Almanac › Time & the calendar

Day of Atonement

Hebrew יוֹם כִּפּוּר. Also called Yom Kippur, The Fast.

The tenth of the seventh month — the one day a year anyone entered the holiest place, and the whole nation fasted.

The most solemn day in the calendar: a fast, no work of any kind, and the only day the high priest went behind the veil, carrying blood for himself and for the people. Two goats were taken — one killed, and one sent away into the wilderness carrying the nation's guilt, which is where the word scapegoat comes from. Hebrews spends several chapters on this one day, because the argument it makes about a better sacrifice is built on it.

Day of Atonement — The goat that carries the people’s sins into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:21–22).

Where it appears

Leviticus 16:1-34 The whole rite, and the goat sent away
Hebrews 9:6-14 Once a year, and not without blood

Day of Atonement

Where it appears

See also