Topic Study

• Torah: Wayiqra (Leviticus) 23:1-2, 26-32; Leviticus 16:1-34
• Prophets: Isaiah 58:1-14
• Writings: Psalms 78:10-39
• Apostolic: Hebrews 9:1-28
• Additional: Jubilees 34:10-19

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Ezra 9:5-15
• Numbers 29:7-11
• Numbers 11:4-6; Proverbs 16:26; Proverbs 23:2; Ecclesiastes 6:7; Hosea 9:4; Isaiah 29:7-8
• Daniel 9:20-27
• Matthew 6:16-18
• Matthew 9:14-15
• Acts 27:9-12
• Leviticus 25:8-10
• Numbers 10:1-10
• Exodus 29:35-37
• Exodus 30:10, 11-16
• Numbers 5:5-8
• Hebrews 9:24-28
• Hebrews 5:1-11
• Hebrews 10:1-10
• Leviticus 6:30
• Hebrews 13:8-16

RELATED ADDITIONAL READINGS

• The Temple Scroll 11Q19-21 XXV – XXVII
• A Commentary on Habakkuk (Pesher Habakkuk) 1QpHab
• The Ages of Creation 4Q180
• Enoch 8:1 – 9:11
• Enoch 10:1-21
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 3.10.1-3

Torah

23:1 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them, ‘The appointed times of YHWH, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are my appointed times…26 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “However on the tenth day of this seventh new moon is a Day of the Atonements. It shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall afflict your souls and you shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH. 28 You shall do no kind of work [in the bone of this day],^(MTT) for it is a Day of Atonements, to make atonement for you before YHWH your Elohim. 29 For every soul who shall not be afflicted [in the bone of this day]^(MTT) shall be cut off from his people. 30 Whoever does any kind of work [in the bone of this day],^(MTT) I will destroy that person from among his people. 31 You shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be a Sabbath of rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. In the ninth day of the new moon at evening, from evening to evening, you shall guard your Sabbath.”

Leviticus 16:1-34

16:1 YHWH spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came near before YHWH, and died; 2 and YHWH said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the holy within the veil, before the lid which is on the ark; lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud on the lid. 3 Aaron shall come into the holy with a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen tunic. He shall have the linen trousers on his body, and shall put on the linen sash, and he shall be clothed with the linen turban. They are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water, and put them on. 5 He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 He shall take the two goats, and set them before YHWH at the door of the Appointed Tent. 8 Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for YHWH, and the other lot for Azazel. 9 Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for YHWH, and offer him for a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before YHWH, to make atonement for him, to send him away to Azazel into the wilderness. 11 Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. 12 He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before YHWH, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil. 13 He shall put the incense on the fire before YHWH, that the cloud of the incense may cover the lid that is on the witness, so that he will not die. 14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the lid on the east; and before the lid he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. 15 Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the lid and before the lid. 16 He shall make atonement for the holy, because of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel, and because of their trespasses, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Appointed Tent that dwells with them in the middle of their uncleanness. 17 No one shall be in the Appointed Tent when he enters to make atonement in the holy, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 He shall go out to the altar that is before YHWH and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the bull’s blood, and some of the goat’s blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar. 19 He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and make it holy from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel. 20 When he has finished atoning for the holy, the Appointed Tent, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their trespasses, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is ready. 22 The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a land cut off, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. 23 Aaron shall come into the Appointed Tent, and shall take off the linen garments which he put on [and he shall go]^(DSS) into the holy, and shall leave them there. 24 Then he shall bathe himself in water in a holy place, put on his garments, and come out and do his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. 26 He who lets the goat go to Azazel shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. 27 The bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy, shall be carried outside the camp; and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire. 28 He who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. 29 It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh new moon, on the tenth day of the new moon, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no kind of work, whether native or a stranger who sojourns among you; 30 for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you. You shall be clean from all your sins before YHWH. 31 It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. 32 The priest, who is anointed and filled his hand to be adorned in his father’s place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments. 33 Then he shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the Appointed Tent and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the sons of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” It was done as YHWH commanded Moses.

