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LEVITICUS 4

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

 NASB  NKJV  NRSV  TEV  NJB
The Law of Sin Offerings The Sin Offerings The Sin Offering (4:1-5:13) Offerings for Unintentional Sin The Sacrifice for Sin:
a. of the High Priest
4:1-12 4:1-12 4:1-2 4:1-2 4:1
4:2-7
4:3-12 4:3-12
4:8-10
4:11-12
b. of the Community of Israel
4:13-21 4:13-21 4:13-21 4:13-21 4:13-15
4:16-18
4:19-20
4:21
c. of a Leader of the Community
4:22-26 4:22-26 4:22-26 4:22-26 4:22-26
d. of a Private Individual
4:27-31 4:27-31 4:27-31 4:27-31 4:27-31
4:32-35 4:32-35 4:32-35 4:32-35 4:32-35

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")
FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.
  1. First paragraph
  2. Second paragraph
  3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

  1. As for atonement theology, the sin offering is crucial to a NT understanding of the work of Christ (cf. Isaiah 53; Rom. 5:12-21; 2 Cor. 5:21).

  2. Notice how the chapter deals with a sin offering for different levels of people in Israeli society.
    1. the High Priest, Lev. 4:3-12
    2. the nation as a whole, Lev. 4:13-21 (cf. Leviticus 16)
    3. the tribal leaders, Lev. 4:23-26 (i.e., "elders," see SPECIAL TOPIC: ELDER.)
    4. individual Israelites, Lev. 4:27-35

  3. This sin offering denotes the major purpose of the sacrificial system, which was to restore fellowship between a sinful human being and his/her Maker.
    All humans have sinned (cf. Genesis 3; 6:5,11-12,13; Rom. 3:9-18,23; 5:12-14,17,18,19,21; Gal. 3:22), therefore, all need to be restored and forgiven!

  4. Notice that the introductory phrase, "then the Lord spoke to Moses" (see note at Lev. 1:1) is repeated:
    1. Lev. 1:1 (Lev. 1:1-3:17 is a literary unit)
    2. Lev. 4:1 (Lev. 4:1-5:13 is a literary unit)
    3. Lev. 6:1 (Lev. 6:1-7:38)
    which shows the three main divisions of the rituals for both
    1. types of offerings
    2. responsibilities for the ritual shared by offerer and priest

  5. Leviticus 4:1-5:13 forms a literary unit dealing with atonement for sins. A good outline is found in Wenham's Leviticus Commentary (NICOT), p. 87.
    1. Lev. 4:1-35 - inadvertent sins
    2. Lev. 5:1-13 - sins of omission
    3. Lev. 5:14-19 - inadvertent sins
    4. Lev. 6:1-7 - deliberate sin

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 4:1-12
  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 let him offer to the Lord a bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin 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 slay 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 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. 8He 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 with its head and its legs and 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 ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire; where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.'"

4:2
NASB, NKJV, NRSV, NIV  "sins unintentionally"
TEV  "without intending to"
NJB, REB  "inadvertently"
JPSOA, ASV  "unwittingly"
Peshitta, KJV  "unwillingly"
Targum Onkelos  "by neglect"
This word "unintentionally" (BDB 993) shows a significant aspect of the ancient covenant. What follows is a discussion of the sin offerings, the guilt offering (see SPECIAL TOPIC: SACRIFICIAL SYSTEMS OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST V. D. and E. at Lev. 1:3). To some extent the sins that are involved in the guilt offerings are intentional sins. However, generally it was understood that if a person wilfully rebelled against YHWH's covenant, there was no sacrifice available for him (cf. Num. 15:27; Lev. 5:15; Ps. 51:16-17). See SPECIAL TOPIC: UNINTENTIONAL SINS.

▣ "a person" This is the term nephesh (BDB 659, cf. Lev. 4:2,27; 5:1,2,4,15,17,21), which denotes a person or living animal. See full note online at Ezek. 18:4.

▣ "commanded" This term (BDB 846) is one of several words used to describe YHWH's covenant requirements. See SPECIAL TOPIC: TERMS FOR GOD'S REVELATION.

