Chapter commentary
Leviticus Chapter 16
1
Le 16:1-34.
繁體中文
English original
Le 16:1-34.
HOW THE HIGH PRIEST MUST ENTER INTO THE HOLY PLACE.
1. after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died--It is thought by some that this chapter has been transposed out of its right place in the sacred record, which was immediately after the narrative of the deaths of Nadab and Abihu
[Le 10:1-20].
That appalling catastrophe must have filled Aaron with painful apprehensions lest the guilt of these two sons might be entailed on his house, or that other members of his family might share the same fate by some irregularities or defects in the discharge of their sacred functions. And, therefore, this law was established, by the due observance of whose requirements the Aaronic order would be securely maintained and accepted in the priesthood.
2
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繁體中文
2. 要告訴你哥哥亞倫，不可隨時進聖所的幔子內等——普通祭司每日進入幔子以外的聖所部分，在金壇上燒香。但除大祭司外，無人可進入幔子以內，而且一年只可進去一次，並要帶著最大的謹慎與莊嚴。這安排顯然是為了激發人對至聖所的敬畏；在神以可見的象徵彰顯其同在之時，這防範是必要的，因那些象徵所給人的印象，可能會因日復一日的習見而減弱或喪失。
我要在雲中顯現——即大祭司每年進入至聖所時所燒之香的煙：這就是那時覆蓋施恩座的雲。
English original
2. Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil, &c.--Common priests went every day into the part of the sanctuary without the veil to burn incense on the golden altar. But none except the high priest was allowed to enter within the veil, and that only once a year with the greatest care and solemnity. This arrangement was evidently designed to inspire a reverence for the most holy place, and the precaution was necessary at a time when the presence of God was indicated by sensible symbols, the impression of which might have been diminished or lost by daily and familiar observation.
I will appear in the cloud--that is, the smoke of the incense which the high priest burnt on his yearly entrance into the most holy place: and this was the cloud which at that time covered the mercy seat.
3
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繁體中文
3, 4. 亞倫當這樣進聖所——因為贖罪大日的職務引致最親近、最莊嚴地進到神面前，所以關於當循之正確途徑的指示便極其詳細特殊。
帶著公牛犢……和公綿羊——這些祭牲他是活著帶來的，但直到他行了
Le 16:3-11
之間所描述的禮儀之後，才獻為祭。他在那場合不可穿上與其聖職相稱的華美衣服，而要穿普通的細麻布衣服，如同普通利未人一樣，因為他當時既要為自己的罪、也要為百姓的罪贖罪，便當以謙卑懇求者的身分出現。那樸素的衣裳比大祭司華麗的禮服更合乎自卑的季節（也更輕便、更方便他在那場合獨自要履行的職務）。它表明：當所有人都顯為罪人之時，最高的與最低的就都在同一水平上，在神那裡並不偏待人
[Ac 10:34]。
English original
3, 4. Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place--As the duties of the great day of atonement led to the nearest and most solemn approach to God, the directions as to the proper course to be followed were minute and special.
with a young bullock . . . and a ram--These victims he brought alive, but they were not offered in sacrifice till he had gone through the ceremonies described between
Le 16:3-11.
He was not to attire himself on that occasion in the splendid robes that were proper to his sacred office, but in a plain dress of linen, like the common Levites, for, as he was then to make atonement for his own sins, as well as for those of the people, he was to appear in the humble character of a suppliant. That plain dress was more in harmony with a season of humiliation (as well as lighter and more convenient for the duties which on that occasion he had singly to perform) than the gorgeous robes of the pontificate. It showed that when all appeared as sinners, the highest and lowest were then on a level, and that there is no distinction of persons with God
[Ac 10:34].