Prophets

Isaiah 58:1-14

58:1 “Cry aloud! Don’t spare! Lift up your voice like a shofar! Declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways. As a nation that did righteousness, and didn’t forsake the judgment of their Elohim, they ask of me righteous judgments. They delight to draw near to Elohim. 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’ “Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and press all your laborers. 4 Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under himself? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to YHWH? 6 “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the crushed go free, and that you break every yoke? 7 Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the afflicted who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then your light will break out as the morning, and your healing will appear quickly; then your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of YHWH will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and YHWH will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from among you the yoke, finger pointing, and speaking wickedly; 10 and if you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in darkness, and your obscurity will be as the noonday; 11 and YHWH will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong. You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters don’t fail. 12 Those who will be of you will build the old waste places. You will raise up the foundations of many generations. You will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Paths with Dwellings. “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of YHWH, honorable, and honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure and speaking words [in anger out of your mouth],^(LXX) 14 then you will delight yourself in YHWH, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the land, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;” for the mouth of YHWH has spoken it.

Writings

78:10 They didn’t guard the covenant of Elohim, and refused to walk in his Torah. 11 They forgot his doings, his wondrous deeds that he had shown them. 12 He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. 13 He split the sea, and caused them to pass through. He made the waters stand as a heap. 14 In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, and all night with a light of fire. 15 He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths. 16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. 17 Yet they still went on to sin against him, to rebel against Elyon in the desert. 18 They tested Elohim in their heart by asking food according to their desire. 19 Yes, they spoke against Elohim. They said, “Can Elohim prepare a table in the wilderness? 20 Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people?” 21 Therefore YHWH heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, anger also went up against Israel, 22 because they didn’t believe in Elohim, and didn’t trust in his salvation. 23 Yet he commanded the heavens above, and opened the doors of the heavens. 24 He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the heavens. 25 Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full. 26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens. By his power he guided the south wind. 27 He also rained meat on them as the dust, winged birds as the sand of the seas. 28 He let them fall in the middle of their camp, around their habitations. 29 So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire. 30 They didn’t turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths, 31 when the anger of Elohim went up against them, killed some of their strongest, and struck down the young men of Israel. 32 For all this they still sinned, and didn’t believe in his wondrous works. 33 Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror. 34 When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought Elohim earnestly. 35 They remembered that Elohim was their rock, El Elyon, their redeemer. 36 But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue. 37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they faithful in his covenant. 38 But he is compassionate, he will atone iniquity, and he will not destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his wrath. 39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and doesn’t come again.

Apostolic

9:1 Now indeed even the first [tabernacle] had ordinances of divine service and an earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was prepared. In the first was the lampstand, the table, and the bread of the presence, which is called the Holy Place. 3 After the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, 4 having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the witness overlaid on all sides with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5 and above it keruvim of glory overshadowing the lid, of which things we can’t speak now in detail. 6 Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in continually into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services, 7 but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people. The Holy Spirit is indicating this, that the way into the Holy Place wasn’t yet revealed while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 This is a symbol of the present age, where gifts and slaughters are offered that are incapable, concerning the conscience, of making the worshiper perfect, 10 being only, with foods and drinks, and various washings, fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation. 11 But Messiah having come as a high priest of [the good things that have come],^(mss) through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, 12 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to Elohim, cleanse [your]^(mss) conscience from dead works to serve the living Elohim? 15 For this reason he is the mediator of a renewed covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were on the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of him who made it. 17 For a covenant is in force where there has been death, for it is never in force while he who made it lives. 18 Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without blood. 19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Torah, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which Elohim has commanded you.” (cf. Exodus 24:8) 21 He sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry in the same way with the blood. 22 According to the Torah, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission. 23 It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better slaughters than these. 24 For Messiah hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into the heavens itself, now to appear in the face of Elohim for us; 25 nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own, 26 or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the slaughter of himself. 27 Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment, 28 so Messiah also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many (cf. Isaiah 53:12), will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Additional

