Leviticus 16:20

20 “When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat.

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.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 Yoma, c. 5. sect. 7.

Leviticus 16:20 In-Context

18 “Then Aaron will come out to purify the altar that stands before the LORD . He will do this by taking some of the blood from the bull and the goat and putting it on each of the horns of the altar.
19 Then he must sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times over the altar. In this way, he will cleanse it from Israel’s defilement and make it holy.
20 “When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat.
21 He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness.
22 As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.
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