ATONEMENT, DAY OF (יֹ֧ום (ה)ַכִּפֻּרִ֣ים, [the] day of covering or propitiation [Lev 23:27, 28; 25:9]; LXX ἡμέρα ἐξιλασμοῦ [Lev 23:27, 28]; τῆ ἡμέρα τοῦ ἱλασμοῦ [25:9]). The chief annual fast day in Judaism on the tenth day of the seventh month, Tishri. The ritual is detailed in Leviticus 16. On this day, when the Temple or Tabernacle still existed, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to atone for the sins of Israel. Now it is called Yom Kippur. The NT refers to it as ἡ νηστεία “the fast” in Acts 27:9. Philo designated it “the feast of the fast,” and the Mishna called it simply “the Day” or “the Great Day.”

1. Relevant passages. The main passages dealing with this annual fast, with the legal enactments involved, are found in: (1) Leviticus 16, the central passage; (2) Exodus 30:10, which refers to making atonement annually on the horns of the altar of incense; (3) Leviticus 23:26-32, in the list of annual feasts, where the date is mentioned, is ordered a holy convocation at the sanctuary, the fasting, an offering by fire, and rest from work; (4) Leviticus 25:9, which says the Year of Jubilee was to commence on this day; (5) Numbers 18, where duties and privileges of priests and Levites are given; (6) Numbers 29:7-11, which gives laws connected with the sacrifices, fact of a holy convocation, fasting, rest from labor, the sacrifices of sin offering, burnt offerings, meal offerings, and drink offerings; (7) Ezekiel 45:18 ff., which presents a number of regulations for the festivals of Israel and the sacrifices.

2. The occasion for the day. The death of Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10:1ff.) is said to be the occasion for the Day of Atonement in order to emphasize God’s holiness which they had transgressed. Jubilees 34:17 connects the institution of the day with Jacob’s mourning for Joseph (Gen 37:29ff.). Those committed to the critical school of OT interpretation find the setting for the day in Ezekiel 40-48. It is important to recall that the Year of Jubilee began on the Day of Atonement (Lev 25:9). There are those who suggest that the Day of Atonement (ch. 16) was the conclusion of several New Year observances. The critical opinion is that it is a composite record. T. K. Cheyne (EB, I, 383-389) connects ch. 16 with ch. 10 (with no explanation how the intervening chs. came to be interposed in the text) and concludes that the regulations of the day are the outcome of an interesting development. With others, he holds that Ezekiel’s directions are prior to those of ch. 16. It should be pointed out that the atonement for the Temple occurs on the first day of the first month and on the first day of the seventh month (Ezek 45, LXX for vv. 18-20), but no reference whatever is made there to atonement for sins. This is remarkable, indeed, that in the prophetic (some hold it may be symbolical) portrayal of Ezekiel’s Temple, no mention of the Day of Atonement occurs.

3. The purpose of the day. The ritual of the day had in view one goal: to avert the wrath of God for the sins of the past year and to insure His continued dwelling among them. The shedding of blood and the sending off of the scapegoat were meant to cleanse the nation, the priesthood, and the sanctuary from sin. The entire meaning of the sacrificial system reached its climax, and the day has been well called the “Good Friday of the OT.”

This day was observed to remind Israel that in spite of all the daily, weekly, and monthly (on the new moon) sacrifices, sin was not fully atoned for. Always the offerer stood at a distance from God, unable to enter the holy presence of God, typified by the Shekinah cloud over the mercy seat. On this day the high priest was allowed by God to enter the Holy of Holies with blood as a representative of the people.

The basic principle underlying the Day of Atonement is that the offerings for sin throughout the year could not provide for or cover unknown (“secret”) sins. Nevertheless, by these sins the sanctuary, the people, and the land were all rendered unclean. God could not be honored as He deserved under such circumstances. The Day of Atonement was instituted for the accomplishment annually of a complete atonement for all sin (Lev 16:33). The whole priestly legislation was given its highest expression: God’s holiness was recognized and satisfied by sacrifice. All the ceremonies and rituals of the day were meant to symbolize, as far as possible, a complete atonement for sin and the utter removal of the cause of God’s displeasure. The Day of Atonement marked the highest exhibition of the mediatorial work of the high priest. In him all the people had access into the presence of God.

