Leviticus 16:3
in Leviticus 16This is how Aaron is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Herewith shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering.
KJV
Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.
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This verse in Leviticus 16
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Holy place - This name here denotes the sanctuary, the whole sacred enclosure, the court of the tabernacle. The offerings were for Aaron and his sons, supplied by himself.
This site's exposition
Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place
on Leviticus 16:3-4
He goes in wearing plain linen, and the golden garments of Exodus 28 with the breastplate and the stones stay outside. The high priest enters on the one day of the year dressed like the lowest of the priests, and he washes his flesh before he puts the linen on. He changes back into the golden garments at verse 24, once the work inside is finished.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
To sprinkle the blood before the mercy seat, and upon the altar, ver. 13-19.
quarantine:anchor,scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:85%@v12-14; cites-ver-13-anchored-3-3
Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place,....
All Christians are spiritual priests, but Christ only is the high priest, and he alone it is that makes atonement, nor needed he either assistant or substitute.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
With a young bullock for a sin-offering - The bullock was presented as a sin-offering for himself, his family, the whole priesthood, and probably the Levites. The ram was for a burnt-offering, to signify that he and his associates were wholly consecrated, and to be wholly employed in this work of the ministry. The ceremonies with which these two sacrifices were accompanied are detailed in the following verses.
How the passage was read
On Leviticus 16:1-34On 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
11 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּזֹ֛את | bezot | with this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| יָבֹ֥א | yavo' | he will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אַהֲרֹ֖ן | ʾaharon | Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַקֹּ֑דֶשׁ | hakodesh | the holy place | H6944 → | 469 times |
| בְּפַ֧ר | befar | with a bull | H6499 → | 132 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | a young one of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בָּקָ֛ר | bakar | [the] herd | H1241 → | 183 times |
| לְחַטָּ֖את | lechatat | to a sin offering | H2403 → | 295 times |
| וְאַ֥יִל | veayil | and a ram | H352 → | 187 times |
| לְעֹלָֽה׃ | leolah | to a burnt offering | H5930 → | 287 times |
בְּזֹ֛אתwith this
bezotH2063 →603 times
יָבֹ֥אhe will come
yavo'H935 →2568 times
אַהֲרֹ֖ןAaron
ʾaharonH175 →347 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַקֹּ֑דֶשׁthe holy place
hakodeshH6944 →469 times
בְּפַ֧רwith a bull
befarH6499 →132 times
בֶּן־a young one of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
בָּקָ֛ר[the] herd
bakarH1241 →183 times
לְחַטָּ֖אתto a sin offering
lechatatH2403 →295 times
וְאַ֥יִלand a ram
veayilH352 →187 times
לְעֹלָֽה׃to a burnt offering
leolahH5930 →287 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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 9:7But 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.
- Leviticus 5:18
He is to bring to the priest an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock as a guilt offering. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the wrong he has…
- Hebrews 7:27
Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when…
- Hebrews 10:19–20
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
- 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…
- Leviticus 16:34
Through
Leviticus 4:3If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.
it leads to
- Hebrews 7:27–28
Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when…
- Leviticus 9:2
He said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and present them before the LORD.
- Leviticus 4:14
when they become aware of the sin they have committed, then the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the Tent of Meeting.
- Hebrews 7:27–28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
On this chapter
About Leviticus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.