“And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:”
My Notes
What Does Leviticus 16:21 Mean?
The Day of Atonement's most dramatic ritual: Aaron lays both hands on the live goat's head, confesses all of Israel's sins over it, places the iniquities on the goat, and sends it into the wilderness. The scapegoat carries away what the people can't carry themselves.
The detail of "both hands" (two hands, not one as in the regular offering) emphasizes the completeness of the transfer. Aaron isn't touching casually. He's pressing — transferring the full weight of the nation's sin onto this animal. Both hands. Full weight.
The three categories are comprehensive: "all the iniquities... all their transgressions in all their sins." Iniquities (moral perversions). Transgressions (willful violations). Sins (failures and shortcomings). Every category of wrongdoing is named, confessed, and placed on the goat. Nothing is excluded. Nothing is held back.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does the scapegoat image (sin physically transferred and carried away) make atonement feel more real?
- 2.What does 'both hands' (full weight, full transfer) say about the completeness of Christ's sin-bearing?
- 3.Does the three-category confession (iniquities, transgressions, sins) cover something specific you need to release?
- 4.How does the goat not returning (the sin stays gone) address guilt you keep carrying after it's been forgiven?
Devotional
Both hands on the goat's head. Every sin. Every transgression. Every iniquity. Confessed. Transferred. Sent away.
This is the most vivid picture of substitutionary atonement in the Old Testament. Aaron presses both hands on the goat — full weight, full contact, full transfer. And he confesses. Out loud. In public. Everything the nation has done wrong. Every category: iniquities (the twisted things), transgressions (the deliberate rebellions), sins (the failures). All of them. Spoken over the goat's head. Placed on the goat's body.
And then the goat goes. Into the wilderness. Into the emptiness. It carries what was confessed into a place where no one lives. The sin leaves the camp on the back of a substitute. What was too heavy for the people to carry is loaded onto something else and walked into the desert.
The goat doesn't come back. The sin doesn't return. What was confessed and transferred is gone — carried away to a place from which there's no return. The wilderness absorbs it. The sin is as far from the people as the desert is from the tabernacle.
Jesus is the scapegoat. Both hands pressed. Every sin confessed — not by a priest, but by the Father who "laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). He carried it into the wilderness of death. And He didn't just survive the wilderness — He came back. The goat was lost. The Savior returned. The sin stayed gone. He didn't.
Both hands. Full weight. Every sin. Carried away. That's what happened at the cross. And the sin is as far from you as the east is from the west.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat,.... In this order as the Targum of Jonathan says, his…
It is important, in reference to the meaning of the day of atonement, to observe the order of the rites as they are…
Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head, etc. - What this imposition of hands meant see in the notes on Exo 29:10…
The high priest having presented unto the Lord the expiatory sacrifices, by the sprinkling of their blood, the remainder…
The words of confession are given (p. 92) from the Mishna.
a man that is in readiness a fit man, A.V., one appointed(as…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture