Texts in Conversation
Leviticus 16 and Numbers 29 each set offerings for the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the seventh month. They name different animals and a different offeror, representing two separate traditions and rituals for the same day.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Leviticus 16:5
Hebrew Bible
3 “In this way Aaron is to enter into the sanctuary—with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He must put on a holy linen tunic, linen leggings are to cover his body, and he is to wrap himself with a linen sash and wrap his head with a linen turban. They are holy garments, so he must bathe his body in water and put them on. 5 He must also take two male goats from the congregation of the Israelites for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 Then Aaron is to present the sin-offering bull which is for himself and is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. 7 Next he must take the two goats and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 8 and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel. 9 Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the Lord, and he is to make it a sin offering, 10 but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive before the Lord to make atonement on it by sending it away into the desert to Azazel. 11 “Aaron is to present the sin-offering bull which is for himself, and he is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. He is to slaughter the sin-offering bull which is for himself,
Numbers 29:8
Hebrew Bible
7 “‘On the tenth day of this seventh month you are to have a holy assembly. You must humble yourselves; you must not do any work on it. 8 But you must offer a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs one year old, all of them without blemish. 9 Their grain offerings must be of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, 10 and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs, 11 along with one male goat for a purification offering, in addition to the purification offering for atonement and the continual burnt offering with its grain offering and their drink offerings.
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Notes and References
... While the Leviticus 16:3–28 text prescribes two rams for ôlâ, one for the priest and one for the people, Numbers 29:8–11 prescribes one bull, one ram, and seven lambs for ôlâ, without distinguishing between offerings for the priest and offerings for the people. For the ḥaṭṭāʾṯ, Numbers 29:11 prescribes one male goat in addition to an undefined 'sin offering of atonement,' while Leviticus 16:3–28 prescribes one bull for the priest, and two male goats for the people. These two sets of laws are so different that they appear to be totally unaware of each other. The reason for this is that even though they are both P texts, the offerings of Leviticus 16:3–28 were, in all probability, not originally associated with a festival on the tenth day of the seventh month. ...
Vroom, Jonathan
The Authority of Law in the Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism: Tracing the Origins of Legal Obligation from Ezra to Qumran
(pp. 116-117) Brill, 2018
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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