And he shall take of the congregation. — On this occasion the high priest himself had to officiate, by virtue of his being the chief mediator between God and His people.
Two kids of the goats. — Better, two shaggy he-goats. (See Leviticus 4:23.) These two goats, which were the sin offering for the people, and the ram, which was their burnt offering, were purchased with the money of the public some time before the Day of Atonement. During the second Temple the two goats had to be alike in value, equal in size, and of the same colour. If one of them happened to die after the decision of the lot, a new pair had to be purchased, and the surviving one of the original pair was kept and properly fed till it became ritually defective, whereupon it was sold, and the money paid into the sacred treasury.