According to later Jewish theology, on New Year’s day God determined the fate of every man on earth and on the Day of Atonement He sealed the decree. The intervening ten days of penitence (actually counting from the first of Tishri through the tenth of the month) were observed in order to avert an unfavorable decree. Only unintentional sins were in view (4:2, 13; Num 15:24), as declared by Yoma 8:9 (the Mishnaic tractate on the Day of Atonement): “He who says, I will sin, the Day atones; to him the Day will bring no atonement” (cf. Heb 9:7, “errors”).

4. The importance of the day. The Day of Atonement is the only fast day stipulated in the Mosaic law. In the couple of centuries before the advent of Christianity, it played a significant role in Judaism. References to it in the Mishnaic Tractate Yoma and in other Jewish sources leave no doubt in the matter. Conceptually, the Crucifixion accounts of the NT and the entire Epistle to the Hebrews, with Paul’s letters, are directly related to it. The Day of Atonement was so central and vital to Judaism that it has outlived the destruction of the Temple in a.d. 70 and the loss of the entire sacrificial system. The observance actually manifested that Israel believed the cleansing of their sins was accomplished by the prescribed rites given by God, and that the forgiveness and grace of God were extended to them and formed the basis for their continuance in fellowship with Him as His covenant people.

On their part, it demonstrated godly sorrow for their sins (indicated by their fasting). It realized the purification of the sanctuary defiled by the sins of Israel. Atonement was made for all the transgressions of the congregation. The consciousness of sin in Israel was deepened through the exercises of the day. God was propitiated for the year just past.

The day is not without spiritual significance and instruction for the Christian today. The more one compares the rituals of this day with what was accomplished perfectly by Christ on Calvary, the more the conviction is confirmed that all the rites of the Day of Atonement, and all the religious appointments in Israel, were only shadows preparing for the coming of finality in Christ (Heb 9:24; 10:1)

5. The day as a fast. Practically all, with but few exceptions, have taken the words of Leviticus 16:29 to indicate the day as a fast. “And it shall be a statute to you for ever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves, and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you” (cf. also 23:27, 29; Num 29:7). It is also described as a “sabbath of solemn rest” (Lev 16:31; 23:32), literally, “a sabbath of sabbatism,” “a most solemn sabbath,” or a Sabbath of sabbatical observance when no work was allowed (Num 29:7).

6. Contents of Leviticus 16. Basic to a proper understanding of the day is a close scrutiny of the details (Lev 16). The ch. may be divided into four sections: (1) vv. 1-10: personal preparations by Aaron for the rites of the day; the animals for sacrifice; the clothing and bathing of Aaron; (2) vv. 11-24: the ceremonies described in detail; (3) vv. 25-28: additional concluding directions for the ceremonies of the day; (4) vv. 29-34: directions for the congregation. The contents of these sections are so clearly interwoven and interdependent that the views which attribute the ch. to various sources cannot be substantiated. Modern attempts to disprove the unity of the ch. are far too arbitrary and subjective to be tenable.

7. The rites of the day. The rites of the day were complex and minute, but all had meaning for the ultimate purpose of the day: atonement by sacrifice according to God’s specific appointment. As already seen, the feast was so important that, through the years, later observances added elements to the original arrangement. It is profitable to examine both observances.

a. Early observance. On this day the high priest removed his official garments of glory and beauty, clothed himself in white linen as a penitent with the rest of the nation, and then carried out the ceremonies of the day. (1) He offered a bullock as a sin offering for himself and the priests. (2) With a censer of live coals from the altar of incense he entered the Holy of Holies to fill the compartment with incense. (3) He sprinkled the blood of the bullock on the mercy seat and on the floor before the Ark of the covenant. (4) He cast lots over the two live goats brought by the people. (5) Slaying one of the goats as a sin offering for the nation, he took the blood inside the veil and sprinkled it as before, thus making atonement for the holiest place. (6) He confessed the sins of the people over the live goat, placing his hands on its head. (7) He sent the live goat away into the wilderness. The live goat is called the scapegoat (i.e., the escape goat). Symbolically, it carried away the sins of the people (cf. the writer’s article, “The Scapegoat of Leviticus 16,” Bibliotheca Sacra, 115 [Oct. 1958], 320-333). (8) He clothed himself in his usual apparel, offering now a burnt offering for himself and one for the people with the fat of the sin offering. The flesh of the bullock and the goat were burned outside the camp.