5
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繁體中文
5-10. 要從以色列會眾取……兩隻公山羊……和一隻公綿羊——這些祭要由大祭司獻上，分別為他自己和其餘祭司、以及為百姓而獻。公牛犢
(Le 16:3)
和山羊為贖罪祭，公綿羊為燔祭。兩隻山羊雖然用法不同，卻只構成一個祭。它們都被帶到耶和華面前，其處置由籤決定，猶太作者如此描述：祭司將一隻山羊放在右手、另一隻放在左手，站在壇旁，將兩塊完全相同的金片投入一個甕中，一塊刻「歸耶和華」，另一塊刻「歸阿撒瀉勒」（替罪羊）。將兩塊搖勻之後，他雙手伸入盒中，每手取一籤：右手所取的放在右邊的山羊頭上，左手所取的落在另一隻上。這樣，每一隻的命運便這樣決定了。
English original
5-10. shall take of the congregation . . . two kids of the goats . . . and one ram--The sacrifices were to be offered by the high priest, respectively for himself and the other priests, as well as for the people. The bullock
(Le 16:3)
and the goats were for sin offerings and the rams for burnt offerings. The goats, though used in different ways, constituted only one offering. They were both presented before the Lord, and the disposal of them determined by lot, which Jewish writers have thus described: The priest, placing one of the goats on his right hand and the other on his left, took his station by the altar, and cast into an urn two pieces of gold exactly similar, inscribed, the one with the words "for the Lord," and the other for "Azazel" (the scapegoat). After having well shaken them together, he put both his hands into the box and took up a lot in each: that in his right hand he put on the head of the goat which stood on his right, and that in his left he dropped on the other. In this manner the fate of each was decided.
11
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11-19. 亞倫要把贖罪祭的公牛奉上，為自己和本家贖罪等——這事奉的第一部分，是要藉著為他們的罪獻祭，使他自己的心、也使百姓的心得到莊嚴的激勵。贖罪祭被宰殺之後，獻祭者的罪便藉著按手在祭牲頭上、歸在祭牲身上
(Le 4:4, 15, 24, 29, 33)；
這樣，那為他自己和其餘祭司（稱為「他的家」，
Ps 135:19）
贖罪的公牛犢，便由大祭司親手宰殺。當祭牲的血被接在器皿中時，他右手拿著裝滿炭火的香爐，左手拿著盛滿香料的盤子，在群眾莊嚴的注視和懇切的禱告中，穿過廊子和聖所，掀開通向至聖所的外幔，然後是內幔。他站在約櫃前，將炭火香爐放在地上，將盤中的香倒在手中，傾在燃燒的炭上；那房間便充滿了芬芳的煙——據猶太作者的說法，這是要防止任何膽大之人過分好奇地窺探施恩座的形狀，因那是耶和華的寶座。大祭司行了這事、使聖所充滿香氣之後，便回到門口，取了被宰公牛犢的血，帶進至聖所，用指頭向施恩座彈一次——「向東」，即向著他自己的一邊；並在「施恩座前面」彈七次——即在約櫃的前面。他讓炭和香繼續燃燒，第二次出去，在燔祭壇獻那指定為百姓作贖罪祭的山羊；帶著它的血進入至聖所，如同先前用公牛犢的血一樣行了同樣的灑血之禮。當大祭司在至聖所這樣事奉時，普通祭司都不許留在會幕的範圍內。聖所和燔祭壇也同樣用公牛犢和山羊的血灑七次。這莊嚴禮儀的目的是要使以色列人的心深受感動，深信整個會幕都被有罪之百姓的罪所玷污，他們因自己的罪已喪失了神同在和敬拜的權利，必須贖罪才能使神繼續與他們同在。過去一年的罪與過犯既已玷污了聖殿，所需的贖罪便須每年重行。排除祭司表明了他們的不配與他們事奉中的不潔。兩隻祭牲混合的血灑在壇的角上，表明祭司和百姓同樣需要為他們的罪贖罪。但聖所既在禮儀上得了潔淨，以色列人也因那分別為聖之祭牲的血而與神和好，耶和華便繼續住在他們中間，以他恩惠的同在尊榮他們。
English original
11-19. Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself, &c.--The first part of the service was designed to solemnize his own mind, as well as the minds of the people, by offering the sacrifices for their sins. The sin offerings being slain had the sins of the offerer judicially transferred to them by the imputation of his hands on their head
(Le 4:4, 15, 24, 29, 33);
and thus the young bullock, which was to make atonement for himself and the other priests (called "his house,"
Ps 135:19),
was killed by the hands of the high priest. While the blood of the victim was being received into a vessel, taking a censer of live coals in his right hand and a platter of sweet incense in his left, he, amid the solemn attention and the anxious prayers of the assembled multitude, crossed the porch and the holy place, opened the outer veil which led into the holy of holies and then the inner veil. Standing before the ark, he deposited the censer of coals on the floor, emptied the plate of incense into his hand, poured it on the burning coals; and the apartment was filled with fragrant