Leviticus4
World English Bible · Public Domain
1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them,
3if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without defect to Yahweh for a sin offering.
4He shall bring the bull to the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh; and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull, and kill the bull before Yahweh.
5The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull, and bring it to the Tent of Meeting.
6The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yahweh, before the veil of the sanctuary.
7The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before Yahweh, which is in the Tent of Meeting; and he shall pour out the rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
8He shall take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering from it: the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards,
9and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall remove,
10as it is removed from the bull of the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering.
11He shall carry the bull’s skin, all its meat, with its head, and with its legs, its innards, and its dung
12—all the rest of the bull—outside of the camp to a clean place where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. It shall be burned where the ashes are poured out.
13“‘If the whole congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and are guilty;
14when the sin in which they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting.
15The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before Yahweh; and the bull shall be killed before Yahweh.
16The anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull to the Tent of Meeting.
17The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before Yahweh, before the veil.
18He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before Yahweh, that is in the Tent of Meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
19All its fat he shall take from it, and burn it on the altar.
20He shall do this with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so he shall do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.
21He shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.
22“‘When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty,
23if his sin in which he has sinned is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without defect.
24He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before Yahweh. It is a sin offering.
25The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
26All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven.
27“‘If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and is guilty,
28if his sin which he has sinned is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has sinned.
29He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering.
30The priest shall take some of its blood 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.
31All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
32“‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without defect.
33He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.
34The priest shall 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.
35He shall remove all its fat, like the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, 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