Leviticus4
New American Standard
1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them,
3if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then he is to offer to the Lord a bull without defect as a sin offering for his sin which he has committed.
4He shall bring the bull to the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull and slaughter the bull before the Lord.
5Then the anointed priest is to take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting,
6and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary.
7The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before the Lord in the tent of meeting; and all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
8And he shall remove from it all the fat of the bull of the sin offering: the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails,
9and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys
10(just as it is removed from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings); and the priest is to offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering.
11But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, along with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its refuse,
12that is, all the rest of the bull, he is to bring out to a clean place outside the camp where the fatty ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire; where the fatty ashes are poured out it shall be burned.
13‘Now if the entire congregation of Israel does wrong unintentionally and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they commit any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and they become guilty;
14when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd as a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting.
15Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord.
16Then the anointed priest is to bring some of the blood of the bull to the tent of meeting;
17and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil.
18He shall then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the tent of meeting; and all the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
19And he shall remove all its fat from it and offer it up in smoke on the altar.
20He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; he shall do the same with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven.
21Then he is to bring the bull out to a place outside the camp and burn it just as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.
22‘When a leader sins and unintentionally does any of the things which the Lord his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty,
23if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without defect.
24And he shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering.
25Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
26And he shall offer all its fat up in smoke on the altar as in the case of the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his sin, and he will be forgiven.
27‘Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty,
28if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring as his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has committed.
29And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering.
30The priest shall then take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.
31Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as a soothing aroma to the Lord. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
32‘But if he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without defect.
33And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering.
34And the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.
35Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to the Lord. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Leviticus 4.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The sin-offering of ignorance for the priest. (1–12). For the whole congregation. (13–21). For a ruler. (22–26). For any of the people. (27–35).
vv1-12
Burnt-offerings, meat-offerings, and peace-offerings, had been offered before the giving of the law upon mount Sinai; and in these the patriarchs had respect to sin, to make atonement for it. But the Jews were now put into a way of making atonement for sin, more particularly by sacrifice, as a shadow of good things to come; yet the substance is Christ, and that one offering of himself, by which he put away sin. The sins for which the sin-offerings were appointed are supposed to be open acts. They are supposed to be sins of commission, things which ought not to have been done. Omissions are sins, and must come into judgment: yet what had been omitted at one time, might be done at another; but a sin committed was past recall. They are supposed to be sins committed through ignorance. The law begins with the case of the anointed priest. It is evident that God never had any infallible priest in his church upon earth, when even the high priest was liable to fall into sins of ignorance. All pretensions to act without error are sure marks of Antichrist. The beast was to be carried without the camp, and there burned to ashes. This was a sign of the duty of repentance, which is the putting away sin as a detestable thing, which our soul hates. The sin-offering is called sin. What they did to that, we must do to our sins; the body of sin must be destroyed, Ro 6:6. The apostle applies the carrying this sacrifice without the camp to Christ, Heb 13:11–13.
vv13-21
If the leaders of the people, through mistake, caused them to err, an offering must be brought, that wrath might not come upon the whole congregation. When sacrifices were offered, the persons, on whose behalf they were devoted, were to lay their hands on the heads of the victims, and to confess their sins. The elders were to do so, when the sacrifices were offered for the whole congregation. The load of sin was supposed then to be borne by the guiltless animal. When the offering is completed, it is said, atonement is made, and the sin shall be forgiven. The saving of churches and kingdoms from ruin, is owing to the satisfaction and mediation of Christ.
vv22-26
Those who have power to call others to account, are themselves accountable to the Ruler of rulers. The sin of the ruler, committed through ignorance, must come to his knowledge, either by the check of his own conscience, or by the reproof of his friends; both which even the best and greatest, not only should submit to, but be thankful for. That which I see not, teach thou me, and, Show me wherein I have erred, are prayers we should put up to God every day; that if, through ignorance, we fall into sin, we may not through ignorance abide in it.
Key Words
דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
נֶפֶשׁ: properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)
חָטָא: properly, to miss; hence (figuratively and generally) to sin; by inference, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, (causatively) lead astray, condemn
שְׁגָגָה: a mistake or inadvertent transgression
מִצְוָה: a command, whether human or divine (collectively, the Law)
עָשָׂה: to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application
Cross References
Leviticus 4Christ suffered outside the gate, fulfilling the typology of the sin offering burned outside the camp.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Unlike Levitical priests who offered for their own sins, Christ was holy and needed no offering.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Establishes the early precedent for burning the flesh of the sin offering outside the camp.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Direct parallel for carrying the bullock without the camp to be burned as a sin offering.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Establishes the standard formula for atonement and forgiveness achieved through the ritual.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The parallel law for a common person who sins through ignorance.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The high priest, bound by infirmity, must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Prescribes the altar of sweet incense, on whose horns the high priest's sin offering blood is placed.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The Day of Atonement law requiring the sin offering carcass to be burned outside the camp.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Provides the parallel law for sacrifices required when the whole congregation sins through ignorance.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Contrasts the ruler's minor offering with the high priest's far more costly bullock.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Laying hands on the sacrifice typifies the transference of guilt to a substitute.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Prescribes the foundational law of laying hands on the sacrifice for atonement.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Refers to the high priest offering for himself and for the errors (ignorance) of the people.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The law for anointing the high priest, qualifying him to represent the people.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Specifies sprinkling blood seven times before the mercy seat, echoing the sevenfold sprinkling here.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Directs that the fat portion of the sin offering is burned like the peace offering.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Matches the strict ritual requirement to burn sin offerings outside the camp.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Contrasts blood placed on the outer altar horns with inner sanctuary blood.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Specifies burning the fat on the altar, modeled after peace offerings.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Identical protocol for when a ruler's or commoner's sin comes to knowledge.
Supported by JFB
Reiterates bringing a female lamb or goat as a trespass offering.
Supported by Matthew Poole
A prayer for cleansing from secret faults and sins committed in ignorance.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Contrasts weak, sinful high priests appointed by law with the perfect, eternal Son.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Laying hands on the sacrifice's head to make atonement, transfering guilt symbolically.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Eleazar sprinkling the heifer's blood seven times directly before the tabernacle.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Priestly mediation for sins of ignorance secures forgiveness for the congregation.
Supported by Matthew Poole