smoke, intended, according to Jewish writers, to prevent any presumptuous gazer prying too curiously into the form of the mercy seat, which was the Lord's throne. The high priest having done this, perfumed the sanctuary, returned to the door, took the blood of the slain bullock, and, carrying it into the holy of holies, sprinkled it with his finger once upon the mercy seat "eastward"--that is, on the side next to himself; and seven times "before the mercy seat"--that is, on the front of the ark. Leaving the coals and the incense burning, he went out a second time, to sacrifice at the altar of burnt offering the goat which had been assigned as a sin offering for the people; and carrying its blood into the holy of holies, he made similar sprinklings as he had done before with the blood of the bullock. While the high priest was thus engaged in the most holy place, none of the ordinary priests were allowed to remain within the precincts of the tabernacle. The sanctuary or holy place and the altar of burnt offering were in like manner sprinkled seven times with the blood of the bullock and the goat. The object of this solemn ceremonial was to impress the minds of the Israelites with the conviction that the whole tabernacle was stained by the sins of a guilty people, that by their sins they had forfeited the privileges of the divine presence and worship, and that an atonement had to be made as the condition of God's remaining with them. The sins and shortcomings of the past year having polluted the sacred edifice, the expiation required to be annually renewed. The exclusion of the priests indicated their unworthiness and the impurities of their service. The mingled blood of the two victims being sprinkled on the horns of the altar indicated that the priests and the people equally needed an atonement for their sins. But the sanctuary being thus ceremonially purified, and the people of Israel reconciled by the blood of the consecrated victim, the Lord continued to dwell in the midst of them, and to honor them with His gracious presence.
20
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20-22. 他要把那活的山羊奉上——這山羊既已呈到耶和華面前
(Le 16:10)，
如今便被帶到大祭司面前，他按手在山羊頭上，「又承認以色列人諸般的罪孽、過犯，就是他們一切的罪」，藉此舉動將這些罪轉移到山羊身上，作為他們的替身。然後它被交在一個人手中，那人受任命將它帶到遙遠、荒涼、無人的曠野之地；在早期它在那裡被釋放，任其逃生；但在基督的時代，它被帶到離耶路撒冷十二哩的一塊高巖上，在那裡被推下懸崖而死。關於這部分禮儀的性質和目的，註釋家意見分歧很大：有人照七十士譯本和我們的譯者將「Azazel」譯作「替罪羊」；另有人譯作「高聳的懸巖」
[BOCHART]；
有人譯作「分別歸神之物」
[EWALD,
THOLUCK]；
又有人認為它指撒但
[GESENIUS,
HENGSTENBERG]。
最後這種見解基於兩隻山羊構成同一個贖罪祭的觀念，並有
Zec 3:1-10
的支持，那段經文是對本段極好的註解。這特殊的儀式中是否暗指埃及人關於提豐——居住在曠野的惡靈——的迷信，並有意藉著將一隻被咒詛的動物送入它幽暗的領域來嘲弄它，則無從斷言。這主題充滿了模糊之處。但無論從何種觀點看，這裏似乎都有對基督的預表——他擔當了我們的罪
[Heb 10:4; 1Jo 3:5]。
English original
20-22. 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 distant, solitary, and desert place, where in early times he was let go, to escape for his life; but in the time of Christ, he was carried to a high rock twelve miles from Jerusalem, and there, being thrust over the precipice, he was killed. Commentators have differed widely in their opinions about the character and purpose of this part of the ceremonial; some considering the word "Azazel," with the Septuagint and our translators, to mean, "the scapegoat"; others, "a lofty, precipitous rock"
[BOCHART];
others, "a thing separated to God"
[EWALD,
THOLUCK];
while others think it designates Satan
[GESENIUS,
HENGSTENBERG].
