On the great day of atonement the high priest appears in a vicarious and representative capacity, and offers on behalf of the whole nation which he was considered to embody in his sacred person.
Breeches were assumed on the Day of Atonement.
The laws of the Day of Atonement belong to the Priestly Code.4 There is no trace of this function before the exile; the earliest reference to any such special time of atonement being the proposal of Ezek.
In particular the annual Day of Atonement would be relied on, and that in proportion as the expected Parousia.
The points at which it chiefly touched them may be inferred from the author's counter-argument, with its emphasis in the spiritual ineffectiveness of the whole Temple-system, its highpriesthood and its supreme sacrifice on the Day of Atonement.