(Book of Numbers 28:16 - 29:40)
"On the 14th day of the first month, Nisan, Jehovah's Passover is to be observed. On the 15th day of the month a festival is to be held and for the next 7 days only unleavened bread is to be eaten. On the first day a a sacred assembly will be held and no regular work is to be done. You should make a burnt offering to Jehovah consisting of two young bulls, one ram, and 7 male yearling lambs, all without defect, accompanied by a grain offering of the finest flour mixed with oil -- three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram, and one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb. Also, there should be sacrificed a male goat as a sin offering to make your atonement. These sacrifices should be made in addition to the regular morning burnt offering. For 7 days these sacrifices should be made so that the food of the burnt offerings will create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah. They should be presented in addition to the regular burnt offerings and the accompanying drink offerings. On the 7th day a sacred assembly will be held with no occupational work done.
"On the day of the Harvest Festival, when you present to Jehovah an offering from the first harvest of grain, hold a sacred assemble and refrain from all occupational work. Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, a ram, and 7 male yearling lambs to create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah. Accompanying each burnt offering there should be a grain offering of the finest flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram, and one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb. In addition, a male goat should be sacrificed as a sin offering to make atonement. Present these burnt offerings along with their accompanying drink offerings in addition to the regular burnt and grain offerings. Take care that all the animals have no defects!
"On the 1st day of the 7th month, Tishri, you should hold a sacred assemble and do no occupational work. This is a day for you to sound trumpets! To create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah, make a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and 7 male yearling lambs, all without defect. An accompanying grain offering of the finest flour mixed with oil should consist of three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram, and one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb. To make atonement for you, include a sin offering of one male goat. This is in addition to the monthly burnt offering and the accompanying grain offering, as well as the daily burnt offering with its prescribed grain and drink offerings. These food offerings will create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah.
"Ten days later, on the 10th day of the same month you must convene another sacred assembly. You must fast and refrain from any occupational work. Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and 7 male yearling lambs, all without defect. With the bull include a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil, with the ram two-tenths of an ephah, and with the lambs, one-tenth of an ephah. You must sacrifice as a sin offering one male goat. This is in addition to the regular sin offering made for atonement and the daily burnt offering with the accompanying grain and drink offerings.
"Five days later, on the 10th of the same month you must convene another sacred assembly. You must fast and refrain from occupational work. Present a burnt offering that will create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah, one young bull, one ram, and 7 male yearling lambs, all without defects. Accompanying these offerings should be the prescribed grain offerings, consisting of the finest flour mixed with olive oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram, and one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb. Also there should be a sin offering of a goat, in addition to the sin offering of atonement and the regular burnt offerings with the accompanying grain and drink offerings.
"On the 15th day of the 7th month convene a sacred assembly and do no occupational work. During the next 7 days celebrate a festival to Jehovah. To create an aroma pleasing to him, present burnt offerings consisting of 13 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without blemish, along with a grain offering of the finest flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each of the bulls, two-tenths of an ephah for each of the rams, and one-tenth of an ephah for each of the lambs. Also, there should be a male goat as a sin offering. These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offering.
"On the 2nd day sacrifice 12 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without defect. With the bulls, rams, and lambs make the prescribed grain and drink offerings. A male goat should also be sacrificed as a sin offering. These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offerings.
"On the 3rd day sacrifice 11 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without defect. With the bulls, rams, and lambs make the prescribed grain and drink offerings. A male goat should also be sacrificed as a sin offering. These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offerings.
"On the 4th day sacrifice 10 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without defect. With the bulls, rams, and lambs make the prescribed grain and drink offerings. A male goat should also be sacrificed as a sin offering. These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offerings.
"On the 5th day sacrifice 9 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without defect. With the bulls, rams, and lambs make the prescribed grain and drink offerings. A male goat should also be sacrificed as a sin offering. These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offerings.
"On the 6th day sacrifice 8 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without defect. With the bulls, rams, and lambs make the prescribed grain and drink offerings. A male goat should also be sacrificed as a sin offering. These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offerings.
"On the 7th day sacrifice 7 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without defect. With the bulls, rams, and lambs make the prescribed grain and drink offerings. A male goat should also be sacrificed as a sin offering. These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offerings.
"On the 8th day conclude by convening a sacred assembly and refraining from occupational work. To create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah present a burnt offering consisting of one young bull, one ram, and 7 male yearling lambs, all with no defects. Each sacrifice should be accompanied by the prescribed grain and drink offerings. And you must sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, this in addition to the regular burnt offering and its accompanying grain and drink offering.
"You must make these offerings to Jehovah at the yearly festivals. These sacrifices, burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and peace offerings, are in addition to the votive and voluntary offering you may make."
Moses conveyed to the Israelites all that he had been commanded by Jehovah.
Notes
1. The impression is given that holidays to the Israelites were mostly about the slaughter of animals, the primary means of divine worship.