This last view is grounded on the idea of both goats forming one and the same sacrifice of atonement, and it is supported by
Zec 3:1-10,
which presents a striking commentary on this passage. Whether there was in this peculiar ceremony any reference to an Egyptian superstition about Typhon, the spirit of evil, inhabiting the wilderness, and the design was to ridicule it by sending a cursed animal into his gloomy dominions, it is impossible to say. The subject is involved in much obscurity. But in any view there seems to be a typical reference to Christ who bore away our sins
[Heb 10:4; 1Jo 3:5].
23
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23-28. 亞倫要進會幕，把他進聖所時所穿的細麻布衣服脫下——在放走替罪羊之後，大祭司預備事奉中仍然存留的重要部分；為履行這些，他脫下樸素的細麻布衣服，沐浴之後，穿上大祭司的禮服。如此盛裝之後，他便去獻為自己和百姓所定的燔祭——即先前與贖罪祭一同帶來、卻保留到現在的兩隻公綿羊。脂油要燒在壇上；屍體的其餘部分要切塊，交給一些祭司助手在營外焚燒，照贖罪祭的一般律法
(Le 4:8-12; 8:14-17)。
焚燒屍體的人，以及帶領替罪羊的人，都要洗衣服、用水洗身，才可回營。
English original
23-28. Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments--On the dismissal of the scapegoat, the high priest prepared for the important parts of the service which still remained; and for the performance of these he laid aside his plain linen clothes, and, having bathed himself in water, he assumed his pontifical dress. Thus gorgeously attired, he went to present the burnt offerings which were prescribed for himself and the people, consisting of the two rams which had been brought with the sin offerings, but reserved till now. The fat was ordered to be burnt upon the altar; the rest of the carcasses to be cut down and given to some priestly attendants to burn without the camp, in conformity with the general law for the sin offerings
(Le 4:8-12; 8:14-17).
The persons employed in burning them, as well as the conductor of the scapegoat, were obliged to wash their clothes and bathe their flesh in water before they were allowed to return into the camp.
29
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29-34. 這要作你們永遠的定例，就是七月初十日你們要刻苦己心——這日為以色列中各階層人在過去一年中一切的罪、不敬和不潔作年度贖罪，要當作莊嚴的禁食來守，「他們要刻苦己心」；它被視為安息日，作為「聖會」——即為宗教目的而聚集——的季節來守。凡作任何工的人都要被處死
[Ex 31:14, 15; 35:2]。
它在第七個月的初十日舉行，相當於我們的十月三日；本章連同
Le 23:27-32，
因特別論到當日的遵守，便被公開宣讀。複述這些設立莊嚴禮儀的經文十分合宜，而其中各部分的細節（尤其是替罪羊在其帶領者照料下公開離去的場面）必會在罪和本分上產生有益的印象，不易磨滅。
English original
29-34. this shall be a statute for ever unto you, that in the seventh month ye shall afflict your souls--This day of annual expiation for all the sins, irreverences, and impurities of all classes in Israel during the previous year, was to be observed as a solemn fast, in which "they were to afflict their souls"; it was reckoned a sabbath, kept as a season of "holy convocation," or, assembling for religious purposes. All persons who performed any labor were subject to the penalty of death
[Ex 31:14, 15; 35:2].
It took place on the tenth day of the seventh month, corresponding to our third of October; and this chapter, together with
Le 23:27-32,
as containing special allusion to the observances of the day, was publicly read. The rehearsal of these passages appointing the solemn ceremonial was very appropriate, and the details of the successive parts of it (above all the spectacle of the public departure of the scapegoat under the care of its leader) must have produced salutary impressions both of sin and of duty that would not be soon effaced.
Le 16:1-34.
大祭司當如何進入聖所
1. 亞倫兩個兒子死在耶和華面前之後，他們獻上凡火，就死了——有人認為本章在神聖記錄中已被移離原位，其原位應緊接在拿答、亞比戶死亡之記述之後
[Le 10:1-20]。
那可畏的災禍必然使亞倫心中滿了痛苦的憂懼，唯恐這兩個兒子的罪會累及他的全家，又恐怕他家族中其他成員會因執行聖職時的某些違規或缺失而遭遇同樣的命運。因此設立了這條律法，只要遵守其中所定的要求，亞倫的等次就能在祭司職任中穩固地維持並蒙悅納。