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

34:10 And in the seventh year of this week [2149 A.M.] he sent Joseph to learn about the welfare of his brothers from his house to the land of Shechem, and he found them in the land of Dothan. 11. And they dealt treacherously with him, and formed a plot against him to slay him, but changing their minds, they sold him to Ishmaelite merchants, and they brought him down into Egypt, and they sold him to Potiphar, the eunuch of Pharaoh, the chief of the cooks, priest of the city of ‘Êlêw. 12. And the sons of Jacob slaughtered a kid, and dipped the coat of Joseph in the blood, and sent (it) to Jacob their father on the tenth of the seventh new moon. 13. And he mourned all that night, for they had brought it to him in the evening, and he became feverish with mourning for his death, and he said: “An evil beast hath devoured Joseph”; and all the members of his house [mourned with him that day, and they] were grieving and mourning with him all that day. 14. And his sons and his daughter rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted for his son. 15. And on that day Bilhah heard that Joseph had perished, and she died mourning him, and she was living in †Qafrâtêf† and Dinah also, his daughter, died after Joseph had perished. And there came these three mournings upon Israel in one new moon. 16. And they buried Bilhah over against the tomb of Rachel, and Dinah also, his daughter, they buried there. 17. And he mourned for Joseph one year, and did not cease, for he said “Let me go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” 18. For this reason it is ordained for the sons of Israel that they should afflict their souls on the tenth of the seventh new moon–on the day that the news which made him weep for Joseph came to Jacob his father–that they should make atonement for themselves thereon with a young goat on the tenth of the seventh new moon, once a year, for their sins; for they had grieved the affection of their father regarding Joseph his son. 19. And this day hath been ordained that they should grieve thereon for their sins, and for all their transgressions and for all their errors, so that they might cleanse themselves on that day once a year.

Related Scriptures

Ezra 9:5-15

9:5 At the evening offering I rose up from my [fast], even with my garment and my robe torn; and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to YHWH my Elohim; 6 and I said, “My Elohim, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my Elohim, for our iniquities have increased over our head, and our guiltiness has grown up to the heavens. 7 Since the days of our fathers we have been exceedingly guilty to this day; and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. 8 Now for a little moment grace has been shown from YHWH our Elohim, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a stake in his holy place, that our Elohim may lighten our eyes, and revive us a little in our bondage. 9 For we are bondservants; yet our Elohim has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended loving kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to set up the house of our Elohim, and to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. 10 “Now, our Elohim, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, 11 which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land to which you go to possess is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness. 12 Now therefore don’t give your daughters to their sons. Don’t take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity forever, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ 13 “After all that has come on us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since you, our Elohim, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such a remnant, 14 shall we again break your commandments, and join ourselves with the peoples that do these abominations? Wouldn’t you be angry with us until you had consumed us, so that there would be no remnant, nor any to escape? 15 YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, you are righteous; for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold,* we are before you in our guiltiness; for no one can stand before you because of this.”

29:7 On the tenth day of this seventh new moon you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls. You shall do no kind of work; 8 but you shall offer a burnt offering to YHWH for a pleasant aroma: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old, all perfect ones; 9 and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three tenths for the bull, two tenths for the one ram, 10 one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; 11 one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering of the atonements, and the continual burnt offering, and its grain offering, and their libation offerings

Numbers 11:4-6; Proverbs 16:26; Proverbs 23:2; Ecclesiastes 6:7; Hosea 9:4; Isaiah 29:7-8

נַפְשֹׁ nephesh (H5315) means “being” and is the whole of a person or animal; the unity of the body, organs, and breath. This is demonstrated in Job 38:39 where the word commonly translated “appetite” is נַפְשֹׁ nephesh: “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite (H5315) of the young lions?”

• Job 38:39 Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the soul of the young lions?”
• Numbers 11:4 The rabble that was among them will lust a lusting; and the sons of Israel also will turn back and weep, and they will say, “Who will give us flesh to eat? 5 We remember the fish, which we freely ate in Egypt; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; 6 now our souls are dry, without anything except for the manna before our eyes.”
• Proverbs 16:26 The appetite of the laboring man labors for him, for his mouth urges him on.
• Proverbs 23:1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you; 2 put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
• Ecclesiastes 6:7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
• Hosea 9:4 They won’t pour out wine offerings to YHWH, neither will they be pleasing to him. Their slaughters will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat of it will be polluted; for their bread will be for their soul. It will not come into the house of YHWH.
• Isaiah 29:7 The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night. 8 It will be like when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his hunger isn’t satisfied; or like when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint, and he is soul is longing. The multitude of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion will be like that.

9:20 While I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before YHWH my Elohim for the holy mountain of my Elohim— 21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer—the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering. 22 He instructed me and talked with me, and said, “Daniel, I have now come to give you wisdom and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved. Therefore consider the matter and understand the vision. 24 “Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, to make an end of sins, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. 25 “Know therefore and discern that from the going out of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem to the Messiah the prince, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times. 26 After the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off, and will have nothing. The people of the prince who come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will be with a flood, and war will be even to the end. Desolations are determined. 27 He will make a firm covenant with many for one week. In the middle of the week he will cause the slaughter and the offering to cease. On the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate; and even to the decreed full end, wrath will be poured out on the desolate.”

6:16 “Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Amen, amen, I tell you, they have received their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 9:14-15

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?” Yeshua said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

27:9 When much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous because the Fasting had now already gone by, Paul admonished them 10 and said to them, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner of the ark than to those things which were spoken by Paul. 12 Because the haven was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised going to sea from there, if by any means they could reach Phoenix and winter there, which is a port of Crete, looking southwest and northwest.

25:8 You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall make the shofar shout* to cross over in the tenth day of the seventh new moon. In the Day of the Atonements you shall make the shofar cross over in all your land. 10 You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a yovel to you; and every man shall return to his own property, and every man shall return to his family.

10:1 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Make two trumpets of silver. You shall make them of beaten work. You shall use them for the convocation of the congregation and for the journeying of the camps. 3 When they blow them, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the door of the Appointed Tent. 4 If they blow just one, then the lifted up ones, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. 5 When you blow a shout*, the camps that lie on the east side shall go forward. 6 When you blow a shout* the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall go forward. They shall blow a shout* for their journeys. 7 But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not shout*. 8 “The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. This shall be to you for a statute forever throughout your generations. 9 When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall shout with the trumpets. Then you will be remembered before YHWH your Elohim, and you will be saved from your enemies. 10 “Also in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed times, and in the beginnings of your new moons, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the slaughters of your peace offerings; and they shall be to you for a remembrance before your Elohim. I am YHWH your Elohim.”

29:35 “You shall do so to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. You shall fill their hand seven days. 36 Every day you shall offer the bull of sin offering for the atonements. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it. You shall anoint it, to sanctify it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall be holy.

30:10 Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of the atonements once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is holy of holies to YHWH…11 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “When you take a census of the sons of Israel, according to those who are counted among them, then each man shall give an atonement for his soul to YHWH when you count them, that there be no plague among them when you count them. 13 They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel is twenty gerahs; half a shekel for an offering to YHWH. 14 Everyone who passes over to those who are counted, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to YHWH. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the helpless shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of YHWH, to make atonement for your souls. 16 You shall take the money of the atonements from the sons of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Appointed Tent; that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before YHWH, to make atonement for your souls.”

5:5 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the sons of Israel: ‘When a man or woman does any sin that men trespass, so as to trespass against YHWH, and that soul is guilty, 7 then he shall [confess] his sin which he has done; and he shall turn back his guilt in full, add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty. 8 But if the man has no kinsman to whom to turn back the guilt to him, the guilt to be turned back belongs to YHWH shall be the priest’s, in addition to the ram of the atonements, by which atonement shall be made for him.

9:24 For Messiah hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into the heavens itself, now to appear in the face of Elohim for us; 25 nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own, 26 or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the slaughter of himself. 27 Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment, 28 so Messiah also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

5:1 For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to Elohim, that he may offer both gifts and slaughters for sins. 2 The high priest can deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, because he himself is also surrounded with weakness. 3 Because of this, he must offer slaughters for sins for the people, as well as for himself. 4 Nobody takes this honor on himself, but he is called by Elohim, just like Aaron was. 5 So also Messiah didn’t glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father.” (cf. Psalms 2:7) 6 As he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” (cf. Psalms 110:4) 7 He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his pious fear, 8 though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. 9 Having been made [perfect], he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation, 10 named by Elohim a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. 11 About him we have many words to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing.

Psalms 40:6-10

40:6 slaughter and offering you didn’t desire [but a body you prepared for me].^(LXX) You have not required burnt offering and sin offering. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come. It is written about me in the book in the scroll. 8 I delight to do your will, [Elohim].^(LXX) Yes, your Torah is within my heart.” 9 I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I will not seal my lips, LORD, you know. 10 I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly.

10:1 For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same slaughters year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Or else wouldn’t they have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins? 3 But in those slaughters there is a yearly reminder of sins. 4 For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. 5 Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, “You didn’t desire slaughter and offering, but a body you prepared for me. 6 You had no pleasure in whole burnt offerings and slaughters for sin. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come, in the scroll of the book it is written of me, to do your will, Elohim.’ ” (cf. Psalms 40:6-8) 8 Previously saying, “slaughters and offerings and whole burnt offerings and slaughters for sin you didn’t desire, neither had pleasure in them”, those which are offered according to the Torah, 9 then he has said, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He takes away the first, that he may establish the second, 10 by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Yeshua the Messiah once for all.

6:30 No sin offering, of which any of the blood is brought into the Appointed Tent to make atonement in the holy, shall be eaten. It shall be burned with fire.

13:8 Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the holy tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp. 12 Therefore Yeshua also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate. 13 Let’s therefore go out to him outside of the camp, bearing his reproach. 14 For we don’t have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come. 15 Through him, then, let’s offer up a slaughter of praise to Elohim continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name. 16 But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such slaughters Elohim is well pleased.

Related Additional Readings​

The Temple Scroll is the longest of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among the discoveries at Qumran it is designated: 11QTemple Scroll. It describes a Jewish temple which was never built, along with extensive detailed regulations about slaughters and temple practices. There is no scholarly consensus regarding the date, origin, author or authors, or its relationship to the Qumran community.[4] Some scholars attribute the Temple Scroll to the isolated Qumran community, while others see no connection with the Qumran community; instead they see the work as a priestly (possible Zadokite) document that was hidden in a cave by Zealots during their flight from Jerusalem in 70 A.D. before the Roman destruction of the Temple.

The below excerpt is from Wise, Michael Owen, et al. The Dead Sea Scrolls: a New Translation. HarperSanFrancisco, 2005:

XXV … The tenth of this new moon is the Day of Atonement. You shall mortify yourselves. For any person who does not mortify himself on this bone of this day shall be cut off from his people. You shall offer on it a holocaust to YHWH: one young bull, one ram, seven ram lambs, one he-goat for a sin-offering, in addition to the sin-offering of the atonement and the [15] corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering according to the statute concerning the young bull, the ram, the lambs and the he-goat. For the sin-offering of the atonement you shall offer two rams for holocaust. The High Priest shall offer one for himself and his father’s house XXVI … [The High Prie]st [shall cast lots on the two goats,] o[ne] lot for YHWH and one for Azazel. He shall slaughter the goat [on] which [5] [the lot of YHWH has fallen and shall lift up] its blood in a golden bowl which is in [his ha]nd, [and do] with its blo[od as he has done with the blood of] his young bull and shall expiate with it for all the people of the assembly. He shall send up in smoke its fat and the corresponding grain and drink-offering on the altar of the holocaust. Its flesh, skin and dung they shall burn beside his young bull. It is a sin-offering for the whole assembly. He shall expiate with it for all the people of the assembly and [10] it shall be forgiven to them. He shall wash his hands and feet of the blood of the sin-offering and shall come to the living goat and shall confess over its head the iniquities of the sons of Israel together with all their guilt, all their sins. He shall put them on the head of the goat and [15] despatch it to Azazel in the desert by the hand of the man who is waiting ready. The goat shall bear all the iniquities of (the sons of Israel). XXVII … [and he shall expiate] for all the sons of Israel and it shall be forgiven to them … Afterwards he shall offer the young bull, the r[a]m, and [the lambs, according to] the [sta]tute relating to them, on the altar of the holocaust, and the [ho]locaust will be accepted for the sons of Israel, an eternal rule for their generations. Once a year this [5] day shall be for them a memorial. They shall do no work on it, for it shall be [to] them a Sabbath of sacred rest. Whoever shall do work on it or shall not mortify himself on it, shall be cut off from the midst of his people. A Sabbath of sacred rest, a holy gathering shall this day be for you. You shall sanctify it as a memorial wherever you dwell and you shall do no work.

A Commentary on Habakkuk (Pesher Habakkuk) 1QpHab

The Commentary on Habakkuk was among the first cache of scrolls from Cave I and has itself been the subject of several commentaries. The first step in understanding the commentary is to understand the background of the original book. Habakkuk delivered his prophecy in the sixth century B.C. His native Judah was then threatened by two forces: the Kasdim, or Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar, who were then in the process of conquering the small reigns of the Near East, and internal religious strife between the pious worshipers of the Lord and the impious. The main thrust of the biblical book is to ask where Elohim is in the midst of this misery and whether there is a divine plan. The Qumran writer uses the biblical book as a pattern to understand his own times. As in the biblical book, Israel is again threatened by a foreign power: not the Kasdim this time, but a group he calls the “Kittim,” or “Westerners,” in the opinion of most scholars today, the Romans. And again, Israel is suffering from internal strife between the wicked and the pious, exemplified by the conflict between the Teacher of Righteousness and his opponents, the Man of the Lie and the Wicked Priest. All the statements in the first two chapters of Habakkuk are made to refer to these circumstances (the third chapter, consisting of a hymn of praise, is not included in the commentary).

The below excerpt is from Wise, Michael Owen, et al. The Dead Sea Scrolls: a New Translation. HarperSanFrancisco, 2005:

“Woe to the one who gets his friend drunk, pouring out his anger, making him drink, just to get a look at their holy days” (cf. Habakkuk 2:15). This refers to the Wicked Priest, who pursued the Teacher of Righteousness to destroy him in the heat of his anger at his place of exile. At the time set aside for the repose of the Day of Atonement he appeared to them to destroy them and to bring them to ruin on the fast day, the Sabbath intended for their repose.

A badly worn manuscript from Cave 4 has been published under this title by J. M. Allegro. The only section yielding coherent sense deals with the fallen angels and the daughters of men, which is based on Genesis 6:1–4, and fully developed in 1 Enoch. If Milik’s reconstruction is correct, the work presents human history as divided into seventy weeks of years (70 × 7 years), the first ten of which cover the period from Noaḥ to Abraham.

Interpretation concerning the ages made by Elohim, all the ages for the accomplishment [of all the events, past] and future. Before ever He created them, He determined the works of … age by age. And it was engraved on [the heavenly] tablets … the ages of their domination. This is the order of the cre[ation of man from Noaḥ to Abraham, un] til he begot Isaac; ten [weeks (of years)]. [5] And the interpretation concerns Azazel and the angels who [came to the daughters of men; and] they bore to them giants. And concerning Azazel … and iniquity, and to cause them all to inherit wickedness … [10] judgements and judgement of the congregation.

The Book of Enoch (also known as 1 Enoch) was written during the second century B.C. The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) of the text are estimated to date from about 300–200 B.C., and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to 100 B.C. Various Aramaic fragments found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as Koine Greek and Latin fragments, were proof that The Book of Enoch was known by early Jews and Christians.

8:1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals 〈of the land〉 and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all colouring tinctures. 2. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Semjâzâ taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, Armârôs the resolving of enchantments, Barâqîjâl, (taught) astrology, Kôkabêl the constellations, Ezêqêêl the knowledge of the clouds, 〈Araqiêl the signs of the land, Shamsiêl the signs of the sun, and Sariêl the course of the moon. And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to the heavens … 9:1 And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from the heavens and saw much blood being shed upon the land, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the land. 2. And they said one to another: ‘The land made †without inhabitant cries the voice of their crying† up to the gates of the heavens. 3 ⌈⌈And now to you, the holy ones of the heavens⌉⌉, the souls of men make their suit, saying, “Bring our cause before the Most High.”.’ 4. And they said to the Lord of the ages: ‘Lord of lords, Elohim of Elohim, King of kings, 〈and Elohim of the ages〉, the throne of Thy glory (standeth) unto all the generations of the ages, and Thy name holy and glorious and blessed unto all the ages! 5. Thou hast made all things, and power over all things hast Thou: and all things are naked and open in Thy sight, and Thou seest all things, and nothing can hide itself from Thee. 6. Thou seest what Azazel hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on land and revealed the eternal secrets which were (preserved) in the heavens, which men were striving to learn: 7. And Semjâzâ, to whom Thou hast given authority to bear rule over his associates. 8. And they have gone to the daughters of men upon the land, and have slept with the women, and have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins. 9. And the women have borne giants, and the whole land has thereby been filled with blood and unrighteousness. 10. And now, behold, the souls of those who have died are crying and making their suit to the gates of the heavens, and their lamentations have ascended: and cannot cease because of the lawless deeds which are wrought on the land. 11. And Thou knowest all things before they come to pass, and Thou seest these things and Thou dost suffer them, and Thou dost not say to us what we are to do to them in regard to these.’