2. The festivals mentioned here are referred to in Leviticus, the 23rd chapter, "Festivals to be Observed." Passover, on the 14th of Nisan, occurs in spring, as is well known. The Harvest Festival (Festival of Weeks, Feast of Pentecost, or Shabuoth) occurred when the first crops were harvested and samples of them sacrificed to Jehovah. The blowing of trumpets on the 1st of Tishri in early autumn celebrated what is now known as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. (Tishri is the 7th month of the Hebrew religious calendar, but the 1st month of the civil calendar.) On the 10th of Tishri was and is the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The 15th of Tishri is the beginning of the Festival of Tabernacles (or Festival of Booths, originally Festival of Ingathering or Festival of the Final Harvest and is generally now known as Sukkot or Succoth).
3. An ephah is a unit of dry measure equal to about 19 U.S. dry quarts or 69 cups (as those used in cooking). Therefore one tenth of an ephah is about 7 cups, two tenths is a little less than 14 cups, three tenths, 21 cups. Many different values are given for the ephah, but this seems the most likely.
Showing posts with label Yom Kippur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yom Kippur. Show all posts
Friday, July 10, 2015
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Festivals to Be Observed
(Leviticus 23:1 - 23:44)
Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "These are the established festivals that are to be enshrined as official holidays for the religious congregation.
"For six days you will work, but the seventh day, the Sabbath, is to be set aside as a day for rest and religious services. On the Sabbath, dedicated to Jehovah, you will do no work, regardless of where you may live.
"The following are Jehovah's established festivals, official holidays for religious service that are to be observed at the appropriate times of the year.
"There is Jehovah's Passover, which commences on sundown on the 14th day of Nisan, the first month of the year. The 15th day of the month is the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days only unleavened bread may be eaten. On the first day of Passover there should be a sacred convocation, and everyone must take a day off from work. On each day food offerings should be sacrificed to Jehovah, and on the seventh day there should be another sacred convocation, with everyone taking off from work.
The Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "When you have settled in the land I am taking you to and have harvested the first crop, bring to the priest a sheaf from the first grain you reap. The priest should wave it above the altar on the first day after the Sabbath, so that it may be accepted by Jehovah on your behalf. On the same day you should sacrifice to Jehovah a burnt offering of a yearling lamb without defect, along with a grain offering of two tenths of an ephah of finest flour mixed with olive oil -- a burnt offering that will create an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah-- and also a drink offering of one quarter of a hin of wine. You should eat no bread or any fresh or roasted kernels of grain until you make this sacrifice to Jehovah. This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live.
"From the day after the Sabbath, the day that you bring in the sheaf of grain to be waved above the altar, you should count off 7 full weeks. Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, 50 days; you should then present to Jehovah an offering of new grain. From your home you should bring as an offering to be waved above the altar two loaves of leavened bread made with two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour. These will be a part of the offerings of first fruits to Jehovah. In addition to the bread, sacrifice as burnt offerings to Jehovah 7 yearling male lambs without defect, a male calf, and 2 rams. These will comprise the burnt offering to Jehovah, accompanying the offerings of grain and drink -- food offerings that will create an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah. Then sacrifice, for a guilt offering, one male goat and, for a peace offering, 2 yearling male lambs. The priest will raise and wave above the altar these offerings to Jehovah as he did with the 2 loaves representing the first fruits of the harvest. These sacred offerings made to Jehovah will belong to the priests. This day will be an official holiday for sacred convocation, with everyone taking off from work. This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live.
"When you harvest your crops do not reap the grain to the edges of the fields, or collect the gleanings that remain. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners who live among you. Thus says Jehovah your god."
Jehovah told Moses, "On the first day of the seventh month of Tishri you are to observe a Sabbath-like day of rest. There should be a sacred convocation proclaimed by blasts of the ram’s horn. Refrain from doing any work and sacrifice a food offering to Jehovah."
Jehovah told Moses, "On the tenth day of the seventh month of Tishri is a Day of Atonement celebrated with a sacred convocation. You are to fast and refrain from work and present sacrifices of food offerings to Jehovah, for this is a day to atone and to purify yourselves before your god Jehovah. Anyone who does not fast on that day should be banished from the community. Anyone who does any work during the course of the day I will strike down in the midst of the people. Do absolutely no work on that day! This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live. It must be a Sabbath-like day of complete rest and you must fast on that day. You are to observe this day of rest from sundown on the ninth day of the month to sundown on the following day."
The Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "On the fifteenth day of same month, five days after the Day of Atonement you should begin to celebrate Jehovah's Festival of Tabernacles, which lasts seven days. On the first day is a sacred convocation, when no one must work. On each of the seven days you must make food sacrifices to Jehovah. On the eighth day is a solemn holiday when burnt offerings to Jehovah are to be made and a sacred convocation held. No one must work on that day.
