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Great day of cleansing: 1–10. Preliminary rites; rituals and sacrifices of purification. 11–28. Rites of entry of the high priest into the veil of the Holy of Holies. 29–34. Divine indication of the necessity and meaning of the day of cleansing. Lev.16:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came [with strange fire] before the face of the Lord and died, Lev.16:2. And the Lord said to Moses: Tell Aaron your brother that he should not at all times enter into the sanctuary behind the veil before the mercy seat that is on the ark, lest he die, for above the mercy seat I will appear in a cloud. This chapter forms the center of the entire book of Leviticus regarding those extremely important religious ideas that are expressed in the institution of the day of atonement, since here are: a) the fact of the universal and varied sinfulness and uncleanness before God of even the chosen people; b) the need to periodically clean them; c) the means for this: nationwide repentance and contrition for sins with a certain sacrificial ritual. Not technically named in Lev. 16, this day is in two other mm. book Lev.23.27 and Lev.25.9, named after Hebrew. jom hakkippurim, according to LXX: ἡμέρα ἐξιλασμοῦ, day of purification or propitiation, Vulg.: dies expiationum. In Josephus (Ant. Jude 14:4–3 and Jude 16:4) and Philo (Opera II, p. 206, ed. Mangey), it is called a day of fasting or a feast of fasting (ἡ τῆς νηστείας ἡμέρα or νηστείας ἡμέρα ). In Talmudic literature, the usual name for the day of purification is joma (the day par excellence; an entire tr. of the 2nd volume of the Talmud, dedicated to the regulations on the day of purification, called Yoma), or joma rabbah (great day). On this day, the greatest in terms of the importance of sacrifices, which took place on the 10th day of the month Tisri (Lev.23.27, 25.9; cf. Numbers 29.7), all mystical cleansing rites in the tabernacle or church were performed exclusively by one high priest. He, as well as the priests, is instilled first of all with the deepest reverence for the sanctuary, due to which the high priest himself could enter the inner part of the Old Testament sanctuary only once a year. The laws on the Day of Atonement are historically associated with the tragic event of the sudden death of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu (Lev.10.1–2), but logically they quite naturally join the laws of clean and unclean (Lev.11–15). The curtain, parocheth, through which the high priest entered the Holy of Holies only on the day of atonement, this so-called second (Heb. 9.8) curtain (Ex. 26.31, 32-36), different from the first, separating the sanctuary and the courtyard. “Lid”, slav.: “purification”, Heb. – kapporeth, LXX: ιλαστήριον, Vulg.: propitiatorium, – probably a plate on the Ark of the Covenant, symbolizing the throne of Jehovah, where He deigned to appear in the “cloud”. This cloud (Lev.16.2) is identified by some interpreters (Rosenmüller) with the “cloud of incense”, Lev.16:13. But Jewish tradition identified this cloud of the Holy of Holies with that miraculous cloud that showed the Jews the way in the wilderness (Exodus 13.21) and then covered the tabernacle when it was built (Exodus 40.34–38; Num 9.15–23). And blessedly To Theodoret (question 21 on Lev.), God revealed himself in the tabernacle “in a luminous cloud.” Lev.16:3. This is what Aaron must enter into the sanctuary with: the bull for a sin offering and the ram for a burnt offering; Lev.16:4. He must put on a sacred linen tunic, let him wear a linen undergarment on his body, and let him gird himself with a linen belt, and put on a linen turban: these are sacred garments; and let him wash his body with water and put them on; The Jewish tradition speaks in detail about the preparation of the high priest for entering the Holy of Holies and performing rituals for purification, such as: the 7-day separation of the high priest from his family and staying in a special room at the church, the appointment of a deputy (sagan) for him in case of his desecration or death, his exercises in performing the rituals of the day, the vigil on the eve of it, his oath to perform the rituals exactly and etc. (mentioned tr. Yoma, see Russian translation by Pereferkovich, Talmud. Mishnah and Tosefta, vol. II, St. Petersburg 1900, pp. 318–353). Most of these details are of later origin, but some features of the ritual, preserved only in legend, are of ancient origin. Sacrifices are mentioned (a bull for sins and a ram for a burnt offering), only those offered by the high priest for himself and the priesthood from his own wealth; sacrifices from the people are not mentioned. Lev.16:5. and from the congregation of the children of Israel he shall take [from the herd of goats] two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. Tradition complements the biblical text, testifying that in the morning the high priest performed the usual daily sacrifice in his usual golden vestment; Actually, on the day of purification, the high priest performed the appointed sacrifices in special white and linen clothes, almost identical to the priestly ones, with the exception of the turban. The fact that the clothes