Leviticus 16

04 Aug 2026 - Theology

The Day of Atonement

Leviticus 16:1 - “And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died;”

This verse is referring to Leviticus 10, when two sons of Aaron were consummed by fire from the Lord because they had offered strange fire to Him. So why are we now seeing this chapter here, 6 chapters later, instead of immediately after the event? Once again, it seems as if parts of the book of Leviticus are out of order.

Leviticus 16:2 - “And the Lord 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.”

Here we read that Aaron should not enter the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle at any moment he wishes. So how often can he enter?

We find our answer all the way in verse 29:

Leviticus 16:29 - “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 [humble or deny yourself], and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:”

It would make the most sense to have verse 29, the frequency of this ritual, to be near the beginning of the instructions - perhaps immediately after verse 2. It also seems strange that in verse 3 we see that Aaron needs to bring a young bull and a ram, but we must wait until verse 5 to see where he is supposed to get them from.

The instructions regarding the burnt offerings occur in verses 3 and 5, and then later in verse 24, without any mention in between.

The scapegoat is introduced in verse 5, and the selection of the specific goat is record in verse 10. But the laying on of hands, the transfer of sin to it, and the act of sending it away to the wilderness are found in verses 20-22.

Aaron’s in offering is introduced in verse 3, the sacrificial victim is presented in verse 6, and slaughtered later in verse 11. The blood manipulation is described in verse 14, the burning of the fat in verse 25, and the instruction for the disposal of the flesh are found in verse 27.

We find a similar situation with the sin offering for the people. The offering is introduced in verse 5, presented to the Lord in verse 9, then slaughtered, and its blood manipulation performed in verse 15. Its fat is burned in verse 25, and finally the instruction for the disposal of the flesh is found in verse 27. What was a regular sin offering made up of consecutive steps in Leviticus 4 seems to be intentionally separated here in Leviticus 16.

Why does it seem like parts of the chapter are out of order?

It turns out that this important chapter contains a large chiasm:

• A: Aaron should not go into the Holy of Holies any time he wishes (2)
• B: Aaron’s sacrificial victims and holy garments (3-4)
• C: Sacrificial victims provided by the people (5)
• D: Bull for sin offering, one goat for the Lord, one goat to be the scapegoat (6-10)
• E: Aaron sacrifices his bull as a sin offering (11-14)
• F: One goat is sacrificed as a sin offering (15)
• G: Atonement is made (16-19)
• F’: One goat (the scapegoat) is sent into the wilderness (20-22)
• E’: Aaron’s closing activities (16:23-25)
• D’: One goat to be the scapegoat, one bull for the sin offering, one goat for the sin offering to the Lord (26-28)
• C’: People rest and humble themselves (29-31)
• B’: The priest wears holy garments (32-33)
• A’: Priest makes atonement once a year (34)

If the verses of this chapter were in any other order, this chiasm would not exist. So the verses in the middle of the chiasm must be important. It turns out that these verses detail the atonement made for the sins of all the people of Israel!

Leviticus 16:16-19 - “And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.”

Azazel

The King James Version (KJV) of the Bible has translated the word “scapegoat” from the word “Azazel” in Hebrew, but many modern translations have kept the original Hebrew. For example:

Leviticus 16:8,10 (ESV) - “And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel… but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.”

But who or what is “Azazel”?

By the time the codes of law were placed in Leviticus, it seems that no one was quite sure. A few hundred years later, some rabbis guessed that it was the name of a place. The Septuagint, the Greek version of the Bible translated “Azazel” as “dismissal” or “nowhere.”

Much later, Rashi said that Azazel was a steep mountain. Because the sins of the Israelites were transferred to the goat, that made it dangerous. Anyone or anything touching it would also become unclean. What if it came back after being sent into the wilderness? So Rashi tells us that in the days of the Second Temple the goat was pushed backward over a cliff to its death. This was the only way to make certain that the goat would never come back.

Other ancient sources indicated that Azazel was not a “where”, but a “who.” In some stories Azazel was said to be one of two angels who led a revolt against God. Another legend says that Azazel is a short name for two fallen angels: Uzza and Azza-el. Most Jews did not seriously believe in angel revolts or “fallen angels” being punished by God.

Modern Bible scholars like Bernard Bamberger tell us that Azazel was the name of a demon, an evil power thought to live deep in the wilderness. An animal that disappeared in the wilderness and was never seen again was thought to have been swallowed by Azazel. So when the Israelites wanted to be rid of their sins forever, never to see them again, the sent the goat carrying all their sins to the demon, to Azazel.

Why a Scapegoat?

What is this ritual actually about?

Sin and guilt offerings are familiar features of the Torah, and a normal part of the service of the Tabernacle. The service of the Day of Atonement was different from the other sacrifices in one respect: in every other offering, the sin was confessed over the animal that was sacrificed. On the Day of Atonement, however, the High Priest confessed the sins of the people over the animal that was not sacrificed, the scapegoat that was sent away.

Leviticus 16:21-22 - “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: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.”

Why does the Day of Atonement demand a rite not used on other days of the year when sin or guilt offerings were brought? Why was the first goat, the one of which the lot “to the Lord” fell (and which was offered as a sin offering) not sufficient?

The answer lies in the dual character of the day.

Leviticus 16:29-30 - “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… For on that day shall the priest make an atonement [yekhaper]for you, to cleanse [letaher] you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.”

Two distinct processes were involved: atonement and purification. Atonement, or kappara, is the normal function of a sin offering. Purification, or tahara, has to do with the removal of ritual defilement.

We are not condemned to live endlessly with the mistakes and errors of our past. The elaborate ritual of the scapegoat is meant to carry away the defilement that is the mark of shame, the shame that attaches to a person who has sinned and doesn’t seem to go away when even when forgiveness is given.

This ritual of the scapegoat was done for the entire congregation on the Day of Atonement because that was the one day of the year in which everyone shared, at least vicariously, in the process of confession, repentance, atonement, and purification. When a whole society confesses its guilt (which attaches not to the sinner but to the sinful act), individuals can be redeemed from shame.

Deny the Self

In verse 17, we read that there “shall be no man in the tabernacle” when the High Priest goes in to make atonement for all the people. While it is the high priest who makes the atonement for the people, it is the job of the people to humble and deny themselves, and to rest (29). We see this call to “deny the flesh” (or the “self”) again in Galatians 5.

In the book of Hebrews, we read that Jesus Christ is a picture of the High Priest:

Hebrews 3:1 - “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;”

While Jesus Christ (the High Priest) atones for our sin by dying on the cross, our part is to deny the self and rest in His finished work! Only by denying the self can we truly walk in the Spirit and live out the liberty we have in Christ.

It is not that we must work to deny the self, or internally struggle to find ways to. We also should not do everything other people ask us to. Instead, the Spirit will reveal to us (or “lead us”, to use Galatians language) ways to deny ourselves. It is by denying ourselves for the sake of others that we best exemplify the love of Christ - that the Lord is not just a distant power but really does hear their cry, knows them personally, and loves them enough to lay down His life for them. For this is what it means to love like Christ - to lay down your life, i.e. your self.

References

1. The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
2. The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)
3. Covenant & Conversation, Volume 3: Leviticus, the Book of Holiness
4. Structure of Leviticus 16 - The Theopolis Institute
5. The Bonds of Self