Leviticus 16:20

20 "Aaron will finish making the Most Holy Room pure and clean. He will finish making the Tent of Meeting and the altar pure. "Then he will bring the live goat out.

Leviticus 16:20 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 16:20

And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy
[place]
That is, the holy of holies, by carrying in the blood of the bullock, and of the goat there, and sprinkling them as before observed:

and the tabernacle of the congregation;
the great court where the people met, and where the altar of burnt offering stood:

and the altar;
the altar of incense in the holy place; and so all the parts of the tabernacle were reconciled and atoned for, even the holy of holies, the holy place, and the court of the people: all the work the day of atonement, we are told ^F23, was done according to the order prescribed, and that if anything was done before another, it was doing nothing: thus, for instance, if the blood of the goat went before (or was sprinkled before) the blood of the bullock, he must return and sprinkle of the blood of the goat after the blood of the bullock; and if before he has finished the puttings (of the blood) within, the blood is poured out, (that is, at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering,) he shall bring other blood, and return and sprinkle anew within, and so in the temple, and at the golden altar, for every atonement is by itself:

he shall bring the live goat;
that which remained alive after the other was slain, as it was to do, according to the lot that fell upon it, ( Leviticus 16:10 ) ; this was brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, whither the high priest went, and performed the following rites.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Yoma, c. 5. sect. 7.

Leviticus 16:20 In-Context

18 "Then he will come out to the altar for burnt offerings. It is in front of the tent where the ark of the LORD is. He will make the altar pure and clean. He will take some of the bull's blood and some of the goat's blood. Then he will put the blood on all of the horns that stick out from the upper four corners of the altar.

19 He will sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times. He will do it to make the altar pure. He will do it to set it apart from the people of Israel. They are not 'clean.'

20 "Aaron will finish making the Most Holy Room pure and clean. He will finish making the Tent of Meeting and the altar pure. "Then he will bring the live goat out.

21 He must place both of his hands on its head. While he does that, he must tell me about all of the sins the people of Israel have committed. He must tell me about all of their evil acts and the times they did not obey me. In that way he puts their sins on the goat's head. "Then he will send the goat away into the desert. The goat will be led away by a man who was appointed to do it.

22 The goat will carry all of their sins on itself to a place where there are no people. And the man will set the goat free in the desert.