were not gold, as usual, but linen, meant humility and repentance of the high priest. and the people. The white color of the vestment could express the purity and innocence to which the people of God were called upon to cleanse them from the sins of an entire year. Before vesting, on the day of purification, the high priest washed his entire body with water every time (according to tradition, only 5 times). Lev.16:6. And Aaron shall offer the bullock as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and his house. On the day of atonement, 2 goats were chosen as a sacrifice for the sins of the people (Hebrew sair, different from the usual name goat attud, can mean a goat of a special breed or an old, shaggy one). According to tradition, both goats had to be the same age and the same species. Lev.16:7. And he will take two goats and set them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; Lev.16:8. And Aaron will cast lots for both goats: one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat; The symbolism of two goats has long been compared with the symbolism of two birds for the cleansing of a leper (Lev.14.1–8). As in the latter case, both the slaughtered and the living birds - both expressed the idea of ​​​​the complete cleansing of the recovered one, so 2 goats - slaughtered, and the other released into the desert - signified the complete removal of sins and iniquities from the society of the Lord. To determine which goat should be sacrificed, the high priest cast lots: on one piece of parchment it was written: lajhovah - for the Lord, on the other la azazel - for Azazel (Russian translation: “for the scape”, Slav.: “for release”, Vulg.: capro emissario). In the understanding of the last word, translations and interpreters diverge extremely. Chapter 4 groups are known. interpretations: 1) Azazel means the place (a mountain in the desert or the desert in general) where the scapegoat was sent (some Targums, Midrash, individual rabbis, from the new ones, for example, Bohart, Rosenmuller); 2) the scapegoat itself, as sent to the desert (LXX: ἀποπομπαῖος, Vulg.: sarer emissarius; Symmachus, Aquila, Theodotion, St. Cyril Alexander., blessed. Theodoret, Luther, Hoffmann, Shegg, etc.); 3) – abstractly: “absolution” (LXX: εἰς ἀποπομπήν, Russian-Slav.). But all these interpretations are strongly opposed by the opposition of Jehovah la azazel in Lev. 16, next. the latter must be a personal being and, moreover, a source of sin. Therefore, 4) both in antiquity (Origen, Contr. Cels., 6:43), and especially in modern times, Azazel is understood in the sense of a personal being - the devil or the demonic world (Ewald Gengstenberg, Keil, Kurtz, Ehler, Bodissin, Dillmann, Schulz, Strack and many others), and in view of the artificiality of the three previously named interpretations, the latter interpretation is the most likely. Of course, sending the goat to Azazel was not an act of sacrifice to him, which is directly excluded by the whole meaning of the Law of Moses, but a symbolic return of the entire body of Israel to the original source of sin - in the form of a goat, on whose head the high priest laid the sins of the people (Lev. 16:21-22). The Book of Enoch speaks of Azazel as one of the princes of demons. Lev.16:9. And Aaron will bring the goat on which the lot is drawn for the Lord, and offer it for a sin offering, Lev.16:10. and the goat on which the lot was chosen for scapegoating will be presented alive before the Lord, so that he can make purification for him and send him into the wilderness for scapegoating [and so that he will bear their iniquities on himself into an impenetrable land]. Both over the bull for his own sin, and over each of the goats for the sin of the people, the high priest, according to legend, read the following confession: “Oh, Jehovah! I have committed lawlessness, transgressed and sinned before You, me and my house. O Jehovah, forgive the iniquities and crimes and sins that I have sinned against You, I and my house, as it is written in the law of Moses Your servant (Lev. 16:30): for this day they will cleanse you, to make you clean from all sins” ... (Joma. 3:8). According to tradition, the high priest mentioned the name of Jehovah 10 times on the day of atonement; 6 times over a calf, 3 times over a goat and 1 time during the casting of lots (Yoma, Tosefta, 2:2). Lev.16:11. And Aaron shall bring the bullock as a sin offering for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself and his house, and shall kill the bullock as a sin offering for himself; Lev.16:12. and he will take a censer full of burning coals from the altar that is before the Lord, and handfuls full of finely ground incense, and bring it inside the veil; Lev.16:13. And he will put incense on the fire before the Lord, and a cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat that is over the ark of the testimony, so that it will not die. Lev.16:14. And he will take the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat in front and before the mercy seat, sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times. Now the preparatory actions for the cleansing ritual were completed and the cleansing itself began, and first of all, the sins of the high priest and his house were cleansed, that is, not only his carnal family, but also the priesthood in general (Lev. 16:33). The calf that was brought earlier (Lev. 16:3, 6) was slain, and its blood, brought into the Holy of Holies, purified the high priest and his house. But before bringing the blood into the Holy of Holies, the high priest had to secure his entrance there: by smoking in front of the capporet. He was given a ladle into which he collected incense for smoking, and a golden censer with a long handle (different in both material and design from the one usually used), which he filled with burning coals from the altar of burnt offerings; Having the censer in his right hand and incense in his left, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies, here he placed the censer between the poles of the ark of the covenant and poured incense onto the fire - the whole house ("holy of holies") was filled with a cloud of smoke, "so that he would not die" (Lev. 16:33). Then, leaving the incense in the Holy of Holies, the high priest, always facing the ark (next. backward movement), left here. Arriving at the sanctuary, he read a prayer here - a short one, so as not to disturb the people (Joma 5:1). The essence of this prayer (its text is attributed to the high priest Simon II the Righteous, died about 200 BC) was a request that in the coming year Israel would not suffer captivity or any other need. Arriving in the courtyard, the high priest took the blood of the calf (probably on the palm of his left hand) from the hands of the priest, who from the moment of slaughtering the calf stirred it in a vessel so that it would not thicken (Joma 5:3), and went to the Holy of Holies, stood in its original place and here sprinkled the blood (thus, “as if beating someone,” waving his hand) once on the front of the lid of the ark and 7 times before ark to the ground, accurately calculating each time (ibid). By blessed Theodoret, “since life revolves in 7 days, and every day we sin in more or less, then sprinkles equal to the days were brought for the sins committed in them” (question 32 according to Lev.). Lev.16:15. And he shall kill a goat as a sin offering for the people, and shall bring its blood within the veil, and shall do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and shall sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat, Having cleansed himself and his house, the high priest could now carry out the cleansing of the entire people. Returning to the church courtyard, he (after the aforementioned confession of sins) killed the goat, took the blood into a vessel and for the 3rd time entered the Holy of Holies and with the blood of the goat - for the sin of the people - he did the same as with the blood of the bull for his own sin, i.e. he sprinkled it once on the front side of the ark and 7 times on the ground in front of the ark (Joma 5:4). Lev.16:16. and he will cleanse the sanctuary from the uncleanness of the children of Israel and from their transgressions in all their sins. He must do the same with the tabernacle of meeting that is with them, among their uncleanness. Lev.16:17. No man shall be in the tabernacle of meeting when he enters to cleanse the sanctuary, until he goes out. And thus he will cleanse himself, his house and the whole congregation of Israel. Lev.16:18. And he will go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and will atone for it, and take the blood of the bull and the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides, Lev.16:19. and he will sprinkle the blood on it with his finger seven times, and will cleanse it, and sanctify it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. Lev.16:20. And when he has made atonement for the sanctuary, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he will bring a live goat, Not only the priests and the people needed cleansing, but also the holy things that they touched and desecrated - the “sanctuary” (holy of holies), the tabernacle of meeting (sanctuary) and the altar (burnt offerings, and together the entire courtyard), Lev.16:20. The cleansing of the Holy of Holies was accomplished by sprinkling before the Ark of the Covenant, first with the blood of a bull (Lev.16:14), then with the blood of a goat (Lev.16:16). In the same order, the cleansing of the sanctuary was carried out - by sprinkling one and the other blood before the (outer) veil and on the horns of the altar of incense (Lev. 16:18, see Exodus 30.10), after which the blood of the bull and the goat was mixed, and with it the altar of burnt offerings, and probably all the sacred vessels in general, were cleansed (through sevenfold sprinkling). Lev.16:19; cf. Joma 5:4,5,6). During all the sacred ceremonies in the tabernacle, there could not be a single person in it, not even a priest: only the high priest stood before Jehovah with incense and blood (Lev.16:17). Lev.16:21. and Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the living goat, and shall confess upon it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins, and shall lay them upon the head of the goat, and shall send them away with a special man into the wilderness: Lev.16:22. and the goat will bear on himself all their iniquities into the impassable land, and he will let the goat go into the wilderness. After the cleansing of the tabernacle, the high priest had to perform the rite of scapegoating of the living goat (marked by a scarlet ribbon tied to its horns - Joma 4:2). He laid both hands on the head of the goat (at which, according to legend, he pressed heavily on the head of the goat) and confessed all the sins of Israel over it (in the form mentioned, preserved by tradition), and the priests and people standing in the courtyard, hearing the name of God, fell on their faces, crying out: “Blessed be the glorious name of His kingdom forever and ever” (Yoma 6:2). Then the goat, burdened with sins, was sent with a “special man” (usually not an Israelite) into the desert, where it was cast into the abyss (Yoma 6:6). At the same time, according to legend, the scarlet ribbon hung at the gates of the church changed into white (Ioma 6:8) - as a sign of the forgiveness that followed from Jehovah, in accordance with the words of the prophet (Isaiah 1.18): “though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow.” Thus, the 2 goats of the day of atonement expressed 2 moments of the same idea of ​​freeing the people from sins: the cleansing of sins (sprinkling the blood of the first goat) and the removal of sins (sending out the scapegoat). Lev.16:23. And Aaron shall enter into the tabernacle of meeting, and take off the linen garments which he put on when he entered the sanctuary, and leave them there, Lev.16:24. and he will wash his body with water in the holy place, and put on his clothes, and go out and offer a burnt offering for himself and a burnt offering for the people, and make atonement for himself, [his house] and the people [and the priests]; Lev.16:25. and the fat of the sin offering shall be burned on the altar. Now, starting to burn the sacrifices, the high priest again washed the whole body with water (in the courtyard of the tabernacle), changed clothes (in the gallery of the tabernacle or church) into his usual solemn sacred clothes and burned first the burnt offerings for himself and the people (2 rams), and then the fat of those animals (a bull and a goat) for sin, whose blood was brought into the Holy of Holies. Lev.16:26. And the one who took the goat for the scapegoat must wash his clothes and wash his body with water, and then he can enter the camp. Lev.16:27. And the bullock for sin and the goat for sin, whose blood was brought in to cleanse the sanctuary, shall be carried out of the camp and their skins and their flesh and their uncleanness shall be burned in the fire; Lev.16:28. whoever burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and after that he can enter the camp. According to the rule, Lev.6.30, the meat of the victims of sin was burned outside the camp. Both the one who burned this meat and the one who took away the goat, although they were not considered defiled (then both could not enter the camp until evening), but, upon contact with sin-cleansing objects, they still had to wash their clothes. Lev.16:29. And let this be an everlasting statute for you: in the seventh month, in the tenth [day] of the month, ye shall humble your souls and do no work, neither to the native nor to the stranger who sojourns among you, Lev.16:30. For this day they cleanse you to make you clean from all your sins, so that you may be clean before the Lord; Lev.16:31. This is a Sabbath of rest for you; mortify your souls: this is an everlasting statute. An indication of the general nature and meaning of the day of purification: this is both fasting (“humble” your souls: ch. anah is a technical term for the spiritual and physical exercises of fasting, Isa. 58:3, 5, 10; hence in later Judaism “taannith”, fasting, the name of an entire treatise in the 2nd volume of the Talmud), and the greatest peace. “Moses called this day the Sabbath of Sabbaths, as the Holy of Holies is called, therefore this holiday is much more honorable than the Sabbath, and he called fasting the conquest of the soul” (Blessed Theodoret, question 22 on Lev.). The exceptional fast of this unique day in the Old Testament can be equated to the fast of Great Heel. Lev.16:32. The priest who is anointed and consecrated must cleanse him in order to officiate in his father’s place: and he will put on linen garments, sacred garments, Lev.16:33. and he will cleanse the Holy of Holies and the tabernacle of meeting, and he will cleanse the altar, and he will cleanse the priests and all the people of the congregation. Lev.16:34. And let this be an everlasting statute for you: to cleanse the children of Israel from all their sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses. The essence and significance of the day of purification is briefly and generally repeated, and it is deliberately noted that all sacred rites for purification should be performed only by the high priest who was in the sacred service of the day of purification, especially in his entry into the Holy of Holies, a type of the eternal, divine High Priest - Christ, who, “having once endured saving suffering, ascended into heaven, having found eternal redemption” (Blessed Theodoret; cf. 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