was sprinkled, the high priest took the censer, which on this occasion was a golden one, and filled it with brightly glowing coals. These he took off from that part of the ever-burning fire on the altar of burnt offering or brazen altar which was next to the west, towards the Holy of Holies, where the Lord had His dwelling. This is the sense which the canonical law attached to the phrase here “before the Lord.”
And his hands full of sweet incense.—Having provided himself with two handfuls of the finest incense, and holding the censer with the fire in his right hand, and the cup with the incense in his left, he now entered for the first time through the second vail into the Holy of Holies, advanced to the ark of the covenant, and deposited the censer between its two staves. During the second Temple he stepped forward to the stone which was the substitute of the Ark, and placed the censer upon it.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv12, 14, 15 Vers. 12, 13. This is the first entry of…
Vers. 12, 13. This is the first entry of the high priest into the holy of holies. He takes with him a censer literally, the censer, that is, the censer that he was to use on the occasionfull of burning coals of fire from off the altar; and his hands are full of sweet incense beaten small; his object being to fill the holy of holies with the smoke of the incense which may serve as at least a thin vail between himself and the Presence of the Lord, that he die not. (cf. Exo_33:20, "Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live;" cf. also Gen_32:30 Deu_5:24 Jud_1:6:22 13:22) Here we see taught the lesson of the vision of God, as he is, being impossible to the human faculties. He must be vailed in one way or another. After passing through the outer chamber of the tabernacle, the high priest found himself in the smaller chamber where stood the ark. Immediately he threw the incense on the coals of the censer, until the holy of holies was filled with the smoke, after which, according to later practice, he offered a prayer outside the vail. The following form of prayer, breathing, however, the spirit of ages long subsequent to the tabernacle, or even the first temple, is found in the Talmud: it please thee, O Lord our God, the God of our fathers, that neither this day nor this year any captivity come upon us. Yet if captivity befall us this day or this year, let it be to a place where the Law is cultivated. May it please thee, O Lord our God, the God of our fathers, that want come not upon us this day or this year. But if want visit us this day or this year, let it be due to the liberality of our charitable deeds. May it please thee, O Lord, the God of our fathers, that this year may be a year of cheapness, of fullness, of intercourse and trade; a year with abundance of rain, of sunshine, and of dew; one in which thy people Israel shall not require assistance one from another. And listen not to the prayers of those who are about to set out on a journey (against rain). And as to thy people Israel, may no enemy exalt himself against them. May it please thee, O Lord our God, the God of our fathers, that the houses of the men of Saron (exposed to floods) may not become their graves" (Edersheim, "Temple Service").
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v15 The offerings for the People
The offerings for the People
v. 15. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering that is for the people, the slaying taking place, of course, outside in the court, and bring his blood within the veil, into the Most Holy Place, 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;
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v. 16. and he shall make an atonement for the Holy Place, the Sanctuary itself being in need of cleansing, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins, for it was exposed to defilement in the midst of a sinful people; and so shall ha do for the Tabernacle of the Congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. Thus both the sins of the priests, with which they had contaminated the Sanctuary, and the transgressions of the people, which also defiled the habitation of God in their midst, had to be expiated on the great Day of Atonement.
v. 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, for the entire priesthood, and for all the congregation of Israel. Everything and every person that was defiled had to be kept away from the Most Holy Place during this most solemn part of the ceremony, and the entire responsibility rested upon the high priest alone. While all the members of the congregation were, on this day, to feel the damnable nature of sin, the high priest was to be particularly conscious of this fact, since he acted in the name of all the children of Israel.
v. 18. And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, to the altar of incense, 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. So the blood of both kinds of sin-offering was mingled in the expiatory rite, the faults of both the priests and the people being atoned for in the sight of God by this third stage of the day’s sacrificial ceremonies. Note that even the altar, as an instrument used for purposes of purification and atonement, had to be cleansed of the defilement clinging to it by reason of the worship of sinners.
v. 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 ceremonies of the great Day of Atonement were largely Messianic types. Christ is the true High Priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, Heb 7:26. By His own blood He entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption for us, Heb 9:12.
v. 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, the second animal of the sin- offering.
v. 21. And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, not only one, as in the ordinary sacrifices, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, individually and collectively, and all their transgressions in all their sins, all the misdeeds and trespasses which brought upon them the wrath of Jehovah, putting them upon the head of the goat, the "remover of sins," and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man in to the wilderness, one who stood ready to go upon the instant, without loss of time;
v. 22. and the go at shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited, into a desert and desolate place, for complete removal; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. Thus the fourth part of the special ceremonies of the day was brought to a close.
v. 23. And Aaron shall come in to the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and shall put off the linen garments which he put on when he went in to the Holy Place, and shall leave them there, since they were used only in the rite of atonement on this one day in the year;
v. 24. and he shall wash his flesh with water in the Holy Place, where the ablutions of the priests were ordinarily performed, at the laver near the entrance of the Tabernacle, and put on his garments, the ordinary vestments of his office made of the fine variegated cloth, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, in either case a ram, and make an atonement for himself and for the people.
v. 25. And the fat of the sin-offering shall he burn upon the altar. All this could be done only after the defilement of sin had been entirely removed.
v. 26. And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat, for the complete removal of the sin placed upon his head, shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp, thus also cleansing himself of the impurity of contact with the sin-offering.
v. 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.
v. 28. And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. He also had to be cleansed from the contamination which came to him by touching the sin-offering. The second goat is also a type of Christ, who is the true "Remover of Sin. " The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all, Isa 53:6, and He not only bore them, but He took them away, Joh 1:29, removed them so completely that their guilt no longer rests upon us. Thus Christ has earned an eternal redemption for us.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv12, 14, 15 a container for fire and incense, used by the…
censer
a container for fire and incense, used by the priests
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sweet incense
"sweet-smelling incense." This refers to the smell and not to the taste of the incense.
translationWords
altar
incense
curtain
atonement lid
ark of the covenant
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.