"Keep in mind that this week-long festival to Jehovah, the Festival of the Tabernacles, begins on the fifth of the month of Tishri. after you have harvested your crops. The first and the eighth day of the festival are holidays of total rest. On the first day collect foliage, branches from citron trees, palm fronds, myrtle boughs, and branches from the willows that grow along the banks of streams -- and rejoice for seven days in honor of your god Jehovah. Celebrate this festival to Jehovah for seven days every year. This will be an established custom to be observed through the generations. Observe it in the seventh month, Tishri. Live in small, temporary shelters for seven days. All native-born Israelites are to do so so that their descendants will remember that I had the Israelites live in such shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. Thus says Jehovah your god."
These are Jehovah's established festivals, celebrated by sacred convocations and food offerings made to Jehovah -- burnt offering, grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its appropriate day. These festivals are to observed in addition to the Jehovah's regular Sabbaths, and the offerings are in addition to whatever gifts, votive and voluntary offerings you may make to Jehovah.
Moses thus presented to the Israelites instructions for the observance of the annual festivals established by Jehovah.
Notes
1. In summary, these are festival or holidays established by Jehovah:
Passover, comprising the Feast of Unleavened Bread, celebrating the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian bondage, on the 14th of the first month, Nisan, (late March, April) and lasting for 7 days (later 8 days).
Feast of First Fruits, Festival of Weeks, called in New Testament times, Feast of Pentecost, and now called Shavuot and observed on the 6th day of the 3rd month, Sivan (late May, early June), traditionally the day the Torah was given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, time of wheat harvest and ripening of fruit.
New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, (September, early October) celebrated with horn blasts, traditionally the day that Adam was created.
Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, 10th day of the seventh month, Tishri, (mid September, early October) celebrated with fasting, prayer, sacrifices.
Festival of Tabernacles, or Festival of Booths, Festival of Ingathering, or Festival of the Final Harvest, now known as Sukkot, 15th day of the seventh month, Tishri (late September to late October), 7 days celebrated by eating and sleeping in simple shelters covered with foliage and greenery.
Three of the festivals, Passover, Feast of First Fruits, and Festival of Tabernacles would become pilgrimage holidays during which Israelites were supposed to journey to Jerusalem. How practical this ever was is doubtful.
It must be remembered days begin at dusk. The Jewish calendar is lunar so that the dates of the holidays will vary from year to year in relation to the solar calendar. All these holidays are still celebrated by observant and, to varying degrees, by nonobservant Jews today.
2. Two-tenths of an ephah is about 7 pounds. Those must have been whopping big loaves of bread! A grocery store loaf of bread weighs as little as a pound and a quarter. A quarter of a hin is about a quart or a liter.
3. The second-to-last paragraph ("These are Jehovah's established festivals ...") is misplaced in the middle of the description of Festival of Tabernacles. It is probably not part of Jehovah's speech, so I have inserted it afterwards, where it obviously belongs.
4. It is odd that the names and descriptions of Jehovah's holidays given here is at some variance with those given in Exodus. It is further evidence that the Books of Moses, or their source material, were not all written at the same time or by the same authors. It is obvious that these books, written by and for the benefit of the priestly class, record traditions that were established over time, probably hundreds of years, and not immediately put into practice at the foot of Mount Sinai. It seems unlikely that either Jehovah or Moses would have been telling the freed slaves of Israel wandering in the desert what would be expected of them forty years hence.
5. On the New Year, Rosh Hashanah, it is mentioned here that the ram’s horn, or shofar is sounded. Many translations say “trumpet,” which is not quite accurate. A trumpet generally refers to a wind instrument of metal. Early ones, without keys or valves and of bronze and silver were in use during Moses’ time, but the ram’s horn is the musical instrument used by the Israelites, often for religious purposes. The ram’s horn, like the bugle, requires the player to use his mouth to alter pitch.
Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "These are the established festivals that are to be enshrined as official holidays for the religious congregation.
"For six days you will work, but the seventh day, the Sabbath, is to be set aside as a day for rest and religious services. On the Sabbath, dedicated to Jehovah, you will do no work, regardless of where you may live.
"The following are Jehovah's established festivals, official holidays for religious service that are to be observed at the appropriate times of the year.
"There is Jehovah's Passover, which commences on sundown on the 14th day of Nisan, the first month of the year. The 15th day of the month is the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days only unleavened bread may be eaten. On the first day of Passover there should be a sacred convocation, and everyone must take a day off from work. On each day food offerings should be sacrificed to Jehovah, and on the seventh day there should be another sacred convocation, with everyone taking off from work.
The Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "When you have settled in the land I am taking you to and have harvested the first crop, bring to the priest a sheaf from the first grain you reap. The priest should wave it above the altar on the first day after the Sabbath, so that it may be accepted by Jehovah on your behalf. On the same day you should sacrifice to Jehovah a burnt offering of a yearling lamb without defect, along with a grain offering of two tenths of an ephah of finest flour mixed with olive oil -- a burnt offering that will create an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah-- and also a drink offering of one quarter of a hin of wine. You should eat no bread or any fresh or roasted kernels of grain until you make this sacrifice to Jehovah. This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live.
"From the day after the Sabbath, the day that you bring in the sheaf of grain to be waved above the altar, you should count off 7 full weeks. Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, 50 days; you should then present to Jehovah an offering of new grain. From your home you should bring as an offering to be waved above the altar two loaves of leavened bread made with two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour. These will be a part of the offerings of first fruits to Jehovah. In addition to the bread, sacrifice as burnt offerings to Jehovah 7 yearling male lambs without defect, a male calf, and 2 rams. These will comprise the burnt offering to Jehovah, accompanying the offerings of grain and drink -- food offerings that will create an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah. Then sacrifice, for a guilt offering, one male goat and, for a peace offering, 2 yearling male lambs. The priest will raise and wave above the altar these offerings to Jehovah as he did with the 2 loaves representing the first fruits of the harvest. These sacred offerings made to Jehovah will belong to the priests. This day will be an official holiday for sacred convocation, with everyone taking off from work. This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live.
"When you harvest your crops do not reap the grain to the edges of the fields, or collect the gleanings that remain. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners who live among you. Thus says Jehovah your god."
Jehovah told Moses, "On the first day of the seventh month of Tishri you are to observe a Sabbath-like day of rest. There should be a sacred convocation proclaimed by blasts of the ram’s horn. Refrain from doing any work and sacrifice a food offering to Jehovah."
Jehovah told Moses, "On the tenth day of the seventh month of Tishri is a Day of Atonement celebrated with a sacred convocation. You are to fast and refrain from work and present sacrifices of food offerings to Jehovah, for this is a day to atone and to purify yourselves before your god Jehovah. Anyone who does not fast on that day should be banished from the community. Anyone who does any work during the course of the day I will strike down in the midst of the people. Do absolutely no work on that day! This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live. It must be a Sabbath-like day of complete rest and you must fast on that day. You are to observe this day of rest from sundown on the ninth day of the month to sundown on the following day."
The Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "On the fifteenth day of same month, five days after the Day of Atonement you should begin to celebrate Jehovah's Festival of Tabernacles, which lasts seven days. On the first day is a sacred convocation, when no one must work. On each of the seven days you must make food sacrifices to Jehovah. On the eighth day is a solemn holiday when burnt offerings to Jehovah are to be made and a sacred convocation held. No one must work on that day.
"Keep in mind that this week-long festival to Jehovah, the Festival of the Tabernacles, begins on the fifth of the month of Tishri. after you have harvested your crops. The first and the eighth day of the festival are holidays of total rest. On the first day collect foliage, branches from citron trees, palm fronds, myrtle boughs, and branches from the willows that grow along the banks of streams -- and rejoice for seven days in honor of your god Jehovah. Celebrate this festival to Jehovah for seven days every year. This will be an established custom to be observed through the generations. Observe it in the seventh month, Tishri. Live in small, temporary shelters for seven days. All native-born Israelites are to do so so that their descendants will remember that I had the Israelites live in such shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. Thus says Jehovah your god."
These are Jehovah's established festivals, celebrated by sacred convocations and food offerings made to Jehovah -- burnt offering, grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its appropriate day. These festivals are to observed in addition to the Jehovah's regular Sabbaths, and the offerings are in addition to whatever gifts, votive and voluntary offerings you may make to Jehovah.
Moses thus presented to the Israelites instructions for the observance of the annual festivals established by Jehovah.
Notes
1. In summary, these are festival or holidays established by Jehovah:
Passover, comprising the Feast of Unleavened Bread, celebrating the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian bondage, on the 14th of the first month, Nisan, (late March, April) and lasting for 7 days (later 8 days).
Feast of First Fruits, Festival of Weeks, called in New Testament times, Feast of Pentecost, and now called Shavuot and observed on the 6th day of the 3rd month, Sivan (late May, early June), traditionally the day the Torah was given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, time of wheat harvest and ripening of fruit.
New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, (September, early October) celebrated with horn blasts, traditionally the day that Adam was created.
Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, 10th day of the seventh month, Tishri, (mid September, early October) celebrated with fasting, prayer, sacrifices.
Festival of Tabernacles, or Festival of Booths, Festival of Ingathering, or Festival of the Final Harvest, now known as Sukkot, 15th day of the seventh month, Tishri (late September to late October), 7 days celebrated by eating and sleeping in simple shelters covered with foliage and greenery.
Three of the festivals, Passover, Feast of First Fruits, and Festival of Tabernacles would become pilgrimage holidays during which Israelites were supposed to journey to Jerusalem. How practical this ever was is doubtful.
It must be remembered days begin at dusk. The Jewish calendar is lunar so that the dates of the holidays will vary from year to year in relation to the solar calendar. All these holidays are still celebrated by observant and, to varying degrees, by nonobservant Jews today.
2. Two-tenths of an ephah is about 7 pounds. Those must have been whopping big loaves of bread! A grocery store loaf of bread weighs as little as a pound and a quarter. A quarter of a hin is about a quart or a liter.
3. The second-to-last paragraph ("These are Jehovah's established festivals ...") is misplaced in the middle of the description of Festival of Tabernacles. It is probably not part of Jehovah's speech, so I have inserted it afterwards, where it obviously belongs.
