Leviticus 16:34 kjv
And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Leviticus 16:34 nkjv
This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year." And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Leviticus 16:34 niv
"This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites." And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Leviticus 16:34 esv
And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins." And Aaron did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Leviticus 16:34 nlt
This is a permanent law for you, to purify the people of Israel from their sins, making them right with the LORD once each year." Moses followed all these instructions exactly as the LORD had commanded him.
Leviticus 16 34 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Lev 16:29 | “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month..." | Institutes the annual Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). |
| Lev 23:27 | “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement." | Reaffirms the Day of Atonement. |
| Num 29:7 | “On the tenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation..." | Describes sacrifices for Yom Kippur. |
| Ex 12:14 | "This day shall be to you a memorial, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations as a statute forever." | Similar "statute forever" for Passover. |
| Ex 27:21 | "Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord as a statute forever." | "Statute forever" for oil lamp in Tent of Meeting. |
| Heb 9:7 | "...into the second [inner sanctuary] only the high priest goes, and he but once a year..." | Highlights the annual nature of Old Covenant atonement. |
| Heb 9:12 | "...he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption." | Christ's once-for-all, eternal atonement. |
| Heb 9:25 | "Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own..." | Contrasts Christ's singular sacrifice with annual ritual. |
| Heb 9:26 | "...but as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." | Christ's definitive victory over sin. |
| Heb 9:28 | "so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time..." | Christ's one sacrifice for sin. |
| Heb 10:1 | "For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come... it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near." | Old Covenant sacrifices are insufficient, shadow. |
| Heb 10:4 | "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." | Highlights inadequacy of animal sacrifices. |
| Heb 10:10 | "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." | Christ's once-for-all sanctification. |
| Heb 10:11 | "And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins." | Priestly service is ongoing and ineffective for perfection. |
| Heb 10:12 | "But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God..." | Christ's complete and final atonement. |
| Heb 10:14 | "For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." | Christ's single offering perfected believers. |
| Rom 3:25 | "whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins." | Christ as the ultimate atonement/propitiation. |
| Lev 17:11 | "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls..." | Foundation for blood atonement. |
| Isa 53:5 | "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities..." | Prophetic vision of a Suffering Servant bearing sin. |
| Dan 9:24 | "...to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, and to make atonement for iniquity..." | Prophecy of Messiah's ultimate atonement. |
| John 1:29 | "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" | Jesus as the ultimate sacrificial lamb. |
| 1 Pet 3:18 | "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God..." | Christ's singular atoning suffering. |
Leviticus 16 verses
Leviticus 16 34 Meaning
Leviticus 16:34 concludes the detailed instructions for the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), establishing it as a perpetual decree for the Israelites. This annual observance commanded a specific, elaborate ritual involving the high priest making expiation for all the sins of the Israelite community, thereby maintaining their covenant relationship with the holy God who dwelled among them. The verse underscores the enduring necessity of corporate cleansing for a people prone to sin, enabling divine presence amidst an unholy nation.
Leviticus 16 34 Context
Leviticus chapter 16 delineates the sole and precise procedure for the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the most sacred day in the Israelite calendar. This elaborate ritual was necessary for God's holy presence to dwell among His sinful people without consuming them. It describes the specific attire for the High Priest, the sacrifices required for his own sin and the people's, and critically, the sending away of a scapegoat carrying the people's sins into the wilderness. The chapter underscores the profound seriousness of sin and the meticulous provisions God made for atonement. Verse 34 serves as a culminating statement, solidifying the annual, perpetual nature of this life-sustaining act of propitiation for the collective sins of Israel, maintaining their clean standing before their Holy God within the Mosaic covenant. Historically, this ritual was essential for the spiritual health and very existence of the nation as a covenant people, allowing the tabernacle/temple to remain among them.
Leviticus 16 34 Word analysis
- This (זֹאת, zō’t): Refers collectively to the entire complex ritual and regulations outlined in Leviticus 16 for the Day of Atonement, highlighting its comprehensive and prescribed nature.
- shall be (תִּהְיֶה, tihyeh): Denotes a divinely decreed command, not merely a suggestion. It signifies an imperative that must be observed.
- a statute (חֻקַּת, chuqqat): From choq, meaning a prescribed task, limit, or ordinance. It emphasizes a fixed, binding, and unalterable law, set by divine authority. It denotes permanence and authority.
- forever (עוֹלָם, ’ôlām): Often implies a continuous duration within the existing covenant age. While sometimes suggesting eternity in a timeless sense, in the context of the Mosaic Law, it typically means "for the indefinite future," or "throughout your generations," implying until a new covenant or dispensation would supersede it. This points to the law's binding nature for Israel until the advent of Christ.
- for you (לָכֶם, lāḵem): Specifically addressed to the people of Israel, underscoring their unique covenant relationship and responsibility for this ordinance.
- to make atonement (לְכַפֵּר, lĕḵappēr): From the verb kāpar, meaning "to cover," "to purge," "to make expiation," "to reconcile." It's not about hiding sin, but covering it so that divine wrath is turned away, and the breach between God and man is mended through propitiation.
- for the people of Israel (עַל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, ‘al bĕnê Yiśrā’ēl): Refers to the entire community of the covenant nation, highlighting that the atonement was a collective, corporate act, encompassing all its members.
- once a year (אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה, ’aḥat baššānâ): Emphasizes the singular annual occurrence of this most significant ritual, distinguishing it from daily or weekly sacrifices. This infrequent, precise timing underscores its profound importance and points forward to a singular, ultimate atoning act.
- because of all their sins (מִכָּל־חַטֹּאתָם, mikko-l ḥaṭṭō’ṯām): Ḥaṭṭa’ôt means "sins," encompassing errors, omissions, rebellions, and impurities that rendered the people defiled before a holy God. The atonement was for the totality of the community's transgressions, emphasizing comprehensive purification.
- statute forever... to make atonement... once a year: This phrase group captures the essence: a divinely ordained, perpetually observed (within the old covenant) annual event to address the entire nation's accumulation of sins, essential for maintaining covenant relationship with a holy God. This highlights the ongoing need for divine provision for human sin.
- all their sins: This comprehensive phrasing underscores that no sin, whether intentional or unintentional, individual or corporate, would go unaddressed if the prescribed atonement was faithfully executed. This was a holistic cleansing for the community.
Leviticus 16 34 Bonus section
The "statute forever" in the Mosaic Law typically meant binding until a new revelation or a new covenant was established. This signifies that the Old Covenant rites were permanent for their time, demonstrating God's consistent demand for holiness and His provided means of reconciliation, even if those means were preparatory. The repetition "once a year" was not merely a ceremonial detail; it served to remind Israel year after year that their sin problem was ongoing and that the atonement provided was a covering, not a complete removal that made them perfect forever. This annual rhythm built a national consciousness of dependence on God's mercy and atonement. It fostered humility and a continuous awareness of their need for a higher, lasting remedy for sin. This pattern highlights a theological truth: genuine cleansing from sin required divine intervention, and the annual ritual underscored that only a perfect sacrifice, offered at the perfect time, could achieve final perfection, something impossible through human or animal efforts alone.
Leviticus 16 34 Commentary
Leviticus 16:34 encapsulates the perpetual nature and profound significance of the Day of Atonement within the Old Covenant. Designated as a "statute forever," this annual rite ensured that Israel, though a sinful nation, could maintain fellowship with a perfectly holy God dwelling in their midst. The detailed process of atonement, culminating in the sending away of the scapegoat, vividly depicted God's provision for covering, purging, and removing the people's cumulative "sins." The "once a year" aspect highlighted the incompleteness of the animal sacrifices, requiring their repetition and serving as a constant reminder of humanity's sinfulness and the temporary nature of the ceremonial law's cleansing. This cycle pointed forward to a definitive, once-for-all atonement.
This verse finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The New Testament, particularly the book of Hebrews, clearly teaches that Christ's single sacrifice, shed "once for all," superseded and perfected the repeated Old Covenant sacrifices. His shed blood genuinely cleanses and atones for sins, securing an "eternal redemption" (Heb 9:12) that the blood of bulls and goats could never accomplish. Christ is the high priest who entered the true, heavenly Most Holy Place not with the blood of animals but with His own precious blood, making full propitiation for the "sins of many" (Heb 9:28). Therefore, for believers today, the Levitical statute, though no longer directly observed, stands as a rich shadow and prophetic pointer to the completeness and finality of Christ's finished work on the cross, establishing a new covenant grounded in His superior, sufficient sacrifice.