Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Leviticus 16:21

in Leviticus 16

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

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

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:

This verse in Leviticus 16

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

This last view is grounded on the idea of both goats forming one and the same sacrifice of atonement, and it is supported by Zec 3:1-10, which presents a striking commentary on this passage.

This site's exposition

When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place

on Leviticus 16:20-22

Over the live goat Aaron confesses "all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins". Hands and words together put the sins on its head, and the goat carries them off to a solitary place.

This site's exposition

lay both hands on the head of the live goat

Matthew Henry notes that hands were laid on a sacrifice with a confession fitted to its kind. This being a sin offering, the confession was of sin. Adam Clarke points to Exodus 29:10 and Leviticus 1:4 for the meaning of the gesture.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

All the iniquities - He mentions iniquities, transgressions, and sins, to note sins of all sorts, and that a free and full confession was to be made, and that the smallest sins needed, and the greatest sins were not excluded from, the benefit of Christ's death here represented.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

); and whenever hands were imposed upon the head of any sacrifice it was always done with confession, according as the nature of the sacrifice was; and, this being a sin-offering, it must be a confession of sin.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head, etc. - What this imposition of hands meant see in the notes on Exo 29:10 (note), and Lev 1:4 (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.

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

31 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.

  • וְסָמַ֨ךְand he will lean

    vesamakhH5564 →48 times

  • אַהֲרֹ֜ןAaron

    ʾaharonH175 →347 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • שְׁתֵּ֣י[the] two

    sheteiH8147 →768 times

  • יָדָ֗יוhands his

    yadovH3027 →1618 times

  • עַ֨לon

    ʾalH5921 →5755 times

  • רֹ֣אשׁ[the] head of

    roshH7218 →599 times

  • הַשָּׂעִיר֮the male goat

    hasairH8163 →59 times

  • הַחַי֒<the> living

    hachaiH2416 →498 times

  • וְהִתְוַדָּ֣הand he will confess

    vehitvadahH3034 →114 times

  • עָלָ֗יוover it

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • עֲוֹנֹת֙[the] iniquities of

    ʾavonotH5771 →233 times

  • בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • פִּשְׁעֵיהֶ֖םtransgressions their

    pisheihemH6588 →

  • לְכָל־to all

    lekholH3605 →5413 times

  • חַטֹּאתָ֑םsins their

    chatotamH2403 →295 times

  • וְנָתַ֤ןand he will put

    venatanH5414 →2011 times

  • אֹתָם֙<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • רֹ֣אשׁ[the] head of

    roshH7218 →599 times

  • הַשָּׂעִ֔ירthe male goat

    hasairH8163 →59 times

  • וְשִׁלַּ֛חand he will send [it] away

    veshilachH7971 →845 times

  • בְּיַד־by [the] hand of

    beyad-H3027 →1618 times

  • אִ֥ישׁa man

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • עִתִּ֖יready

    ʾitiH6261 →

  • הַמִּדְבָּֽרָה׃the wilderness towards

    hamidbarahH4057 →270 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

    2 Corinthians 5:21

    God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 3:18

      For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Peter 2:22–24

      “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”

    • Romans 5:19

      For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

    • Galatians 3:13

      Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

    • 1 Corinthians 1:30

      It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

  • Through

    Proverbs 28:13

    He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

    it leads to

    • 1 John 1:8–10

      If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

    • Psalms 32:3–5

      When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.

  • Through

    Isaiah 53:6

    We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 2:25

      For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Where this verse is studied

About Leviticus

The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.
The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.