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Leviticus 16:2

in Leviticus 16

And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

and Jehovah said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy-seat which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat.

KJV

And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.

This verse in Leviticus 16

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

That he come not at all times into the holy place - By the holy place we are to understand here what is ordinarily called the Holy of Holies, or most holy place; that place within the veil where the ark of the covenant, etc., were laid up; and where God manifested his presence between the cherubim.

This site's exposition

after the death of the two sons of Aaron

on Leviticus 16:1-2

The chapter is dated by a funeral. Two priests came near in a way they were not told to and died in chapter 10, and the instruction that follows opens by naming them. Aaron may not come inside the vail at all times, and the reason the verse gives for the limit is that he die not.

The record, by era

The Reformation1 voice

A commentator

John Calvin

1509–1564

Commentaries (1554)

proposed

The ordinary sprinkling of the altar was sufficient to testify the reconciliation; but this annual ceremony more greatly influenced the people's minds. Again, by this sacrifice, which they saw only once at the end of the year, the one and perpetual sacrifice offered by God's Son was more clearly represented.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

But see what a blessed change is made by the gospel of Christ; all good Christians have now boldness to enter into the holiest, through the veil, every day ( Heb. x. 19, 20 ); and we come boldly (not as Aaron must, with fear and trembling) to the throne of grace, or mercy-seat, Heb. iv.
And the Lord said unto Moses, speak unto Aaron thy brother,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

He was not to attire himself on that occasion in the splendid robes that were proper to his sacred office, but in a plain dress of linen, like the common Levites, for, as he was then to make atonement for his own sins, as well as for those of the people, he was to appear in the humble character of a suppliant.
The holy place within the vail - See Exo 26:33-34; Heb 9:3. The cloud - Compare Exo 16:10 note. The mercy seat - See Exo 25:17 note.

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.

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

The meaning of the phrase after the death of the two sons of Aaron, is that immediately after the death of his sons He had warned Aaron against [drinking] wine or strong drink [when going into the Tent of Meeting], so that he should not die, 1 Above,:9.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Leviticus 16:1:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976

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)

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

29 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.

  • וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH5595305 times

  • יְהוָ֜הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • מֹשֶׁ֗הMoses

    moshehH4872765 times

  • דַּבֵּר֮speak

    daberH16961141 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • אַהֲרֹ֣ןAaron

    ʾaharonH175347 times

  • אָחִיךָ֒brother your

    ʾachikhaH251630 times

  • וְאַל־and may not

    veal-H408724 times

  • יָבֹ֤אhe come

    yavo'H9352568 times

  • בְכָל־at every

    vekhol-H36055413 times

  • עֵת֙time

    ʾetH6256296 times

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁthe holy place

    hakodeshH6944469 times

  • מִבֵּ֖יתfrom inside

    mibeitH10042046 times

  • לַפָּרֹ֑כֶתto the curtain

    laparokhetH653225 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • פְּנֵ֨י[the] face of

    peneiH64402123 times

  • הַכַּפֹּ֜רֶתthe atonement cover

    hakaporetH372727 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich

    ʾasherH8345497 times

  • עַל־[is] on

    ʾal-H59215755 times

  • הָאָרֹן֙the ark

    haaronH727

  • וְלֹ֣אand not

    velo'H38085168 times

  • יָמ֔וּתhe will die

    yamutH4191839 times

  • כִּ֚יfor

    kiH35884482 times

  • בֶּֽעָנָ֔ןin the cloud

    beananH6051

  • אֵרָאֶ֖הI will appear

    ʾeraehH72001300 times

  • עַל־over

    ʾal-H59215755 times

  • הַכַּפֹּֽרֶת׃the atonement cover

    hakaporetH372727 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

    Exodus 30:10

    Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he shall make atonement on it annually with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The altar…

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 16:18

      Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and…

    • Hebrews 9:22–23

      According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

    • Exodus 29:36–37

      Sacrifice a bull as a sin offering each day for atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.

    • Leviticus 16:5–6

      And he shall take from the congregation of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

  • 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.

    • Hebrews 9:14

      how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

    • 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.

    • Hebrews 9:26

      Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by…

Where this verse is studied

About Leviticus

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.