Bible Strands
Leviticus 16:6
Aaron is to present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text records a command given to Aaron to present a bull as a sin offering at the start of the annual purification ceremony. This directive occurs within the broader instructions for the Day of Atonement ritual at the Tent of Meeting.
The words — The Hebrew verb וְ/הִקְרִ֧יב (ve./hik.Riv) translates literally as "and he will present," directing Aaron to bring the bull forward. The phrase וְ/כִפֶּ֥ר בַּעֲד֖/וֹ (ve./khi.Per ba.'a.D/o) means "and he will make atonement for himself," establishing the primary purpose of the sacrifice.
The thread — This ritual pattern appears when Moses instructs Aaron to offer his sin and burnt offerings for atonement in Leviticus 9:7. The same high priestly function of entering with blood for annual atonement is later referenced in Hebrews 9:7.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to recognize that the priest must secure atonement for his own household before addressing the community. It establishes a procedural sequence where personal purification precedes corporate intercession.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 9:7 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering to make atonement for yourself and for the people. And sacrifice the people’s offering to make atonement for them, as the LORD has commanded.”
- Hebrews 9:7 But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
- Leviticus 8:14 Moses then brought the bull near for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.
- Ezra 10:18 Among the descendants of the priests who had married foreign women were found these descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.
- Job 1:5 And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
- Ezekiel 43:19 You are to give a young bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are of the family of Zadok, who approach Me to minister before Me, declares the Lord GOD.
- Ezekiel 43:27 At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.’”
- Hebrews 5:2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is subject to weakness.
- Hebrews 7:27 Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.