What is "remaining" or "abiding" in Leviticus 16:16?

Question

For Leviticus 16:16 what is it exactly that "remains" or "dwells" or "abides"? Is it the sanctuary or is it the sins/transgressions? I don't understand Hebrew grammar enough to know how to tell which is the direct object of the verb שָׁכַן (Shakan,Strongs 7931).

[NKJV] So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

[ESV] Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.

Answer 1

In Leviticus 16:16, the verb "remains, abide" or "dwell" is derived from the Hebrew word שָׁכַן (shakan), which can mean "to settle down" or "to dwell" or "to abide." The direct object of this verb is the noun "tent of meeting" (אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד), which refers to the tabernacle where God's presence dwelled among the Israelites.

So, in this verse, it is the "tent of meeting" that remains or dwells among the people of Israel in the midst of their uncleanness. This shows the continuous presence of God's sanctuary, despite the sins and uncleanness of the people.

Answer 2

This is simple - the "tent of meeting" (= tabernacle) was situated in the middle of the camp of Israel. The grammatical construction is thus uncomplicated in Lev 16:16

the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.

Thus, the tent of meeting was physically in the midst of the camp of Israel. However, the people were (as are all humas, sinful and so "unclean" see Rom 3;10-18, 23, Isa 6:5, etc). Thus, the tent of meeting was surrounded by sinners because it was in the center of the camp.

The pertinent word in Lev 16:16 is שָׁכַן (shakan) = "to settle down, abide, dwell" (Strong's).

Answer 3

It is the tabernacle that remains, but there is a sense here in which it has indeed been defiled because of the people's uncleanness. Thus, the high priest must make atonement for the holy place - because it remains in the midst of an unholy people. Rashi and other Jewish authorities explain this in terms of ritual impurity:

i. e. for those who entered the Sanctuary in a state of uncleanness without having finally become conscious of this fact (Shevuot 7b), for it is said לכל חטאתם (their transgressions), and the word חטאת implies a sin committed unconsciously.

This was a very serious matter, because the sanctuary itself could become defiled by the presence of people were ritually unclean.

Numbers 19:20

Those who become unclean and fail to purify themselves—those people will be cut off from the assembly, because they defile the sanctuary of the Lord.

Although there would be times in later years when the sanctuary would be defiled by housing forbidden objects (e.g. 2 Kings 23:4), here the issue was the ritual impurity of some of the people, often contracted unintentionally and even unconsciously. This was the reason why, in the time of Jesus, the rabbis had instituted the "tradition of the elders" that all Jews must wash their hands before meals (Matthew 15:2), so that they would cleanse themselves of any impurity contracted from accidentally touching any forbidden thing.

Conclusion: the "sin" was ritual impurity, which is a state often brought about through natural processes such as menstruation for women and nocturnal emissions for men, as well as accidentally or intentionally touching forbidden objects such as dead bodies, insects etc. (Leviticus 5:2) On Yom Kippur, the high priest had to make atonement for the sanctuary, which was likely to have become defiled, even accidentally, (Numbers 19:20)- because it "dwelt" or "remained" in the midst of the people.