Leviticus 16:17

Lev 16:17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy [place], until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.

Ver. 17. And there shall be no man.] Christ will have no partner, and he needs no assistant. {Heb 7:25 Isa 63:3}

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 16:17. There shall be no man in the tabernacle — In the holy place, where the priests and Levites were at other times. This was commanded for the greater reverence to the divine majesty, then in a more special manner appearing, and that none of them might cast an eye into the holy of holies, as the high-priest went in or came out.

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

(17) And there shall be no man.—Whilst the high priest was performing this process of cleansing, no one, whether priest or Israelite, was permitted to be present, thus precluding the possibility of anyone being within the precincts who had unwittingly contracted defilement. The fact that the high priest was thus alone in the sanctuary, with no one to see how he conducted the ritual, gave rise to the practice of his being sworn, on the eve of the Day of Atonement, by the chief priests and the elders of the Sanhedrin that he would make no change whatever in the traditional ceremonies of the day, as follows :—“We adjure thee, by Him who hath caused His name to dwell in this house, that thou shalt not alter anything of all that we do say unto thee.” This had especial reference to the points at issue between the Pharisees and Sadducees, as some of the high priests held the Sadducaic views. (See Lev_16:2.)

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

And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation,.... Not any of the priests, as Aben Ezra, no, not in the holy place where they ministered, nor in the court of the tabernacle, nor in any of the courts, nor indeed any of the people: all places were cleared

when he, the high priest:

goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place until he come out; this in the mystery of it was to signify, that atonement for sin is made only by Christ our high priest; he himself, and no other, bore our sins, and he himself purged them away, or by his sacrifice alone expiated them; his own arm wrought salvation, and of the people there were none with him to help and assist him; when he the Shepherd was smitten by the sword of justice, the sheep were scattered, all his disciples forsook him and fled; there were none to appear for him, or stand by him, or in the least to lend an assisting hand in the great work in which he was engaged; he is the only Mediator, between God and man, both of redemption and of intercession; he is the alone Saviour, to him only are sinners to look for salvation, and he is to have all the glory; he had no partner in the work, and he will have no rival in the honour of it:

and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household; his whole family, and all the priests, by the bullock of his sin offering, as Aben Ezra observes, and by carrying in the blood of it within the vail, and sprinkling it there:

and for all the congregation of Israel; by the goat of their sin offering, as the same writer notes, and doing with the blood of that as with the blood of the bullock; all typical of the atonement of Christ for his mystical self the church; for the whole family and household of God; for the general assembly and church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.

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

Out. Even the other priests were excluded from the tabernacle. The high priest placed incense on the censer as soon as he entered within the veil, and prayed for all blessings, in few words, that the people might not be uneasy, fearing lest something had befallen him. This was the form: "Be pleased to grant, O Lord our God, that this year may be warm and rainy, that the sovereign power may abide in the house of Juda, that thy people may not be deprived of any of the necessaries of life; and hear not the petitions of travellers," (which are commonly vain and selfish) of "of sinners," as others translate. (Calmet) --- Those who were forbidden to be present this occasion, might have made the same objections as Protestants do against the law of the Church which prescribes a language not commonly understood by all, in the administration of her sacraments. Have either any reason to be offended? (Haydock)

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).

In the tabernacle of the congregation, i.e. in the holy place, where the priests and Levites were at other times. This was commanded for the greater reverence to the Divine Majesty, then in a more special manner appearing, and that none of them might cast an eye into the holy of holies as the high priest went in or came out.

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

17. There shall be no man in the tabernacle — The entire tabernacle must be vacant. The priests must leave their place and mingle with the Levites on guard around the sacred abode of Jehovah. The penitent people stand in silence and awe while their solitary representative, with trembling, approaches the presence of the holy God. How strikingly this prefigures the fact that there is but one Mediator, the man Jesus Christ. He must ever be solitary in his office. No virgin mother, no saint, no angel can be associated with him in making his atonement and in pleading its merits on high. To thrust an imaginary associate into the office of Intercessor, where Jesus stands alone, is to degrade and vilify him. Heb_1:3; Heb_9:7. See concluding note, (6.)

For all the congregation — Every penitent Israelite had a share in the benefits of that atonement, as every penitent believer in Jesus Christ receives pardoning grace through his atoning blood. The conditional repentance, though not expressed, is evidently implied; for the notion that the mere mechanical performance of the high priest, irrespective of the state of heart of the sinner, resulted in a reconciliation, is even in the Talmud itself mentioned only to be forthwith rejected. The universality of the atonement is here clearly fore-shadowed.

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

There shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation. From the first entry until the work of atonement was completed, both for the holy of holies and for the tabernacle, no one but the high priest was to be allowed within the door of the tabernacle, not only that there might be no witness of the withdrawal of the awful vail, but also that the rite of purification might not be interfered with by an impure presence. Even on the Day of Atonement the dwelling-place of God, typical of heaven, was closed to the eye and foot of man, "the way into the holiest of all being not yet made manifest", (Heb_9:8) until the Divine High Priest opened the way for his people by his own entrance.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In the tabernacle - ln the holy place, where the priests and Levites were at other times. This was commanded for the greater reverence to the Divine Majesty then in a more special manner appearing, and that none of them might cast an eye into the holy of holies, as the high-priest went in or came out.

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

There was to be no one in the ohel moed when Aaron went into it to make expiation in the most holy place, until he came out (of the tabernacle) again; not because no one but the chief servant of Jehovah was worthy to be near or present either as spectator or assistant at this sacred act before Jehovah (Knobel), but because no unholy person was to defile by his presence the sanctuary, which had just been cleansed; just as no layman at all was allowed to enter the holy place, or could go with impunity into the presence of the holy God.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

He must go out to the altar that is before Yahweh

This is the altar of sacrifice just inside the courtyard of the tabernacle.

make atonement for it

Like the holy place and tent of meeting, the altar is unclean because of the sins of the people.

horns of the altar

"the projections at the corners of the altar." This refers to the corners of the altar. They are shaped like the horns of an ox. See how you translated this in Leviticus 4:7.

to cleanse it

The altar being fit to be used for God's purposes is spoken of as if it were physically clean. (See: Metaphor)

set it apart to Yahweh, away from the unclean actions of the people of Israel

The altar being dedicated to Yahweh is spoken of as if it were physically separated from the sins of the people. (See: Metaphor)

the unclean actions

Sinful actions which make people unacceptable to Yahweh are spoken of as if they were physically unclean actions. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

Aaron

atonement

holy place

assembly

altar

clean

set apart

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.