Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Leviticus 16:14

in Leviticus 16

And he is to take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the mercy seat.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

and he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy-seat on the east; and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.

KJV

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.

This verse in Leviticus 16

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Upon the mercy-seat - To teach us, that God is merciful to sinners only through and for the blood of Christ. With his face east-ward, or upon the eastern part, towards the people, who were in the court which lay east-ward from the holy of holies, which was the most western part of the tabernacle.

This site's exposition

the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger

on Leviticus 16:14-15

The blood goes on the mercy seat and before it, seven times, applied with a finger. What is sprinkled is the lid of the box that holds the law, so the covering over the commandments is the thing that receives the blood. He then does for the people's goat exactly what he did for his own bullock, and the text repeats the whole procedure rather than summarising it.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

18 And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the L ORD , 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. 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.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v18-19

And he shall take of the blood of the bullock,....

How the passage was read

On Leviticus 16:1-34

On Leviticus 16:1-34

The day Israel still fasts

This chapter founds the Day of Atonement, in Hebrew Yom Kippur, the most solemn day of the Jewish year: the one day the high priest entered the innermost room of the sanctuary with blood for the nation's sins. With no Temple standing since AD 70, the day is kept now as a full fast: roughly 25 hours with no food or drink, most of it spent in synagogue prayer, many wearing white.

The Mishnah (the first code of Jewish oral law, about AD 200) defines the day's five abstentions: eating and drinking, washing, anointing, leather shoes, and marital relations (Yoma 8:1). It also carries a saying worth any reader's time: the day atones for sins between a person and God, “but for sins between a person and his fellow, the Day of Atonement does not atone until he has appeased his fellow” (Yoma 8:9). Reconciliation with people is homework done before the day.

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Sources: Mishnah Yoma 8:1 (the five abstentions) · Mishnah Yoma 8:9 (appease your fellow first) · The Day of Atonement (this site's study)

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְלָקַח֙and he will take

    velakachH3947966 times

  • מִדַּ֣םsome of [the] blood of

    midamH1818360 times

  • הַפָּ֔רthe bull

    haparH6499132 times

  • וְהִזָּ֧הand he will spatter [it]

    vehizahH513724 times

  • בְאֶצְבָּע֛וֹwith finger his

    veetzbaoH67631 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H59215755 times

  • פְּנֵ֥י[the] face of

    peneiH64402123 times

  • הַכַּפֹּ֖רֶתthe atonement cover

    hakaporetH372727 times

  • קֵ֑דְמָהeast -ward

    kedemahH6924

  • וְלִפְנֵ֣יand <to> before

    velifneiH64402123 times

  • הַכַּפֹּ֗רֶתthe atonement cover

    hakaporetH372727 times

  • יַזֶּ֧הhe will spatter

    yazehH513724 times

  • שֶֽׁבַע־seven

    sheva'-H7651394 times

  • פְּעָמִ֛יםtimes

    peamimH6471118 times

  • מִן־some of

    min-H44801188 times

  • הַדָּ֖םthe blood

    hadamH1818360 times

  • בְּאֶצְבָּעֽוֹ׃with finger his

    beetzbaoH67631 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Hebrews 10:4

    because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 10:11

      Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

    • Isaiah 1:11–15

      “What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood…

    • Micah 6:6–8

      With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?

    • Romans 11:27

      And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

    • 1 John 3:5

      But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.

  • Through

    Hebrews 9:7

    But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 16:34

      This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement once a year for the Israelites because of all their sins.” And all this was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.

  • Through

    Hebrews 9:25

    Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 9:12

      He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.

  • Through

    Hebrews 9:13

    For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean,

    it leads to

    • Numbers 19:2–21

      “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.

Where this verse is studied

About Leviticus

Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.