Leviticus 16:20 - Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

Leviticus 16:20

18 And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for ^ait, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around.

19 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and ^aconsecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.

21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, ^aconfess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, ^bputting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.

22 The goat shall ^abear on itself all their iniquities to an² uninhabited land; and he shall ^brelease the goat in the wilderness.

23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, ^ashall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there.

24 And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make¹ atonement for himself and for the people.

25 ^aThe fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar.

26 And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes ^aand bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.

27 ^aThe bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal.

28 Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.

29 “This shall be a statute forever for you: ^aIn the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall¹ afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who² dwells among you.

30 For on that day the priest shall make¹ atonement for you, to ^acleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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Leviticus 16:20-22

he shall bring the live goat—Having already been presented before the Lord (Leviticus 16:10), it was now brought forward to the high priest, who, placing his hands upon its head, and "having confessed over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins," transferred them by this act to the goat as their substitute. It was then delivered into the hands of a person, who was appointed to lead him away into a distant, solitary, and desert place, where in early times he was let go, to escape for his life; but in the time of Christ, he was carried to a high rock twelve miles from Jerusalem, and there, being thrust over the precipice, he was killed. Commentators have differed widely in their opinions about the character and purpose of this part of the ceremonial; some considering the word "Azazel," with the Septuagint and our translators, to mean, "the scapegoat"; others, "a lofty, precipitous rock" [BOCHART]; others, "a thing separated to God" [EWALD, THOLUCK]; while others think it designates Satan [GESENIUS, HENGSTENBERG]. This last view is grounded on the idea of both goats forming one and the same sacrifice of atonement, and it is supported by Zechariah 3:1-10, which presents a striking commentary on this passage. Whether there was in this peculiar ceremony any reference to an Egyptian superstition about Typhon, the spirit of evil, inhabiting the wilderness, and the design was to ridicule it by sending a cursed animal into his gloomy dominions, it is impossible to say. The subject is involved in much obscurity. But in any view there seems to be a typical reference to Christ who bore away our sins [Hebrews 10:4; I John 3:5].

**Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Leviticus 16:20:**

Zechariah 3:2
Hebrews 9:21

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