The man who released the goat as the scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.
26. And he that let the goat go. Since this goat was the outcast (κάθαπμα) of God’s wrath, and devoted to His curse, he who led it away is commanded to wash his person and his clothes, as if he were a partaker in its defilement.
The high priest having presented unto the Lord the expiatory sacrifices, by the sprinkling of their blood, the remainder of which, it is probable, he poured out at the foot of the brazen altar, 1. He is next to confess the sins of Israel, with both his hands upon the head of the scape-goat (Lev 16:20, Lev 16:21); and whenever hands were imposed upon the...
Commenting on Leviticus 16:20-28
And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering,.... The one for Aaron and his family, the other for the people of Israel, of which see Lev 16:5, whose blood was brought in to make an atonement in the holy place; the holy of holies, where it was brought and sprinkled, as directed inLev 16:14, shall one carry forth without...