b. Later observance. In later times the feast gained in significance, so its ritual was greatly enlarged (cf. H. Danby, The Mishnah [1933], 162-172 on Yoma). For instance, on the Day of Atonement the high priest had to bathe five times and perform ten washings. No matter how unobservant a Jew may be of the rites of Judaism, unless he has finally severed all ties with his faith, he still celebrates this day. In Judaism, after the close of the OT canon, the first day of the seventh month witnessed a blast of trumpets and a holy convocation (Lev 23:23), which began a ten day period of repentance. In modern Judaism the Day of Atonement concludes the ten days of penitence, beginning with the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), which coincides with the Biblical Feast of Trumpets. The ten days are set aside for spiritual meditation and preparation for the great Day of Atonement. (Together these ten days are known as “The Solemn or Awesome Days.”) The Day of Atonement, then and now, begins on the evening of the ninth of Tishri at sunset and lasts until the evening of the tenth (23:32). Fasting includes no eating, drinking, washing, anointing, putting on footwear, and marital intercourse (Yoma 8:1). Children and the sick always have been exempt from the fast.

Because the high priest was the central personality throughout the ceremonies, he took up residence in the Temple seven days before the festival (Yoma 1:1). He rehearsed the ceremonies he was to perform. On the eve of the day he kept an all night vigil. In fact, men were esp. delegated to keep him awake. After bathing (Lev 16:4) and offering the burnt offering in the morning (Num 29:8-11), he donned white linen (Lev 16:4) and was prepared to conduct the rites. These rites consisted of (1) the sacrifice for the priests, (2) the sacrifice for the people, and (3) the scapegoat ritual. With the blood of the bullock (the sin offering) and with incense, the high priest entered the holiest (16:12-14). After filling the compartment with a cloud of incense, he left to pray and again entered the Holy of Holies (in a second stage of the ceremonies) to sprinkle blood on the propitiatory for the sins of the priests.

The sacrifice for the nation was a goat chosen by lot from two identical animals. This goat was slain and its blood sprinkled on the Ark seven times. The veil and the horns of the altar of incense were also sprinkled. The live goat, designated as “for Azazel” (16:8, 10, 26) as the first had been “for the Lord,” was taken by the high priest, who laid his hands on it, confessed the sins of the people, and then committed it to one esp. appointed to lead it away into the desert amid the jeering and imprecations of the people. After this the high priest put off his garments and put on his usual apparel to offer burnt offerings with the fat of the slain bullock and goat (16:24). The remains were carried outside the camp and burned. The people rejoiced and danced at sunset.

The rabbis claimed the high priest sprinkled blood forty-three times on this day. The Mishnah indicates that whenever the high priest pronounced the ineffable divine name (YHWH), the congregation prostrated themselves and cried: “Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever.” At the conclusion of the ceremonies of the day, so great was the relief of the people that they accompanied the high priest to his home where he entertained them at a feast. The people in general gave themselves to rejoicing; the young men and maidens danced in the vineyards (Ta’anit iv. 8).

Today no sacrifices are offered, but the day is observed by abstaining from labor, by prayers, fasting, and multiplied confessions. The services are begun with the blowing of the ram’s horn (as though to direct God’s attention to the willingness of Abraham to offer Isaac according to the will of God; Gen 22) and the recital of the solemn prayer called Kol Nidre (“All vows”). It is prob. from the Middle Ages, and in it the worshipers petition God to forgive them for breaking vows they could not fulfill. Worship services are conducted the next day from early morning until sunset, when a blast of the ram’s horn concludes the ceremonies of the day.

8. The silence of the historical books. Those who have studied the subject carefully have pointed out some problems connected with the Day of Atonement. Why, in view of all the elaborate injunctions for this day in Aaron’s lifetime, is there so little evidence that it was observed in Israel’s later history? Why are the historical books silent on the subject? Although critical sources seek to relate Ezekiel 45 to Leviticus 16, the correlation is artificial and strikingly unconvincing. Differences between the two accounts are patent. Why is the Day of Atonement so inexplicably omitted in Nehemiah 8? The Wellhausenists conclude that all the legislation in the Pentateuch concerning this day belongs to postexilic times, so that the Day of Atonement was introduced in Israel shortly after the middle of the 5th cent. b.c. The background of the feast is supposed to be found in Ezekiel 45 and the postexilic portions in Zechariah 7:5 and 8:19. It must be clearly understood that in the days after the 5th cent. b.c. there is no more mention of the Day of Atonement than previously. All that can be pointed to is Sirach 50:5ff. RSV (an evident reference to the observance), then Philo, and finally the Epistle to the Hebrews (6:19; 9:7, 13ff.; 10:1ff.). In all probability, Acts 27:9 is a reference to the day. Care must be exercised always in dealing with an argument from silence.