The Book of Enoch (also known as 1 Enoch) was written during the second century B.C. The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) of the text are estimated to date from about 300–200 B.C., and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to 100 B.C. Various Aramaic fragments found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as Koine Greek and Latin fragments, were proof that The Book of Enoch was known by early Jews and Christians.

10:1 Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, and said to him: 2. ‘〈Go to Noaḥ〉 and tell him in my name “Hide thyself!” and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole land will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come upon the whole land, and will destroy all that is on it. 3. And now instruct him that he may escape and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world.’ 4. And again the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. 5. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light. 6. And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire. And heal the land which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the land, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons. 8. And the whole land has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.’ 9. And to Gabriel said the Lord: ‘Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy [the children of fornication and] the children of the Watchers from amongst men [and cause them to go forth]: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle: for length of days shall they not have. 10. And no request that they (i.e. their fathers) make of thee shall be granted unto their fathers on their behalf; for they hope to live an eternal life, and that each one of them will live five hundred years.’ 11. And the Lord said unto Michael: ‘Go, bind Semjaza and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness. 12. And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the land, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the judgement that is for ever and ever is consummated. 13. In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: 〈and〉 to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever. And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all generations. 15. And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because they have wronged mankind. Destroy all wrong from the face of the land and let every evil work come to an end: and let the plant of righteousness and truth appear: ⌈and it shall prove a blessing; the works of righteousness and truth⌉ shall be planted in truth and joy for evermore. 17 And then shall all the righteous escape, And shall live till they beget thousands of children, And all the days of their youth and their old age Shall they complete in peace. 18 And then shall the whole land be tilled in righteousness, and shall all be planted with trees and be full of blessing. 19. And all desirable trees shall be planted on it, and they shall plant vines on it: and the vine which they plant thereon shall yield wine in abundance, and as for all the seed which is sown thereon each measure (of it) shall bear a thousand, and each measure of olives shall yield ten presses of oil. 20. And cleanse thou the land from all oppression, and from all unrighteousness, and from all sin, and from all godlessness: and all the uncleanness that is wrought upon the land destroy from off the land. 21. ⌈And all the children of men shall become righteous⌉, and all nations shall offer adoration and shall praise Me, and all shall worship Me. And the land shall be cleansed from all defilement, and from all sin, and from all punishment, and from all torment, and I will never again send (them) upon it from generation to generation and for ever.

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Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

3.10.1 The law requires, that out of the public expenses a lamb of the first year be killed every day, at the beginning and at the ending of the day; but on the seventh day, which is called the Sabbath, they kill two, and slaughter them in the same manner. At the new moon, they both perform the daily slaughters, and slay two bulls, with seven lambs of the first year, and a kid of the goats also, for the expiation of sins; that is, if they have sinned through ignorance.

3.10.2 But on the seventh new moon, which the Macedonians call Hyperberetaeus, they make an addition to those already mentioned, and slaughter a bull, a ram, and seven lambs, and a kid of the goats, for sins.

3.10.3 On the tenth day of the same lunar new moon, they fast till the evening; and this day they slaughter a bull, and two rams, and seven lambs, and a kid of the goats, for sins. And, besides these, they bring two kids of the goats; the one of which is sent alive out of the limits of the camp into the wilderness for the scapegoat, and to be an expiation for the sins of the whole multitude; but the other is brought into a place of great cleanness, within the limits of the camp, and is there burnt, with its skin, without any sort of cleansing. With this goat was burnt a bull, not brought by the people, but by the high priest, at his own charges; which, when it was slain, he brought of the blood into the holy place, together with the blood of the kid of the goats, and sprinkled the ceiling with his finger seven times, as also its pavement, and again as often toward the holy of holies, and about the golden altar: he also at last brings it into the open court, and sprinkles it about the great altar. Besides this, they set the extremities, and the kidneys, and the fat, with the lobe of the liver, upon the altar. The high priest likewise presents a ram to Elohim as a burnt-offering.