This is how Aaron is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Aaron shall come into the sanctuary with a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.
- KJV Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.
- NKJV “Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering.
- NASB Aaron shall enter the Holy Place with this: with a bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering.
- NLT “When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Aaron is to enter the sanctuary with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He cannot approach God without atoning sacrifice.
Overview
The high priest may come into the holy place only by means of a bull for sin and a ram for ascension to God. Even Aaron, the mediator, needed sacrifice to enter. This underscores that no one approaches God apart from atonement, and it foreshadows Christ, who entered the heavenly sanctuary not with the blood of animals but with His own.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Lev 4:3If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.
- Heb 9:24–25For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.
- Lev 1:10If, however, one’s offering is a burnt offering from the flock—from the sheep or goats—he is to present an unblemished male.
- Lev 8:18Then Moses presented the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.
- Heb 9:7But 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.
- Heb 9:12He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.
- Num 29:7–11On the tenth day of this seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly, and you shall humble yourselves; you must not do any work.
- Lev 8:14Moses then brought the bull near for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.
- Lev 9:3Then speak to the Israelites and say, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb—both a year old and without blemish—for a burnt offering,
- Lev 1:3If one’s offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to present an unblemished male. He must bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting for its acceptance before the LORD.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 16:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.