Leviticus 16:21

Leviticus 16:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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:
• New International Version (NIV)He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.

Context of Leviticus 16:21

19He must shake blood on the altar seven times to make it clean. 20Aaron must first atone for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of meeting and the altar. Then he must bring the goat that is alive. He must put his hands on the goat's head. He must speak aloud all the bad things that Israel's people have done. Then all the bad things will be on the goat's head. Aaron must tell a man that he must send the goat away into the desert. 22The goat will carry all the sins of the people into the desert. The man must send it away into the desert. 23Aaron must go into the Tent of Meeting. He must take off his special linen clothes. The holy clothes must stay in the Tent of Meeting.

Leviticus 16:21 word by word

וְסָמַ֨ךְ אַהֲרֹ֜ן אֶת־שְׁתֵּ֣י יָדָ֗יו עַ֨ל רֹ֣אשׁ הַשָּׂעִיר֮ הַחַי֒ וְהִתְוַדָּ֣ה עָלָ֗יו אֶת־כָּל־עֲוֹנֹת֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְאֶת־כָּל־פִּשְׁעֵיהֶ֖ם לְכָל־חַטֹּאתָ֑ם וְנָתַ֤ן אֹתָם֙ עַל־רֹ֣אשׁ הַשָּׂעִ֔יר וְשִׁלַּ֛ח בְּיַד־אִ֥ישׁ עִתִּ֖י הַמִּדְבָּֽרָה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Aaronאַהֲרֹן'ahărôn · AaronH175
• shall layסָמַךְsâmak · to supportH5564
• bothשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• his handsיָדyâd · handH3027
• upon the headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
• of the liveחַיchay · aliveH2416
• goatשָׂעִירώâ‛îyr ώâ‛ir · he-goatH8163
• and confessיָדָהyâdâh · to give thanksH3034
• over him all the iniquitiesעָוֺן‛âvôn ‛âvôn · iniquity: crimeH5771
• of the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• and all their transgressionsפֶּ֫שַׁעpesha‛ · transgressionH6588
• in all their sinsחַטָּאתchaţţâ'âh chaţţâ'th · sinH2403
• puttingנָתַןnâthan · to give: putH5414
• awayשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
• of a fitעִתִּי‛ittîy · timelyH6261
• manאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• into the wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057

Cross-references for Leviticus 16:21

• Leviticus 1:4The person must put his hand on the animal's head. Then he must kill it. The animal's death will pay for the person's sins.
• Exodus 29:10Bring the bull to the front of the Tent of Meeting. Aaron and his sons must put their hands on the bull's head.
• Leviticus 26:40Your sons and your grandsons must tell me, the Lord, that they are sorry. They must be sorry because they did not obey my rules. They must be sorry that they turned away from me.
• Ezra 10:1Ezra continued to pray, in front of God's temple. He was asking God to forgive his people's sins. He was weeping, and he was bending down low to the ground. While he was doing that, a big crowd of Israelite people came around him. There were men, women and children. They were also weeping loudly.
• Nehemiah 1:6Please listen to my prayer. I am your servant. I am praying in the day and in the night on behalf of your servants, the Israelites. I agree that we have all done wrong things. That includes me and my family. We have not obeyed you.
• Nehemiah 9:3While the Israelites stood there, they read from the book of God's Law during a quarter of the day. During another quarter of the day they told the Lord their God about their sins and they worshipped him.
• Psalms 32:5Then I told you about my sins. I did not try to hide the bad things that I had done. I said, ‘I will tell the Lord about the things that I have done against him.’ When I did that, you forgave my sins. Selah.
• Psalms 51:3I know that I have not obeyed you. I cannot forget that I am guilty.
• Proverbs 28:13Anyone who hides his sins will never do well. But God will forgive somebody, if he agrees that he has done wrong things, and if he turns away from his sins.
• Daniel 9:3So I turned to my Lord God, to ask him for help. I prayed to him and I ate no food. I wore clothes of rough sackcloth. I put ashes on myself to show that I was upset.
• Romans 10:10God accepts people as right with him when they believe like that, deep inside themselves. And when people say clearly that Jesus is Lord, God saves them.
• Isaiah 53:6We have all turned away, like sheep that take the wrong path. Each of us has turned to follow our own way. But the Lord has taken all our sins and put the punishment on him.
• 2 Corinthians 5:21Christ never did any wrong thing, but God punished him as if he had. He died as punishment for our sins. As a result, we become right with God when we belong to Christ. We become right, because he is right.

Commentaries on Leviticus 16:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head, etc. - What this imposition of hands meant see in the notes on Exodus 29:10; (note), and Leviticus 1:4; (note). And confess over him all the iniquities - transgressions - sins - The three terms used here, Iniquities, עונת avonoth, from עוה avah, to pervert, distort, or turn aside; Transgressions, פשעים peshaim, from פשע pasha, to transgress, to rebel; and Sins, חטאת chattaoth, from חטא chata, to miss the mark…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11-25Verses 11-25 It is important, in reference to the meaning of the day of atonement, to observe the order of the rites as they are described in these verses. Leviticus 16:12 A censer - See Exodus 25:38 note. The altar before the Lord - i. e. the altar of burnt-offering on which the fire was always burning. Leviticus 16:14 The high priest must have come out from the most holy place to fetch the blood, leaving the censer smoking within, and then have entered…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-34Verses 15-34 Here are typified the two great gospel privileges, of the remission of sin, and access to God, both of which we owe to our Lord Jesus. See the expiation of guilt. Christ is both the Maker and the Matter of the atonement; for he is the Priest, the High Priest, that makes reconciliation for the sins of the people. And as Christ is the High Priest, so he is the Sacrifice with which atonement is made; for he is all in all in our reconciliation to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-34The day of atonement, on the tenth day of the seventh month, was the most serious and holy day of the year for Israelites (see Leviticus 16:29; 23:27; Numbers 29:7). It was the only required fast and a Sabbath of rest for all the people (Leviticus 23:32). The Feast of Trumpets came before it and announced its arrival (Numbers 29:1, 7–11). On this day, God forgave the sins of the community. Only the high priest, Aaron, could lead the ceremony because he…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 20-2220-22. he shall bring the live goat--Having already been presented before the Lord (Le 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…Read the comment

Topics related to Leviticus 16:21

• Atonement
• Church
• Hand
• Offerings
• Scapegoat
• Sin
• Substitution

In the dictionaries

• Aaron
• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Children of Israel
• Attire
• Burnt offering
• Coat
• Confession
• High priest

Commentaries on Leviticus 16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings