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Leviticus 16:21

Then he is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a man that is in readiness into the wilderness:

KJV

And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:

Commentary

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Hebraic traditional view

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.

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

Original language & word study

31 tagged words
OriginalTransliterationMeaningWord study
וְסָמַ֨ךְve.sa.Makhand he will leanH5564
אַהֲרֹ֜ן'a.ha.RonAaronH175
אֶת־'et-<obj.>H853
שְׁתֵּ֣יshe.Tei[the] twoH8147
יָדָ֗יוya.dovhands hisH3027
עַ֨ל'alonH5921
רֹ֣אשׁrosh[the] head ofH7218
הַשָּׂעִיר֮ha.sa.'Irthe male goatH8163
הַחַי֒ha.Chai<the> livingH2416
וְהִתְוַדָּ֣הve.hit.va.Dahand he will confessH3034
עָלָ֗יו'a.Lavover itH5921
אֶת־'et-<obj.>H853
כָּל־kol-allH3605
עֲוֹנֹת֙'a.vo.Not[the] iniquities ofH5771
בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei[the] people ofH1121
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
וְאֶת־ve.'Etand <obj.>H853
כָּל־kol-allH3605
פִּשְׁעֵיהֶ֖םpish.'ei.Hemtransgressions theirH6588
לְכָל־le.kholto allH3605
חַטֹּאתָ֑םcha.to.Tamsins theirH2403
וְנָתַ֤ןve.na.Tanand he will putH5414
אֹתָם֙'o.Tam<obj.> themH853
עַל־'al-onH5921
רֹ֣אשׁrosh[the] head ofH7218
הַשָּׂעִ֔ירha.sa.'Irthe male goatH8163
וְשִׁלַּ֛חve.shi.Lachand he will send [it] awayH7971
בְּיַד־be.yad-by [the] hand ofH3027
אִ֥ישׁ'isha manH376
עִתִּ֖י'i.TireadyH6261
הַמִּדְבָּֽרָה׃ha.mid.Ba.rahthe wilderness towardsH4057

The walk

About Leviticus

Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain