Leviticus Chapter 16 verse 29 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerses 29-31. - The ceremonies of the Day of Atonement are not appointed for once only, but they are to be of annual observance. This shall be a statute for ever unto you, as long as the nation should exist, that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all. The seventh is the sacred month, in which the first, the tenth, the fifteenth, and following days are appointed as holy seasons. The Day of Atonement is the single fast of the Jewish Church occurring once a year only. On it all the members of that Church were to afflict their souls, on pain of death (Leviticus 23:29). The fast began on the evening of the ninth day, and ended on the evening of the tenth, when it was succeeded by general feasting. During the whole of the twenty-four hours no work at all was to be done. In this respect the Day of Atonement was put on a level with the sabbath, whereas on the annual festivals only "servile work" was forbidden (see Leviticus 23:7, 21, 25, 35). On this day, therefore, as on the weekly sabbath, it was not permitted to collect manna (Exodus 16:26), or to plough or reap (Exodus 34:21), or to light a fire (Exodus 35:3), or to gather wood (Numbers 15:32-36), or to carry corn or fruit (Nehemiah 13:15), or to sell food or other goods (Nehemiah 13:16), or to bear burdens (Jeremiah 17:22, 23), or to set out grain for sale (Amos 8:5). And these regulations applied to strangers that sojourned among them as well as to themselves. It was a sabbath of rest; literally, a sabbath of sabbatism. The purpose of the abstinence from food and labour was to bring the soul of each individual into harmony with the solemn rites of purification publicly performed not by themselves, but by the high priest.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(29) And this shall be a statute for ever.--Literally, a statute of eternity, that is, an everlasting ordinance. That which is contained in Leviticus 16:29-30 is binding upon the Israelites as long as they exist, and is to be observed by them annually.In the seventh month, on the tenth day.--This month, which is called Tishri, corresponds to September, and is the month of great festivals. On the first is the Feast of Trumpets (see Leviticus 23:24), on the tenth the Day of Atonement, and on the fourteenth begins the Feast of Tabernacles which lasts eight days.Ye shall afflict your souls.--From Isaiah 58:3; Isaiah 58:5; Isaiah 58:10 it is evident that by the phrase "to afflict the soul" is meant fasting. This is expressed by the fuller form, "to afflict the soul with fasting." in Psalm 35:13, where the Authorised Version inconsistently translates it, "humbled my soul." This is the only public fast ordained in the Mosaic Law; and the authorities during the second Temple defined more minutely in what this fasting consists. According to the canon law it consists not only in abstaining from eating and drinking, but from washing, anointing, wearing of shoes or sandals, and the marriage-bed, as they were the outward signs of joy. (Comp. Ecclesiastes 9:10.) If any one presumptuously ate as much as a date with a kernel, or drank as much as fills one cheek, he violated the Law, and incurred the penalty of excision. If he did it unintentionally he had to bring a sin offering. The fast lasted from evening to evening, and is rigorously kept by Jews to this day. Exception was and still is made in the case of pregnant women, invalids, and children. This is the fast which the Apostle refers to in Acts 27:9. The marginal note on this passage, viz., "the fast was on the tenth day of the seventh month" (Leviticus 23:27; Leviticus 23:29), is not to be found in the first edition of the Authorised Version. It was introduced by Bishop Lloyd in the Bible published in London, 1701, fol., who took it from the Geneva Version (Geneva, 1560), and it was adopted in the Oxford 4to edition, 1703. When Christ admonishes his followers, "When thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face" (Matthew 6:17), He refers to the canonical law about fasting here given. . . .