4. It is odd that the names and descriptions of Jehovah's holidays given here is at some variance with those given in Exodus. It is further evidence that the Books of Moses, or their source material, were not all written at the same time or by the same authors. It is obvious that these books, written by and for the benefit of the priestly class, record traditions that were established over time, probably hundreds of years, and not immediately put into practice at the foot of Mount Sinai. It seems unlikely that either Jehovah or Moses would have been telling the freed slaves of Israel wandering in the desert what would be expected of them forty years hence.
5. On the New Year, Rosh Hashanah, it is mentioned here that the ram’s horn, or shofar is sounded. Many translations say “trumpet,” which is not quite accurate. A trumpet generally refers to a wind instrument of metal. Early ones, without keys or valves and of bronze and silver were in use during Moses’ time, but the ram’s horn is the musical instrument used by the Israelites, often for religious purposes. The ram’s horn, like the bugle, requires the player to use his mouth to alter pitch.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Ritual of Atonement
(Leviticus 16:1 - 16:34)
Jehovah spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons who were killed while improperly ministering at the altar. "Warn your brother Aaron that he must not enter the Inner Sanctum beyond the veil and approach the Judgment Seat (that is, the lid of the Chest of Sacred Records) any time he wishes, or he is apt to be killed when I manifest myself in a cloud above the Judgment Seat. Aaron should carefully follow this procedure whenever he enters the Inner Sanctum: He must present a young bull as a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He must garb himself in the sacred vestments: he must don the linen tunic and the linen undergarments, fasten the linen sash round his waist, and put the linen turban on his head. And he must bathe before putting them on.
"From the congregation of Israel he should receive two male goats as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. Aaron must offer in sacrifice his own bull as a sin offering to make atonement for himself and the other members of the priesthood. Then he should take the two goats and bring them to the Sacrificial Altar that stands before the entrance to the Sanctum.
“He is to cast sacred lots for the goats to determine which one will be sacrificed to Jehovah and which will banished as the scapegoat. The goat chosen by lot for Jehovah is to be sacrificed as a sin offering. The one chosen by lot to be the scapegoat should be presented live before the altar and then sent off into the desert to complete the ritual of atonement for the people.
"Aaron is take the bull as the sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household and slaughter it as a sacrifice. After he has done so, he should take a censer full of burning embers (from the Sacrificial Altar that stands before the Sanctum) and two handfuls of powdered aromatic incense. When he has passed through the veil into the Inner Sanctum, he should sprinkle the incense into the censer so that smoke from the burning incense will rise up and cover the Judgment Seat, that is, the lid of the Chest of Sacred Records. --- If he does not follow these instructions, he will die.
"He should take some of the blood from the sacrificed bull and dab it upon the top of the Judgment Seat and with his finger he should sprinkle blood seven times in front of it. He should sacrifice the goat that is the sin offering of the people and bring its blood into the Inner Sanctum so that he may sprinkle it upon and before the Judgment Seat, as was done with the bull's blood. This will purify the Inner Sanctum, to make atonement for the impurity and rebelliousness, and all the sins of the Israelites. But he must do the same for the entire Tabernacle which remains standing in the midst of their impurity. No one should be allowed in the Tabernacle from the time Aaron enters the Inner Sanctum to purify it, and no one should be allowed to enter it until after he leaves, having made atonement for himself and the priests and atonement for the entire community of Israel.
"Aaron should then go out to the Sacrificial Altar that stands before the entrance to the Sanctum and purify it. He should do this by taking some of the blood from the sacrificed bull and goat and dabbing it on each horn of the altar. With his finger he should sprinkle blood seven times over the altar in order to purify and consecrate it and make atonement for the impurities of the Israelites.
"When Aaron has finished purifying the Inner Sanctum, the Tabernacle, and the Sacrificial Altar, he should present the live goat. He will hold the goat's head in both of his hands and confess to it all the sins and transgressions and iniquities of the Israelite people, the guilt of which is thus transferred to the head of the goat. A designated person will then take it into the desert. When a desolate, uninhabited country is reached, the person will set the goat free, so that it may carry away all the people's sins.
"Aaron should then return to the Sanctum and take off the linen vestments he donned before he entered the Inner Sanctum; he should leave them there. While in the Tabernacle he should bathe himself and change his clothes. He should then come out of the Sanctum and present his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering to make atonement both for himself and for the people. The fat of the sin offering will be burnt on the altar.
"The person chosen to lead the scapegoat into the desert should wash his clothes and bathe and may afterward come back into camp. The carcasses of the bull and the goat that were sacrificed as sin offerings and whose blood was used to purify the Inner Sanctum should be taken outside of camp, where their hides, flesh, and organs are to be burned. He who burns them must bathe and wash his clothes before returning to camp.
