Leviticus 16:29
in Leviticus 16This is to be a permanent statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work—whether the native or the foreigner who resides among you—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall be a statute for ever unto you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work, the home-born, or the stranger that sojourneth among you:
KJV
And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
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This verse in Leviticus 16
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Seventh month, on the tenth day - The month Ethanim or Tisri, as being the seventh in the Sacred year, has been called the sabbatical month. On the first day was celebrated the Feast of Trumpets Lev 23:24, the tenth day was the Day of Atonement, and on the fourteenth day the Feast of tabernacles commenced (Lev 23:24 note; Exo 23:16). Afflict your souls - The old term for fasting; but its meaning evidently embraces, not only abstinence from food, but that penitence and humiliation which give scope and purpose to the outward act of fasting.
This site's exposition
On the tenth day of the seventh month
on Leviticus 16:29-31
On the tenth day of the seventh month the people do nothing all day except afflict their souls. The one day the nation is cleansed is the one day it is given no work to do.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"On the days of your solemn feasts you shall mortify yourselves." Why did he say this? Because fasts and vigils and holy mortifications afflict bodies that are humbled, but they purify hearts that have been defiled. They may take strength away from limbs, but they …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
This feast began in the evening of the ninth day, and continued till the evening of the tenth. Your souls - Yourselves, both your bodies, by abstinence from food and other delights, and your minds by grief for former sins, which though bitter, yet is voluntary in all true penitents, who are therefore here said to afflict themselves, or to be active in the work.
The seventh had been reckoned the first month, till God appointed that the month in which the children of Israel came out of Egypt should thenceforward be accounted and called the first month. Some have fancied that this tenth day of the seventh month was the day of the year on which our first parents fell, and that it was kept as a fast in remembrance of their fall.
2 And the L ORD 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. 3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place : with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v2-3
And this shall be a statute for ever unto you,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The annual repetition of the sacrifices showed that there was in them only a faint and feeble effort towards making atonement; it could be done effectually only by the offering up of the body of Christ once for all, and that once was sufficient; that sacrifice needed not to be repeated. Let us see what there was of gospel in all this.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The rehearsal of these passages appointing the solemn ceremonial was very appropriate, and the details of the successive parts of it (above all the spectacle of the public departure of the scapegoat under the care of its leader) must have produced salutary impressions both of sin and of duty that would not be soon effaced.
The seventh month, on the tenth day of the month - The commandment of fasting, and sanctifying this tenth day, is again repeated Lev 23:27-32; but in the last verse it is called the ninth day at even, because the Jewish day began with the evening. The sacrifices which the day of atonement should have more than other days, are mentioned Num 29:7-11; and the jubilee which was celebrated every fiftieth year was solemnly proclaimed by sound of trumpet on this tenth day, Lev 25:8, Lev 25:9. A shadow, says Mr. Ainsworth, of that acceptable year of the Lord, the year of freedom, which Christ has proclaimed by the trumpet of his Gospel, Luk 4:18-21; 2Co 6:2. This seventh month was Tisri, and answers to a part of our September and October. It was the seventh of the sacred and the first month of the civil year. The great day of atonement, and the sacrifices, rites, and ceremonies prescribed for it, were commanded to be solemnized by the Jews through the whole of their dispensation, and as long as God should acknowledge them for his people: yet in the present day scarcely a shadow of these things remains; there is no longer a scape-goat, nor a goat for sacrifice, provided by them in any place. They are sinners, and they are without an atonement. How strange it is that they do not see that the essence of their religion is gone, and that consequently God has thrown them entirely out of covenant with himself! The true expiation, the Christ crucified, they refuse to receive, and are consequently without temple, altar, scape-goat, atonement, or any means of salvation! The state of the Gentile world is bad, but that of the Jews is doubly deplorable. Their total excision excepted, wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. What a proof is this of the truth of the predictions in their own law, and of those in the Gospel of Christ! […]
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
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיְתָ֥ה | vehayetah | and it will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֖ם | lakhem | for <the> you | ||
| לְחֻקַּ֣ת | lechukat | <into> a statute of | H2708 → | 104 times |
| עוֹלָ֑ם | olam | perpetuity | H5769 → | 438 times |
| בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ | bachodesh | in the month | H2320 → | 284 times |
| הַ֠שְּׁבִיעִי | hashevii | <the> seventh | H7637 → | 98 times |
| בֶּֽעָשׂ֨וֹר | beasor | on the ten | H6218 → | 16 times |
| לַחֹ֜דֶשׁ | lachodesh | of the month | H2320 → | 284 times |
| תְּעַנּ֣וּ | teanu | you will afflict | H6031 → | 82 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נַפְשֹֽׁתֵיכֶ֗ם | nafshoteikhem | selves your | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מְלָאכָה֙ | melakhah | work | H4399 → | 167 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲשׂ֔וּ | taasu | you will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| הָֽאֶזְרָ֔ח | haezrach | the native-born | H249 → | 17 times |
| וְהַגֵּ֖ר | vehager | and the sojourner | H1616 → | 92 times |
| הַגָּ֥ר | hagar | who sojourns | H1481 → | 97 times |
| בְּתוֹכְכֶֽם׃ | betokhem | in midst of you | H8432 → | 418 times |
וְהָיְתָ֥הand it will become
vehayetahH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֖םfor <the> you
lakhem
לְחֻקַּ֣ת<into> a statute of
lechukatH2708 →104 times
עוֹלָ֑םperpetuity
olamH5769 →438 times
בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁin the month
bachodeshH2320 →284 times
הַ֠שְּׁבִיעִי<the> seventh
hasheviiH7637 →98 times
בֶּֽעָשׂ֨וֹרon the ten
beasorH6218 →16 times
לַחֹ֜דֶשׁof the month
lachodeshH2320 →284 times
תְּעַנּ֣וּyou will afflict
teanuH6031 →82 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
נַפְשֹֽׁתֵיכֶ֗םselves your
nafshoteikhemH5315 →754 times
וְכָל־and any
vekholH3605 →5413 times
מְלָאכָה֙work
melakhahH4399 →167 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲשׂ֔וּyou will do
taasuH6213 →2628 times
הָֽאֶזְרָ֔חthe native-born
haezrachH249 →17 times
וְהַגֵּ֖רand the sojourner
vehagerH1616 →92 times
הַגָּ֥רwho sojourns
hagarH1481 →97 times
בְּתוֹכְכֶֽם׃in midst of you
betokhemH8432 →418 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
Exodus 20:10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 5:14–15
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox…
- Exodus 34:21
Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.
- Deuteronomy 5:14–15
Through
Daniel 10:12“Do not be afraid, Daniel,” he said, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response…
it leads to
- Acts 10:30–31
Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this, the ninth hour. Suddenly a man in radiant clothing stood before me
- Daniel 10:19
“Do not be afraid, you who are highly precious,” he said. “Peace be with you! Be strong now; be very strong!” As he spoke with me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord,…
- Isaiah 58:9
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and…
- Daniel 9:20–23
While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy mountain—
- Acts 18:9–10
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking; do not be silent.
- Acts 10:30–31
Through
Leviticus 23:36For seven days you are to present an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made by fire to…
it leads to
- Nehemiah 8:18
Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. The Israelites kept the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day they…
- Nehemiah 8:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies18
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); Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 197.1; 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.