Bible Dictionary: the Day Of Atonement

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Smith's Bible Dictionary

the Day Of Atonement

I. The great day of national humiliation, and the only one commanded in the Mosaic law. [FASTS] The mode of its observance is described in Levi 16, and the conduct of the people is emphatically enjoined in (Leviticus 23:26-32) II. Time. -- It was kept on the tenth day of Tisri, that is, from the evening of the ninth to the evening of the tenth of that month, five days before the feast of tabernacles. Tisri corresponds to our September-October, so that the 10th of Tisri would be about the first of October. [FESTIVALS] III. How observed. -- It was kept by the people as a high solemn sabbath. On this occasion only the high priest was permitted to enter into the holy of holies. Having bathed his person and dressed himself entirely in the holy white linen garments, he brought forward a young bullock for a sin offering, purchased at his own cost, on account of himself and his family, and two young goats for a sin offering, with a ram for a burnt offering, which were paid for out of the public treasury, on account of the people. He then presented the two goats before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle and cast lots upon them. On one lot "For Jehovah " was inscribed, and on the other "For Azazel ." A phrase of unusual difficulty. The best modern scholars agree that it designates the personal being to whom the goat was sent, probably Satan. This goat was called the scapegoat . After various sacrifices and ceremonies the goat upon which the lot "For Jehovah " had fallen was slain and the high priest sprinkled its blood before the mercy-seat in the same manner as he had done that of the bullock. Going out from the holy of holies he purified the holy place, sprinkling some of the blood of both the victims on the altar of incense. At this time no one besides the high priest was suffered to be present in the holy place. The purification of the holy of holies and of the holy place being thus completed, the high priest laid his hands upon the head of the goat on which the lot "For Azazel " had fallen and confessed over it all the sins of the people. The goat was then led, by a man chosen for the purpose, into the wilderness, into "a land not inhabited," and was there let loose. The high priest after this returned into the holy place bathed himself again, put on his usual garments of office, and offered the two rams as burnt offerings, one for himself and one for the people. IV. Significance. In considering the I. meaning of the particular rites of the day, three points appear to be of a very distinctive character.

The white garments of the high priest.
His entrance into the holy of holies.
The scapegoat. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, (Hebrews 9:7-25) teaches us to apply the first two particulars. The high priest himself, with his person cleansed and dressed in white garments, was the best outward type which a living man could present in his own person of that pure and holy One who was to purify his people and to cleanse them from their sins. But respecting the meaning of the scapegoat we have no such light to guide us, and the subject is one of great doubt and difficulty. It has been generally considered that it was dismissed to signify the carrying away of the sins of the people, as it were, out of the sight of Jehovah. If we keep in view that the two goats are spoken of as parts of one and the same sin offering, we shall not have much difficulty in seeing that they form together but one symbolical expression; the slain goat setting forth the act of sacrifice, in giving up its own life for others "to Jehovah;" and the goat which carried off its load of sin "for complete removal" signifying the cleansing influence of faith in that sacrifice.

Greek

3521. nesteia -- fasting, a fast
... Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: nesteia Phonetic Spelling:
(nace-ti'-ah) Short Definition: fasting, the day of atonement Definition: fasting ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3521.htm - 6k

2435. hilasterion -- propitiatory
... wrath of the deity shall be appeased; a means of propitiation, (b) the covering
of the ark, which was sprinkled with the atoning blood on the Day of Atonement. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2435.htm - 7k

2369. thumiaterion -- altar of incense, a censer
... censer, but) either the altar of incense, or the shovel, on which the high-priest
poured the coals, when he entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2369.htm - 6k

Library

The Day of Atonement
... THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 'And the Lord spake unto Moses
after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they offered ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/the day of atonement.htm

The Day of Atonement
... The Day of Atonement. A Sermon No.95. Delivered ... If you have not, I can tell
you it is because you have not had a day of atonement. One ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 2 1856/the day of atonement.htm

The Fact of the Redeemer's Return was Foreshadowed in the Ritual ...
... The order of events on the Day of Atonement are described in Leviticus 16, a
chapter which is exceedingly rich in its typical signification. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pink/the redeemers return/5 the fact of the.htm

Appendix xv. The Location of Sychar, and the Date of Our Lord's ...
... comp. The Temple,' &c., p.295), the Feast of Trumpets, or New Year's Day,
the Day of Atonement, and the feast of Esther, or Purim. ...
/.../the life and times of jesus the messiah/appendix xv the location of.htm

Leviticus
... The laws of purification are appropriately concluded by the law for the great day
of atonement, with regulations for the ceremonial cleansing of the high ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/mcfadyen/introduction to the old testament/leviticus.htm

Appendix xiv. The Law in Messianic Times.
... And as regarded the most sacred of all sacrifices, that of the Day of Atonement,
it was explained that the day rather than the sacrifices brought ...
/.../edersheim/the life and times of jesus the messiah/appendix xiv the law in.htm

In the Holy of Holies.
... service of the earthly sanctuary, which, as we have seen, is a figure of the service
in the heavenly, when the high priest on the day of atonement entered the ...
/.../white/the great controversy between christ and satan /24 in the holy of.htm

In the Holy of Holies
... service of the earthly sanctuary, which, as we have seen, is a figure of the service
in the heavenly, when the high priest on the Day of Atonement entered the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/white/the great controversy/chapter 24 in the holy.htm

Ninth Day. Holiness and Mediation.
... And yet the very Day of Atonement, in which he might enter into the Most Holy, was
but the proof of how unholy man was, and how unfit to abide in God's Presence ...
/.../murray/holy in christ/ninth day holiness and mediation.htm

The Call of Matthew - the Saviour's Welcome to Sinners - Rabbinic ...
... All the prophets had prophesied only of repentance. [2397] The last pages of the
Tractate on the Day of Atonement are full of praises of repentance. ...
/.../edersheim/the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter xvii the call of.htm