"This shall be for you an established practice: every year on the tenth day of the seventh month you should do penitence and refrain from doing any work -- both citizens and resident aliens alike -- for this will be the Day of Atonement when offerings are made to cleanse you of your sins in the eyes of Jehovah. It will be a Sabbath-like day of rest and penitence; this will be a permanent observance. Wearing the sacred linen vestments, Aaron's successor, anointed and consecrated as high priest, will purify the Inner Sanctum, the Tabernacle, the Sacrificial Altar, the priests, and the entire congregation. Making this atonement for the sins of Israel’s people must be done every year."
Moses would do what Jehovah had instructed him.
Notes
1. The Hebrew text makes no clear distinction between atonement and purification, whether they are two different things or the same.
2. One is again reminded what a bloody business being a priest was -- rather like a butcher who gets to wear fancy clothes, but who, if he makes a misstep, may be struck down dead. One wonders how the linen garments of the priest could have remained clean with all that blood being splattered about. Did Israelite laundries possess advanced methods of stain removal?
3. And it seems a shame that the spectacularly beautiful gold Judgment Seat and the stunning bronze horns of the Sacrificial Altar should be sullied by blood. Was it later wiped off? There is no reference to cleaning up after sacrifices, only instructions on the disposal of the carcasses of sacrificed animals. How long, might one ask, would it take for the dried blood encrusted on the altar horns to become gross and unsightly? And one wonders whether that incense was strong enough to banish the inevitable stench of the slaughterhouse that must have regularly pervaded the Tabernacle.
4. The Inner Sanctum is Jehovah's special place, and he demands special rituals to be performed before the priest may enter it. Jehovah manifests himself there as a cloud above the Judgment Seat. There is a great deal of ambiguity in the Torah concerning the physical appearance of Jehovah. In Genesis he is as a man who walks and talks and eats cottage cheese. In Exodus he is a burning bush, whatever that might have been. He appears in an airship during the Exodus. He communes with Moses on the mountain more or less man-to-man. It can be assumed he had the form of a man, though even Moses is not allowed to glimpse his face. His appearance, nevertheless, is awe-inspiring, fearsome even. But, more and more, Jehovah becomes less and less material. He is now a cloud. Does this cloud suddenly materialize in the Inner Sanctum or does it travel from elsewhere and enter the Inner Sanctum? Is his being contained in the cloud, or does the cloud obscure a physical, even humanoid form? And then there is the matter of the incense Aaron must burn in the Inner Sanctum. The burning incense is intended to create a cloud of smoke obscuring the Judgment Seat. Jehovah arrives there in a cloud and now he needs another cloud in which to hide himself? This may have a practical purpose of obscuring the form of Jehovah so that no one may see him as he really is, or it may merely a means of creating a mystique, an aura of mystery surrounding religious worship -- the Wizard of Oz effect.
5. Many translations refer to burning coal being placed in the censor, or incense burner. Coal, as we define it today, a mined mineral, was scarcely known, let alone used in ancient times. Charcoal, almost pure carbon obtained by slowly burning wood, is probably meant -- more likely than dried animal dung, which was a common fuel at that time.
6. The ritual of the scapegoat is interesting but not unique. (I use the traditional term “scapegoat,” since it is so familiar. The meaning of the Hebrew word Azazel is conjectural -- a desert demon?) Man has always had a strong desire to free himself from the burden of guilt his sins impose upon him. Primitive and ancient man found an easy out by transferring guilt into an inanimate object, or, in this case, an animal and then destroying or banishing the receptacle of that guilt. Most peoples seem to have folk or religious traditions of this sort. Often effigies are burned. Sometimes a human sacrifice is made. Communal guilt and communal expiation exist in societies where the group, the collective, has primacy over the individual, who is significant only as a part of the whole. The transfer of guilt, though, is tenuous philosophically. It is contrary to the concept, held by most people today, that individuals are only responsible for their own acts and not for the acts of others, and that others should not pay for what we have done. Generally we believe that guilt can be expunged only by remorse, repentance, compensatory good deeds, and sometimes a period of ostracism -- or the Catholic method of expiation consisting of confession, prayer, and attendance of mass.
7. Lots are cast to see which goat is to be sacrificed and which is to be the scapegoat and sent into the desert. Perhaps this was a use for the mysterious Urim and Thimmim (small tablets, stones?) that the high priest carried inside the chest piece of his vestments and were used in divination.
8. Aaron is supposed to bathe after he has performed the purification ceremony and leave his priestly vestments in the Sanctum. One assumes he undressed in the curtained Sanctum and not in the more open Tabernacle courtyard, considering Hebrew prohibitions against viewing the naked body. It is not clear, though, what bathing facilities would have existed in the Sanctum: he would not have had access to, nor would he have found sufficient, the bronze wash basin that stood outside the Sanctum. (It was meant for hand washing.) Would there be a portable bath tub or maybe a handy bucket of water, sponge, and towel?
9. Jehovah's harping on the sins and impurities of the Israelites gives the impression, perhaps not a false one, that they were a pretty rum lot. Jehovah expresses obvious contempt for his Chosen People. Why, one might ask, did he choose them? Wouldn't the Hittites or the Nubians or the Minoans, or even the Scythians have been more worthy of his patronage?
10. The Day of Atonement occurs in early autumn (in the northern hemisphere) in the month of Tishrei of the Hebrew lunar calendar. Traditionally, it is believed to be the date that Moses received the second set of Ten Commandment tablets and the Israelites made atonement for their sin of the Golden Calf. The Day of Atonement is observed by Jews today as Yom Kippur (literally, “day to atone”), the holiest day in the religious calendar and one celebrated even by those who are non-practicing Jews. Depending upon the moon, it may occur from mid September to mid October.
Jehovah spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons who were killed while improperly ministering at the altar. "Warn your brother Aaron that he must not enter the Inner Sanctum beyond the veil and approach the Judgment Seat (that is, the lid of the Chest of Sacred Records) any time he wishes, or he is apt to be killed when I manifest myself in a cloud above the Judgment Seat. Aaron should carefully follow this procedure whenever he enters the Inner Sanctum: He must present a young bull as a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He must garb himself in the sacred vestments: he must don the linen tunic and the linen undergarments, fasten the linen sash round his waist, and put the linen turban on his head. And he must bathe before putting them on.
"From the congregation of Israel he should receive two male goats as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. Aaron must offer in sacrifice his own bull as a sin offering to make atonement for himself and the other members of the priesthood. Then he should take the two goats and bring them to the Sacrificial Altar that stands before the entrance to the Sanctum.
“He is to cast sacred lots for the goats to determine which one will be sacrificed to Jehovah and which will banished as the scapegoat. The goat chosen by lot for Jehovah is to be sacrificed as a sin offering. The one chosen by lot to be the scapegoat should be presented live before the altar and then sent off into the desert to complete the ritual of atonement for the people.
"Aaron is take the bull as the sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household and slaughter it as a sacrifice. After he has done so, he should take a censer full of burning embers (from the Sacrificial Altar that stands before the Sanctum) and two handfuls of powdered aromatic incense. When he has passed through the veil into the Inner Sanctum, he should sprinkle the incense into the censer so that smoke from the burning incense will rise up and cover the Judgment Seat, that is, the lid of the Chest of Sacred Records. --- If he does not follow these instructions, he will die.
"He should take some of the blood from the sacrificed bull and dab it upon the top of the Judgment Seat and with his finger he should sprinkle blood seven times in front of it. He should sacrifice the goat that is the sin offering of the people and bring its blood into the Inner Sanctum so that he may sprinkle it upon and before the Judgment Seat, as was done with the bull's blood. This will purify the Inner Sanctum, to make atonement for the impurity and rebelliousness, and all the sins of the Israelites. But he must do the same for the entire Tabernacle which remains standing in the midst of their impurity. No one should be allowed in the Tabernacle from the time Aaron enters the Inner Sanctum to purify it, and no one should be allowed to enter it until after he leaves, having made atonement for himself and the priests and atonement for the entire community of Israel.
"Aaron should then go out to the Sacrificial Altar that stands before the entrance to the Sanctum and purify it. He should do this by taking some of the blood from the sacrificed bull and goat and dabbing it on each horn of the altar. With his finger he should sprinkle blood seven times over the altar in order to purify and consecrate it and make atonement for the impurities of the Israelites.
"When Aaron has finished purifying the Inner Sanctum, the Tabernacle, and the Sacrificial Altar, he should present the live goat. He will hold the goat's head in both of his hands and confess to it all the sins and transgressions and iniquities of the Israelite people, the guilt of which is thus transferred to the head of the goat. A designated person will then take it into the desert. When a desolate, uninhabited country is reached, the person will set the goat free, so that it may carry away all the people's sins.
"Aaron should then return to the Sanctum and take off the linen vestments he donned before he entered the Inner Sanctum; he should leave them there. While in the Tabernacle he should bathe himself and change his clothes. He should then come out of the Sanctum and present his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering to make atonement both for himself and for the people. The fat of the sin offering will be burnt on the altar.
"The person chosen to lead the scapegoat into the desert should wash his clothes and bathe and may afterward come back into camp. The carcasses of the bull and the goat that were sacrificed as sin offerings and whose blood was used to purify the Inner Sanctum should be taken outside of camp, where their hides, flesh, and organs are to be burned. He who burns them must bathe and wash his clothes before returning to camp.
"This shall be for you an established practice: every year on the tenth day of the seventh month you should do penitence and refrain from doing any work -- both citizens and resident aliens alike -- for this will be the Day of Atonement when offerings are made to cleanse you of your sins in the eyes of Jehovah. It will be a Sabbath-like day of rest and penitence; this will be a permanent observance. Wearing the sacred linen vestments, Aaron's successor, anointed and consecrated as high priest, will purify the Inner Sanctum, the Tabernacle, the Sacrificial Altar, the priests, and the entire congregation. Making this atonement for the sins of Israel’s people must be done every year."
Moses would do what Jehovah had instructed him.
Notes
1. The Hebrew text makes no clear distinction between atonement and purification, whether they are two different things or the same.
