Leviticuschapter 4

A.When the anointed priest sinsvv. 1-12

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to do as follows with one who sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s commandments and does what is forbidden by them: 3 If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. 4 He must bring the bull to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the LORD. 5 Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the Tent of Meeting. 6 The priest is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. 7 The priest must then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. And he is to pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 8 Then he shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering—the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them, 9 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys— 10 just as the fat is removed from the ox of the peace offering. Then the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. 11 But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, with its head and legs and its entrails and dung— 12 all the rest of the bull—he must take outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place where the ashes are poured out, and there he must burn it on a wood fire on the ash heap.

B.When the whole congregation straysvv. 13-21

13 Now if the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly so that they violate any of the LORD’s commandments and incur guilt by doing what is forbidden, 14 when they become aware of the sin they have committed, then the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the Tent of Meeting. 15 The elders of the congregation are to lay their hands on the bull’s head before the LORD, and it shall be slaughtered before the LORD. 16 Then the anointed priest is to bring some of the bull’s blood into the Tent of Meeting, 17 and he is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD in front of the veil. 18 He is also to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting, and he must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 19 And he is to remove all the fat from it and burn it on the altar. 20 He shall offer this bull just as he did the bull for the sin offering; in this way the priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven. 21 Then he is to take the bull outside the camp and burn it, just as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

C.When a ruler sins without knowingvv. 22-26

22 When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the commandments of the LORD his God, he incurs guilt. 23 When he becomes aware of the sin he has committed, he must bring an unblemished male goat as his offering. 24 He is to lay his hand on the head of the goat and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the LORD. It is a sin offering. 25 Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 26 He must burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the peace offerings; thus the priest will make atonement for that man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

D.When one of the common people sinsvv. 27-35

27 And if one of the common people sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the LORD’s commandments, he incurs guilt. 28 When he becomes aware of the sin he has committed, he must bring an unblemished female goat as his offering for that sin. 29 He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering. 30 Then the priest is to take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 31 Then he is to remove all the fat, just as it is removed from the peace offering, and the priest is to burn it on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven. 32 If, however, he brings a lamb as a sin offering, he must bring an unblemished female. 33 And he is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 34 Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35 And he shall remove all the fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the peace offerings, and he shall burn it on the altar along with the offerings made by fire to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

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Chapter summary

The sin offering.

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The sin offering. For sins done unwittingly. The anointed priest, the whole congregation, a ruler, a common person. The gradation of required victims matches the gradation of responsibility. For the priest or congregation, a bullock, with blood carried into the holy place and sprinkled before the veil and put on the horns of the incense altar; the body burned outside the camp. For the ruler, a male kid; for the common person, a female kid or a lamb, with blood only on the horns of the brazen altar. Hebrews 13:11–12 draws on ‘outside the camp’ for its Christology. Sins not foreseen require atonement; there is no sin small enough to leave unconfessed.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.

Context

Law · Moses — Leviticus overview

A. 1–12 When the anointed priest sins
B. 13–21 When the whole congregation strays
C. 22–26 When a ruler sins without knowing
D. 27–35 When one of the common people sins

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Leviticus 422 verses
- Leviticus 4:2“Tell the Israelites to do as follows with one who sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s commandments and does what is forbidden by them:
- Leviticus 4:3If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.
- Leviticus 4:4He must bring the bull to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the LORD.
- Leviticus 4:5Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the Tent of Meeting.
- Leviticus 4:7The priest must then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. And he is to pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
- Leviticus 4:11But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, with its head and legs and its entrails and dung—
- Read Leviticus 4: 16 more there →
Numbers 154 verses
- Numbers 15:22Now if you stray unintentionally and do not obey all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses—
- Numbers 15:25The priest is to make atonement for the whole congregation of Israel, so that they may be forgiven; for the sin was unintentional and they have brought to the LORD an offering made by fire and a sin offering, presented before the LORD for their unintentional sin.
- Numbers 15:27Also, if one person sins unintentionally, he is to present a year-old female goat as a sin offering.
- Numbers 15:28And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the person who erred by sinning unintentionally; and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven.
- Read Numbers 15 →
Leviticus 34 verses
- Leviticus 3:3From the peace offering he is to bring an offering made by fire to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,
- Leviticus 3:4both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys.
- Leviticus 3:5Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on the burning wood, as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
- Leviticus 3:8He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar.
- Read Leviticus 3 →
Leviticus 93 verses
- Leviticus 9:2He said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and present them before the LORD.
- Leviticus 9:8So Aaron approached the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself.
- Leviticus 9:9The sons of Aaron brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and applied it to the horns of the altar. And he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.
- Read Leviticus 9 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Leviticus 163 verses
- Leviticus 16:14And he is to take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the mercy seat.
- Leviticus 16:15Aaron shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and bring its blood behind the veil, and with its blood he must do as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it.
- Leviticus 16:18Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar.
- Read Leviticus 16 →
Leviticus 53 verses
- Leviticus 5:2Or if a person touches anything unclean—whether the carcass of any unclean wild animal or livestock or crawling creature—even if he is unaware of it, he is unclean and guilty.
- Leviticus 5:4Or if someone swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do anything good or evil—in whatever matter a man may rashly pronounce an oath—even if he is unaware of it, when he realizes it, he is guilty in the matter.
- Leviticus 5:17If someone sins and violates any of the LORD’s commandments even though he was unaware, he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.
- Read Leviticus 5 →
Exodus 292 verses
- Exodus 29:10You are to present the bull at the front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head.
- Exodus 29:14But burn the flesh of the bull and its hide and dung outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
- Read Exodus 29 →
Leviticus 12 verses
- Leviticus 1:3If one’s offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to present an unblemished male. He must bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting for its acceptance before the LORD.
- Leviticus 1:4He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
- Read Leviticus 1 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.