9. Historicity of the day. It is an impossible task to excise, stylistically or logically, Leviticus 16 from its fundamental place in the scheme of the Book of Leviticus or from the entire priestly system in Israel for that matter. Furthermore, it is both hopeless and useless to seek to dismember the closely knit and logically presented stipulations and rites of Leviticus 16. A historical difficulty of insurmountable proportions is this: if the Ark of the covenant no longer existed after the Exile, and the prediction of Jeremiah 3:16 led Israel to expect no restoration or recovery of the same, how could the Day of Atonement have been inaugurated at that late date when its entire efficacy and worth were linked inseparably with that Ark? Furthermore, since Ezekiel and his appointments are related to a distant future (a view which has much to commend it), the argument based on his regulations (which, it can be readily verified, differ widely from those of the Pentateuchal legislation) is pointless when it aims to credit him with influencing the legislation in Leviticus 16.

10. NT references. The reference to the fast in Acts 27:9 is understood generally to point to the Day of Atonement, because it is the only one mentioned in the Mosaic law. Even a cursory reading of the Epistle to the Hebrews will disclose that it moves in the atmosphere and ritual of the OT sacrificial system and, in particular, of the Day of Atonement. The aim of the sacred writer is unequivocal: it is to demonstrate the fulfilling finality of the central event of the Scriptures, the atonement of Christ on Calvary.

Hebrews explains the ritual of the day as a type of the atonement accomplished by Christ (Heb 9 and 10). The High Priest is the Lord Christ. The blood is His blood shed on Calvary. As the high priest of the OT entered the holiest of all with the blood of sacrifice, the unmistakable evidence of forfeiture of life, so Christ has entered into heaven to appear before the Father in our behalf (Heb 9:11, 12). It is emphasized that the entrance of the high priest into the most holy, with blood, typified the appearance of Christ in heaven for us when He had purchased redemption for us (9:24-28).

The fact that the same sacrifices had to be repeated each year spoke clearly and conclusively that final atonement had not yet been achieved. Christ provided eternal redemption for the world (9:12). The OT offerings served only to bring about a temporary and outward ceremonial cleansing; Christ’s one sacrifice adequately provided inward cleansing of heart and conscience (9:13, 14). Whereas the ordinary Israelite could not enter the innermost sanctuary, and only the high priest was permitted to do so one day annually, the believer today has constant access through grace to the very presence of the holy God (4:14-16; 10:19-22). The ceremonies of the day formally closed when the sin offering was burned outside the camp of Israel; Jesus suffered outside the gate of Jerusalem when He bore our reproach (13:11, 12).

Bibliography J. C. Rylaarsdam, IDB, I, 313-316; T. K. Cheyne, EB, I, 383-389; W. Moeller, ISBE, I, 324-328; Theological Dictionary of NT, IV, 924-935 (esp. 927-931); M. L. Margolis, Jew Enc, II, 284-289; A. Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services (1874), 263-288; I. Abrahams, “High Priest’s Procession on the Day of Atonement,” JQR, 4 (1905), 17:586; L. Belleli, “High Priest’s Procession on the Day of Atonement,” JQR 3 (1905), 17:584; S. Talmon, “Yom Hakkippurim in the Habakkuk Scroll,” Bibliographical Footnotes, Biblica (Nov. 1951), 32:549-563; L. L. Morris, “Day of Atonement and the Work of Christ,” Reformed Theological Review (Feb. 1955), 14:9, 10; F. H. Woods, HERE (1960 ed.), V, 863-867; R. L. Rubinstein, “Atonement and Sacrifice in Contemporary Jewish Liturgy,” Judaism (Spring 1962), 11:131-143; J. Morgenstern, “Fire Upon the Altar Once Again,” Encounter (Spring 1965), 26:215-224; H. Cohen, “Day of Atonement,” I., Judaism (Summer 1968), 17:352-357; H. Cohen, “Day of Atonement,” II, III, Judaism (Winter-Spring 1969), 18:84-90, 216-22.