2. One is again reminded what a bloody business being a priest was -- rather like a butcher who gets to wear fancy clothes, but who, if he makes a misstep, may be struck down dead. One wonders how the linen garments of the priest could have remained clean with all that blood being splattered about. Did Israelite laundries possess advanced methods of stain removal?
3. And it seems a shame that the spectacularly beautiful gold Judgment Seat and the stunning bronze horns of the Sacrificial Altar should be sullied by blood. Was it later wiped off? There is no reference to cleaning up after sacrifices, only instructions on the disposal of the carcasses of sacrificed animals. How long, might one ask, would it take for the dried blood encrusted on the altar horns to become gross and unsightly? And one wonders whether that incense was strong enough to banish the inevitable stench of the slaughterhouse that must have regularly pervaded the Tabernacle.
4. The Inner Sanctum is Jehovah's special place, and he demands special rituals to be performed before the priest may enter it. Jehovah manifests himself there as a cloud above the Judgment Seat. There is a great deal of ambiguity in the Torah concerning the physical appearance of Jehovah. In Genesis he is as a man who walks and talks and eats cottage cheese. In Exodus he is a burning bush, whatever that might have been. He appears in an airship during the Exodus. He communes with Moses on the mountain more or less man-to-man. It can be assumed he had the form of a man, though even Moses is not allowed to glimpse his face. His appearance, nevertheless, is awe-inspiring, fearsome even. But, more and more, Jehovah becomes less and less material. He is now a cloud. Does this cloud suddenly materialize in the Inner Sanctum or does it travel from elsewhere and enter the Inner Sanctum? Is his being contained in the cloud, or does the cloud obscure a physical, even humanoid form? And then there is the matter of the incense Aaron must burn in the Inner Sanctum. The burning incense is intended to create a cloud of smoke obscuring the Judgment Seat. Jehovah arrives there in a cloud and now he needs another cloud in which to hide himself? This may have a practical purpose of obscuring the form of Jehovah so that no one may see him as he really is, or it may merely a means of creating a mystique, an aura of mystery surrounding religious worship -- the Wizard of Oz effect.
5. Many translations refer to burning coal being placed in the censor, or incense burner. Coal, as we define it today, a mined mineral, was scarcely known, let alone used in ancient times. Charcoal, almost pure carbon obtained by slowly burning wood, is probably meant -- more likely than dried animal dung, which was a common fuel at that time.
6. The ritual of the scapegoat is interesting but not unique. (I use the traditional term “scapegoat,” since it is so familiar. The meaning of the Hebrew word Azazel is conjectural -- a desert demon?) Man has always had a strong desire to free himself from the burden of guilt his sins impose upon him. Primitive and ancient man found an easy out by transferring guilt into an inanimate object, or, in this case, an animal and then destroying or banishing the receptacle of that guilt. Most peoples seem to have folk or religious traditions of this sort. Often effigies are burned. Sometimes a human sacrifice is made. Communal guilt and communal expiation exist in societies where the group, the collective, has primacy over the individual, who is significant only as a part of the whole. The transfer of guilt, though, is tenuous philosophically. It is contrary to the concept, held by most people today, that individuals are only responsible for their own acts and not for the acts of others, and that others should not pay for what we have done. Generally we believe that guilt can be expunged only by remorse, repentance, compensatory good deeds, and sometimes a period of ostracism -- or the Catholic method of expiation consisting of confession, prayer, and attendance of mass.
7. Lots are cast to see which goat is to be sacrificed and which is to be the scapegoat and sent into the desert. Perhaps this was a use for the mysterious Urim and Thimmim (small tablets, stones?) that the high priest carried inside the chest piece of his vestments and were used in divination.
8. Aaron is supposed to bathe after he has performed the purification ceremony and leave his priestly vestments in the Sanctum. One assumes he undressed in the curtained Sanctum and not in the more open Tabernacle courtyard, considering Hebrew prohibitions against viewing the naked body. It is not clear, though, what bathing facilities would have existed in the Sanctum: he would not have had access to, nor would he have found sufficient, the bronze wash basin that stood outside the Sanctum. (It was meant for hand washing.) Would there be a portable bath tub or maybe a handy bucket of water, sponge, and towel?
9. Jehovah's harping on the sins and impurities of the Israelites gives the impression, perhaps not a false one, that they were a pretty rum lot. Jehovah expresses obvious contempt for his Chosen People. Why, one might ask, did he choose them? Wouldn't the Hittites or the Nubians or the Minoans, or even the Scythians have been more worthy of his patronage?
10. The Day of Atonement occurs in early autumn (in the northern hemisphere) in the month of Tishrei of the Hebrew lunar calendar. Traditionally, it is believed to be the date that Moses received the second set of Ten Commandment tablets and the Israelites made atonement for their sin of the Golden Calf. The Day of Atonement is observed by Jews today as Yom Kippur (literally, “day to atone”), the holiest day in the religious calendar and one celebrated even by those who are non-practicing Jews. Depending upon the moon, it may occur from mid September to mid October.
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