Leviticus 16:29-31 - Exposition

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 Le Leviticus 23:7 , Leviticus 23:21 , Leviticus 23:25 , Leviticus 23:35 ). 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 , Jeremiah 17:23 ), 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.