Leviticus 16:13-15 sits inside this longer paragraph.
11“Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. 12He 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. 13He 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. 14He 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.
15“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. 16He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting that dwells with them in the middle of their uncleanness. 17No one shall be in the Tent of Meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv13–14 Or, the smoke.
Or, the smoke.
Or, the Ark.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–14 Lev 16:13 And he shall put the incense upon…
Lev 16:13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that [is] upon the testimony, that he die not:
Ver. 13. May cover the mercy seat.] And so be as a screen betwixt the priest and those everlasting burnings: or as a cloud to darken the glory of their shining, for the high priest’s safety.
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 vv13–15 Upon the fire, which was in the censer, Lev…
Upon the fire, which was in the censer, Lev 16:12.
That he die not for so gross an error committed in the highest acts of worship, and that by a high priest, whose knowledge and function was a great aggravation to his sin.
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 vv13–15 And he shall put the incense upon the fire…
And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord,.... Both the incense and burning coals of fire being carried within the vail, the incense was put upon the coals, and so it burned before the Lord, whose seat was between the cherubim; and from whence it appears, that this was done, not without but within the vail: the Sadducees under the second temple would have it, that the incense was put upon the fire without the vail, wherefore the high priest, on the evening of this day, was sworn by the messengers of the sanhedrim not to make any alteration in what they should say to him; and this oath was given him in the house of Abtines, where the incense was made, with a special respect to that, since it being within the vail, they could not see it performed: the manner of his performance of this part of his service is thus related; he went in between the rails, till he came to the north; when he was come to the north, he turned his face to the south; he went on his left hand near the vail, till he came to the ark; he put the censer between the two bars, and heaped the incense upon the top of the coals, and the whole house was filled with the smoke; he then went out backwards, and prayed a short prayer in the outward house (the holy place), and he did not continue long in prayer, lest the people of Israel should be frightened (l): the prayer he made is given us by the Jews (m): now the incense being put upon the coals may denote the fervour and ardency of Christ's intercession, and that his sufferings are the foundation of it, on which it proceeds, and are what give it a grateful odour, or make it acceptable to the Lord:
and this was done, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony; where was the Shechinah, or glorious majesty of God, and which was not to be seen, and therefore to be covered after this manner; which shows, that there is no access to God but as upon a seat of mercy and a throne of grace; and even that there is no coming to him upon that, but through the mediation and intercession of Christ:
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that he die not; as his sons did, boldly intruding where, and doing what they should not: there is no approaching to God as an absolute God, and live; but through Christ the Mediator, and his intercession, believers may draw nigh and see the face of God in Christ, and live, as Jacob did, Gen 32:30.
(l) Misn. Yoma, c. 5. sect. 1. (m) Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
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 vv13–15 Upon the fire - Which was in the censer,…
Upon the fire - Which was in the censer, ver. 12.
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 vv13, 15 The cloud. --- The blood, &c. This is to…
The cloud. --- The blood, &c. This is to teach us, that if we would go into the sanctuary of God, we must take with us the incense of prayer, and the blood, that is, the passion of Christ. Where also note, that the high priest, before he went into the holy of holies, was to wash his whole body; and then to put on white linen garments; to signify the purity and chastity with which we are to approach to God. (Challoner) --- The Septuagint call this goat apopompaion, "the averter of evils, or the one sent away." Hazazel is taken by Spencer Julian, the apostate, (ap. St. Cyril. 9. and ep. 39,) to mean the devil; as if the goat was sent or sacrificed to him, which is very foolish. (Calmet) --- East. That is, the forepart of the mercy-seat, which was not to be touched with the blood, (Menochius) no more than the veil. (Rabbins)
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 vv13–14 13. Before the Lord — This must here signify…
13. Before the Lord — This must here signify in the most holy place. It was considered a grave mistake, amounting to a sacrilege, in a certain Sadducean high priest to dare to kindle the incense without the vail and to carry it smoking within. Since the holy of holies was left in utter darkness, the venture of the high priest into the “thick darkness” where God dwelt strikingly illustrates the faith which is required to approach the mercy seat, where the “light inaccessible” veils itself in the cloud.
That he die not — Death through neglect of these precautions may have been natural, and not judicial. See Num_4:18, note. “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” Exo_33:20. “Common priests burned incense every day at the altar without the vail. Only once a year, and only after the most careful preparation, goes the high priest into the holiest. If he fail in his preparation he is liable to die. To ask a confirmatory sign of only Gabriel’s message in the holy place, outside the holiest, is to get dumbness for a sign. The high priest went into the holiest with a cord attached, that his body might be drawn out if he were slain.” — Bishop H.W. Warren. The command that the priest envelop himself in a cloud of incense when he raises the curtain expresses the fact that full and cloudless communion with God was not realized under the Old Testament sacrifices; that not until Jesus “by his own blood entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us,” were we able with “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus;” nor until then could believers enjoy the crowning blessing in the gift of God, the “communion of the Holy Ghost.” Joh_14:16; 2Co_13:14.
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 vv13–15 (13) And he shall put the incense.—The high priest…
(13) And he shall put the incense.—The high priest now threw the incense upon the coals in the censer, in the Holy of Holies, and stayed there till the whole place was filled with a cloud of smoke, taking special care that the mercy seat and the cherubim should be enveloped in the cloud. Whereupon he left the Holy of Holies, walking backward, with his face to the holy place and his back to the Temple. Upon his emerging from within the second vail, and arriving in the Holy place, he pronounced the following prayer :—“May it please Thee, O Lord my God, that if this year was intended to be one of drought, it be one of rain. May he who rules over the house of Judah not die. May Thy people not be in want, so that one should beg bread from another or from strangers; and let not the prayers of travellers come before Thee” [because they pray that no rain may fall].
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 vv14–15 The second entry of the high priest into the…
The second entry of the high priest into the holy of holies took place very soon after the first entry. Immediately that he had returned after lighting the incense, and perhaps offering a prayer, he took of the blood of the bullock, which he had previously killed, went back without delay, and sprinkled it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward, that is, on the front of the ark beneath the Presence enthroned upon the mercy seat, and shrouded by the smoke of the incense; and before the mercy seat, that is, on the ground in front of it, he sprinkled of the blood with his finger seven times. In after times, when the ark was gone, the high priest sprinkled upwards once and downwards seven times.
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 vv14–15 the blood of the bull
the blood of the bull
This is the blood Aaron caught with a bowl in Leviticus 16:11.
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sprinkle it with his finger
He used his finger to splash the blood.
on the front of the atonement lid
He put the blood on the top part of the lid. He also put it on the side of the lid that was towards him as he entered the most holy place.
before the atonement lid
Possible meanings are 1) "below the atonement lid onto the chest" or 2) "onto the ground in front of the atonement lid."
translationWords
blood
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.