Leviticus 16:13

Lev 16:13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that [is] upon the testimony, that he die not:

Ver. 13. May cover the mercy seat.] And so be as a screen betwixt the priest and those everlasting burnings: or as a cloud to darken the glory of their shining, for the high priest’s safety.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lev 16:13. He shall put the incense upon the fire — The high-priest, having begun the solemn service with slaying the bullock, as a sin-offering of deprecation and atonement for himself and the other priests, lighted his incense-vessel, or censer, at the great altar of burnt-offering, and at his entrance into the holy of holies, threw the incense upon the burning coals, and so filled the place with a cloud of smoke, to prevent him from seeing the ark, and being struck with the glory issuing from between the cherubims, where the Shechinah or emblem of the divine presence resided: or, as others say, that he might not offend by too curiously gazing on the symbols of the divine glory. If we may believe the Jews, he entered sideways, as not daring to look directly on the glory of the place, and that, having filled the sanctuary with a cloud of smoke, he went out backward, having his face directed toward the mercy-seat, in reverence for the divine majesty, which was there represented.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, the smoke.

Or, the Ark.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(13) And he shall put the incense.—The high priest now threw the incense upon the coals in the censer, in the Holy of Holies, and stayed there till the whole place was filled with a cloud of smoke, taking special care that the mercy seat and the cherubim should be enveloped in the cloud. Whereupon he left the Holy of Holies, walking backward, with his face to the holy place and his back to the Temple. Upon his emerging from within the second vail, and arriving in the Holy place, he pronounced the following prayer :—“May it please Thee, O Lord my God, that if this year was intended to be one of drought, it be one of rain. May he who rules over the house of Judah not die. May Thy people not be in want, so that one should beg bread from another or from strangers; and let not the prayers of travellers come before Thee” [because they pray that no rain may fall].

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. the testimony] ‘çduth, always with the definite article, except in the Psalms. This was something put into the ark, Exo_25:16; Exo_25:21; Exo_40:20; cp. ‘which I shall give thee,’ Exo_25:16, with Exo_31:18, ‘And he gave unto Moses … the two tables of the testimony.’ They are so called Exo_32:15, and are identified with the first tables on which the ten words were written, Deu_5:22; Deu_9:10-17. The first tables being broken were replaced by others which were put into the ark, Exo_34:28-29; Deu_10:1-5. Hence the ark is called the ‘ark of the testimony,’ and the tabernacle is called the ‘tabernacle (mishkân) of the testimony,’ Exo_38:21; Num_1:50; Num_1:53; Num_10:11, and the ‘tent (’ohel) of the testimony,’ Num_9:15; Num_17:7; Num_18:2 (note that of these three passages which are all that contain the expression, the first is correctly rendered by A.V., but the other two are rendered ‘tabernacle of witness’).

The mercy-seat (kappôreth) which is upon the ark is described here as ‘the mercy-seat that is upon the testimony’; and the veil (pârôkheth) which is before the ark is described (Exo_27:21) as ‘the veil which is before the testimony,’ and (Lev_24:3) as ‘the veil of the testimony.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord,.... Both the incense and burning coals of fire being carried within the vail, the incense was put upon the coals, and so it burned before the Lord, whose seat was between the cherubim; and from whence it appears, that this was done, not without but within the vail: the Sadducees under the second temple would have it, that the incense was put upon the fire without the vail, wherefore the high priest, on the evening of this day, was sworn by the messengers of the sanhedrim not to make any alteration in what they should say to him; and this oath was given him in the house of Abtines, where the incense was made, with a special respect to that, since it being within the vail, they could not see it performed: the manner of his performance of this part of his service is thus related; he went in between the rails, till he came to the north; when he was come to the north, he turned his face to the south; he went on his left hand near the vail, till he came to the ark; he put the censer between the two bars, and heaped the incense upon the top of the coals, and the whole house was filled with the smoke; he then went out backwards, and prayed a short prayer in the outward house (the holy place), and he did not continue long in prayer, lest the people of Israel should be frightened (l): the prayer he made is given us by the Jews (m): now the incense being put upon the coals may denote the fervour and ardency of Christ's intercession, and that his sufferings are the foundation of it, on which it proceeds, and are what give it a grateful odour, or make it acceptable to the Lord:

and this was done, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony; where was the Shechinah, or glorious majesty of God, and which was not to be seen, and therefore to be covered after this manner; which shows, that there is no access to God but as upon a seat of mercy and a throne of grace; and even that there is no coming to him upon that, but through the mediation and intercession of Christ:

that he die not; as his sons did, boldly intruding where, and doing what they should not: there is no approaching to God as an absolute God, and live; but through Christ the Mediator, and his intercession, believers may draw nigh and see the face of God in Christ, and live, as Jacob did, Gen 32:30.

(l) Misn. Yoma, c. 5. sect. 1. (m) Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The cloud. --- The blood, &c. This is to teach us, that if we would go into the sanctuary of God, we must take with us the incense of prayer, and the blood, that is, the passion of Christ. Where also note, that the high priest, before he went into the holy of holies, was to wash his whole body; and then to put on white linen garments; to signify the purity and chastity with which we are to approach to God. (Challoner) --- The Septuagint call this goat apopompaion, "the averter of evils, or the one sent away." Hazazel is taken by Spencer Julian, the apostate, (ap. St. Cyril. 9. and ep. 39,) to mean the devil; as if the goat was sent or sacrificed to him, which is very foolish. (Calmet) --- East. That is, the forepart of the mercy-seat, which was not to be touched with the blood, (Menochius) no more than the veil. (Rabbins)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Upon the fire, which was in the censer, Lev 16:12.

That he die not for so gross an error committed in the highest acts of worship, and that by a high priest, whose knowledge and function was a great aggravation to his sin.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. Before the Lord — This must here signify in the most holy place. It was considered a grave mistake, amounting to a sacrilege, in a certain Sadducean high priest to dare to kindle the incense without the vail and to carry it smoking within. Since the holy of holies was left in utter darkness, the venture of the high priest into the “thick darkness” where God dwelt strikingly illustrates the faith which is required to approach the mercy seat, where the “light inaccessible” veils itself in the cloud.

That he die not — Death through neglect of these precautions may have been natural, and not judicial. See Num_4:18, note. “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” Exo_33:20. “Common priests burned incense every day at the altar without the vail. Only once a year, and only after the most careful preparation, goes the high priest into the holiest. If he fail in his preparation he is liable to die. To ask a confirmatory sign of only Gabriel’s message in the holy place, outside the holiest, is to get dumbness for a sign. The high priest went into the holiest with a cord attached, that his body might be drawn out if he were slain.” — Bishop H.W. Warren. The command that the priest envelop himself in a cloud of incense when he raises the curtain expresses the fact that full and cloudless communion with God was not realized under the Old Testament sacrifices; that not until Jesus “by his own blood entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us,” were we able with “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus;” nor until then could believers enjoy the crowning blessing in the gift of God, the “communion of the Holy Ghost.” Joh_14:16; 2Co_13:14.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Upon the fire - Which was in the censer, ver. 12.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

על האש UPON THE FIRE which was in the censer.

ולא ימות THAT IIE DIE NOT — Hence, if he did not offer it according to regulation he was liable to the death penalty (Sifra, Acharei Mot, Chapter 3 10; Yoma 53a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.