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Leviticus 4:13

in Leviticus 4

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,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And if the whole congregation of Israel err, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which Jehovah hath commanded not to be done, and are guilty;

KJV

And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty;

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This verse in Leviticus 4

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance,.... That is, all Israel, or the greatest part of them, as Gersom interprets it, through the ignorant teaching of the judges, who by their instruction cause the people to err, and commit sins of ignorance, as Baal Hatturim on the place observes, and Maimonides elsewhere (g); wherefore Jarchi, and some others, by the congregation of Israel understand the sanhedrim, or the bench of judges, consisting of seventy one.

This site's exposition

if the whole congregation of Israel sin

on Leviticus 4:13-15

A nation can be guilty of something none of it noticed. The verse says the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly and then says they are guilty in the same sentence, so the guilt stands before the knowledge arrives. John Gill records the reading of Rashi, the eleventh century French commentator, and of Maimonides after him, that the congregation here means the Sanhedrin of seventy one whose ruling led the people wrong, which makes this a court's error rather than a crowd's. The elders lay their hands on the bullock in the place of the whole people.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

Congregation ... assembly - Each of the Hebrew words signifies the people in a collected body. It does not appear that there is any difference between them in the connection in which they are here used.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The fat was the only part of the animal which was offered on the altar; for the carcass, with its appurtenances and offals, was carried without the camp, into the place where the ashes were deposited, and there consumed with fire.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

If the whole congregation of Israel sin - This probably refers to some oversight in acts of religious worship, or to some transgression of the letter of the law, which arose out of the peculiar circumstances in which they were then found, such as the case mentioned 1Sa 14:32, etc., where the people, through their long and excessive fatigue in their combat with the Philistines, being faint, flew on the spoil, and took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground, and did eat with the blood; and this was partly occasioned by the rash adjuration of Saul, mentioned 1Sa 14:24: Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening. The sacrifices and rites in this case were the same as those prescribed in the preceding, only here the elders of the congregation, i. e., three of the Sanhedrin, according to Maimonides, laid their hands on the head of the victim in the name of all the congregation.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

עדת ישראל [AND IF THE WHOLE] CONGREGATION OF ISRAEL [ERR] — This is the Great Sanhedrin (Sifra, Vayikra Dibbura d'Chovah, Section 4; cf. Horayot 4b).
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Leviticus 4:13:1, via Sefaria, Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְאִ֨םand if

    veimH518 →1069 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • עֲדַ֤ת[the] congregation of

    ʾadatH5712 →149 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • יִשְׁגּ֔וּthey will go astray

    yishguH7686 →

  • וְנֶעְלַ֣םand it will be hidden

    vene'lamH5956 →28 times

  • דָּבָ֔ר[the] matter

    davarH1697 →1440 times

  • מֵעֵינֵ֖יfrom [the] eyes of

    meeineiH5869 →887 times

  • הַקָּהָ֑לthe assembly

    hakahalH6951 →123 times

  • וְ֠עָשׂוּand they will do

    veasuH6213 →2628 times

  • אַחַ֨תone

    ʾachatH259 →971 times

  • מִכָּל־of all

    mikolH3605 →5413 times

  • מִצְוֹ֧ת[the] commandments of

    mitzvotH4687 →181 times

  • יְהוָ֛הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • תֵעָשֶׂ֖ינָהthey will be done

    teaseinahH6213 →2628 times

  • וְאָשֵֽׁמוּ׃and they will be guilty

    veashemuH816 →35 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

17 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

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.6 worksLeviticus 5:2–5Or 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.4 worksLeviticus 4:22When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the commandments of the LORD his God, he incurs guilt.3 worksLeviticus 4:27And if one of the common people sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the LORD’s commandments, he incurs guilt.3 worksHebrews 10:26If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,3 worksJoshua 7:24–26Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned, and brought them to the Valley of Achor.2 works
The other 11 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Corinthians 11:27Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.2 worksNumbers 15:24–29and if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, then the whole congregation is to prepare one young bull as a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and drink offering according to the regulation, and one male goat as a sin offering.2 worksHosea 5:15Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”2 worksJoshua 7:11Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions.2 worksLeviticus 4:1–2Then the LORD said to Moses,2 worksLeviticus 6:4once he has sinned and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost property he found,2 worksEzra 10:19Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. They pledged to send their wives away, and for their guilt they presented a ram from the flock as a guilt offering.2 works1 Timothy 1:13I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.2 worksJames 2:11For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.2 worksLeviticus 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:2 worksGenesis 34:7When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 11:27

    Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

    it leads to

    • John 6:51

      I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is…

    • 1 Corinthians 10:21

      You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.

    • Hebrews 10:29

      How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of…

    • Numbers 9:13

      But if a man who is ceremonially clean and is not on a journey still fails to observe the Passover, he must be cut off from his people, because he did not present the…

    • Numbers 9:10

      “Tell the Israelites: ‘When any one of you or your descendants is unclean because of a dead body, or is away on a journey, he may still observe the Passover to the LORD.

  • Through

    Leviticus 5:17

    If someone sins and violates any of the LORD’s commandments even though he was unaware, he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 4:27

      And if one of the common people sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the LORD’s commandments, he incurs guilt.

    • Psalms 19:12

      Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

    • Leviticus 4:2–4

      “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:

Where this verse is studied

About Leviticus

Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Leviticus: the study guide →Read Leviticus 4 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.

Read on in Leviticus 4 →