Leviticus 16:34
in Leviticus 16This 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make atonement for the children of Israel because of all their sins once in the year. And he did as Jehovah commanded Moses.
KJV
And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.
⋯
This verse in Leviticus 16
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe Jews had many striking ceremonies which marvellously set forth the death of Jesus Christ as the great expiation of our guilt and the salvation of our souls. One of the chief of these was the day of atonement, which I believe was pre-eminently intended to typify that great day of vengeance of our God, which was also the great day of acceptance of our souls, when Jesus Christ “died, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God.”
This site's exposition
The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father
on Leviticus 16:32-34
The rite is called a permanent statute, and it has to be done again once a year. Hebrews 10:3 reads that repetition as a reminder of sins every year, and Hebrews 9:12 sets against it a high priest who entered once.
This site's exposition
And all this was done as the LORD had commanded Moses
The chapter closes with a line of narrative after the law, reporting that the command was carried out. Charles Spurgeon preached the day as a picture of Christ's death. John Wesley saw two gospel gifts in the statute, forgiveness of sins and access to God.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
This shall be an everlasting statute - By which were typified the two great gospel privileges; remission of sins, and access to God, both which we owe to the mediation of the Lord Jesus.
And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you,....
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 Jews had many striking ceremonies which marvellously set forth the death of Jesus Christ as the great expiation of our guilt and the salvation of our souls. One of the chief of these was the day of atonement, which I believe was pre-eminently intended to typify that great day of vengeance of our God, which was also the great day of acceptance of our souls, when Jesus Christ “died, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God.” That day of atonement happened only once a year, to teach us that only once should Jesus Christ die; and that though he would come a second time, yet it would be without a sin offering unto salvation. The lambs were perpetually slaughtered; morning and evening they offered sacrifice to God, to remind the people that they always needed a sacrifice; but the day of atonement being the type of the one great propitiation, it was but once a year that the high priest entered within the vail with blood as the atonement for the sins of the people. And this was on a certain set and appointed time; it was not left to the choice of Moses, or to the convenience of Aaron, or to any other circumstance which might affect the date; it was appointed to be on a peculiar set day, as you find at the 29th verse: “In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month;” and at no other time was the day of atonement to be, to show us that God’s great day of atonement was appointed and predestinated by himself. Christ’s expiation occurred but once, and then not by any chance; God had settled it from before the foundation of the world; and at that hour when God had predestinated, on that very day that God had decreed that Christ should die, was he led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers he was dumb.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3400: “The Day of Atonement” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
WE have taken these words for our text. The whole Chapter, however, will have our attention. I must be allowed to say at this time, though I seldom say anything in the way of an apology, that this is not the place, nor would time serve us to go into a full exposition of the very wonderful teaching of this Chapter. If we may ever set any portion of Scripture before another, this is one of the most precious Chapters in the whole compass of Revelation and, in some respects, the most remarkable of all.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3400: “The Day of Atonement” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
WE have taken these words for our text. The whole Chapter, however, will have our attention. I must be allowed to say at this time, though I seldom say anything in the way of an apology, that this is not the place, nor would time serve us to go into a full exposition of the very wonderful teaching of this Chapter. If we may ever set any portion of Scripture before another, this is one of the most precious Chapters in the whole compass of Revelation and, in some respects, the most remarkable of all. It is so full of wonderfully deep teaching that, instead of a sermon, it might require a volume! And then, perhaps, we would scarcely have done more than skimmed the surface. And there are difficulties, I may also add, connected with the interpretation—very great difficulties—which have puzzled the most learned of the Reformed and of the Puritan divines. I do not at all attempt to solve those difficulties, nor profess that all I say might be able to support and carry out. I desire to give, instead of any attempt at criticism or deep explanation, a simple exposition of this Chapter, bringing out of it, I hope, some Truths of God which, if they do not belong to the Chapter, are, nevertheless, exceedingly precious ones and will, I hope, be useful to us all. In a remarkable way God dealt with Israel in the wilderness. There were special tokens of His peculiar Presence, as in the cloudy and fiery pillars which were the emblems of His Presence, and in the bright light called the Shekinah, which shone between the wings of the cherubim which overshadowed the Ark. But God cannot dwell where there is sin. He is a holy Being. "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts," is the song which continually rises into His ears.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָֽיְתָה־ | vehayetah- | and it will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| זֹּ֨את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| לָכֶ֜ם | lakhem | for <the> you | ||
| לְחֻקַּ֣ת | lechukat | <into> a statute of | H2708 → | 104 times |
| עוֹלָ֗ם | olam | perpetuity | H5769 → | 438 times |
| לְכַפֵּ֞ר | lekhaper | to make atonement | H3722 → | 102 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בְּנֵ֤י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| מִכָּל־ | mikol | from all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חַטֹּאתָ֔ם | chatotam | sins their | H2403 → | 295 times |
| אַחַ֖ת | ʾachat | one [time] | H259 → | 971 times |
| בַּשָּׁנָ֑ה | bashanah | in the year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| וַיַּ֕עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| צִוָּ֥ה | tzivah | he had commanded | H6680 → | 494 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֹשֶֽׁה׃ פ | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
וְהָֽיְתָה־and it will become
vehayetah-H1961 →3559 times
זֹּ֨אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
לָכֶ֜םfor <the> you
lakhem
לְחֻקַּ֣ת<into> a statute of
lechukatH2708 →104 times
עוֹלָ֗םperpetuity
olamH5769 →438 times
לְכַפֵּ֞רto make atonement
lekhaperH3722 →102 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בְּנֵ֤י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
מִכָּל־from all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
חַטֹּאתָ֔םsins their
chatotamH2403 →295 times
אַחַ֖תone [time]
ʾachatH259 →971 times
בַּשָּׁנָ֑הin the year
bashanahH8141 →877 times
וַיַּ֕עַשׂand he did
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֛רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
צִוָּ֥הhe had commanded
tzivahH6680 →494 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מֹשֶֽׁה׃ פMoses
moshehH4872 →765 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 10:14because by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified.
it leads to
- 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!
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 7:25
Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.
- Hebrews 10:1
For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near…
- Hebrews 2:11
For both the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
- Hebrews 9:14
Through
Hebrews 10:3Instead, those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins,
it leads to
- 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 9:7
Through
Exodus 30:10Once 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…
- Leviticus 16:18
Through
Hebrews 9:25Nor 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 9:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies18
On this chapter
About Leviticus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 95: “The Day of Atonement” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3400: “The Day of Atonement” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); 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; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.