▣ "commits any of them" This broad statement is repeated in Deut. 27:26 and Gal. 3:10. Perfect obedience is required but is impossible for fallen humanity (see SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FALL and SPECIAL TOPIC: KEEP).

4:3-35 The best way to discuss this section is to see a brief outline.

  1. for the sins of the High Priest, Lev. 4:3-12
  2. for the sins of the nation, Lev. 4:13-21
  3. for the sins of a tribal leader, Lev. 4:22-26
  4. for the sins of an individual, Lev. 4:27-35
In the first two the blood was placed in the Holy Place and sprinkled before the veil, but in the last two it was simply dealt with at the altar of sacrifice.

4:3 "the anointed priests" This refers

  1. to the officiating priest at the tabernacle at the time of the sin offering
  2. here, specifically to the High Priest
See SPECIAL TOPIC: "ANOINTING" IN THE BIBLE.

▣ "so as to bring guilt on the people" The actions of leaders affect everyone in the society.

4:4 "the bull" Not only is there delineation between the different types of leaders in the community, but also the expense of the sacrificial animal involved. It moves from a bull for the High Priest of the congregation to a goat, a ram, or a lamb.

▣ "lay his hand on the head" See full note at Lev. 1:4.

▣ "before the Lord" See full note at Lev. 1:5.

▣ The NASB Study Bible, p. 138, has a good comment here.
"Three principles of atonement are found in this verse: (1) substitution ('bring the bull'); (2) identification ('lay his hand on the head'); and (3) the death of the substitute ('slay the bull')."

4:5 "the tent of meeting" See SPECIAL TOPIC: TABERNACLE OF THE WILDERNESS (chart).

4:6 This is a new ritual act, at a new place (the inner veil).
Since the sin of the High Priest affected the covenantal system at its core, blood atonement had to be made close to the ark. There are several curtains in the tabernacle.

  1. the outer rim of the larger enclosure
  2. the covering of the inner shrine tent
  3. the divider of the inner shrine tent into
    1. the holy place (i.e., the outer rectangle)
    2. the Holy of Holies (where the ark rested, cf. Exod. 26:31-35; 40:21,26; see SPECIAL TOPIC: TABERNACLE OF THE WILDERNESS)
The text is not specific as to which veil (#3) is intended. I assume it was the inner veil (cf. Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45).
Notice that for the first two kinds of sin offerings (High Priest and the whole nation) the blood is placed by the High Priest's finger seven times (see SPECIAL TOPIC: SYMBOLIC NUMBERS IN SCRIPTURE) before the inner veil (cf. Lev. 4:6,17), but on the next two (tribal leaders and individuals) the blood is placed on the horns of the altar of sacrifice (see SPECIAL TOPIC: ALTAR OF SACRIFICE).

▣ "sprinkle" See note at Lev. 1:5 on the procedure, but this is a different VERB (BDB 633, KB 683, Hiphil PERFECT with waw, cf. Exod. 29:21; Lev. 4:6,17; 5:9; 6:27; 16:14,15,19).

4:7 "the altar of fragrant incense" This was the altar in the Holy Place before the veil (cf. Lev. 4:18). It is described in detail in Exod. 30:1-10. There is some confusion of which "horns" on which "altar" the blood was placed by the finger of the High Priest.

  1. the incense altar, Lev. 4:7,18 (see SPECIAL TOPIC: ALTAR OF INCENSE.)
  2. the altar of sacrifice, Lev. 4:25,30,34 (see SPECIAL TOPIC: ALTAR OF SACRIFICE.)
Number 1 suggests that the smoke of the blood (see Special Topic: Blood.) rose up to YHWH.
Number 2 suggests that the blood covered the sin of the person by substitution.
The remainder of the blood (which represented life) was poured out at the base of the altar of sacrifice (cf. Lev. 4:7,18,25,30,34; 5:9; 8:15; 9:9; Exod. 29:12).

4:12 "a clean place outside the camp" There are two ritual aspects here.

  1. The ashes of the sin offering, holy to God (Lev. 4:11), are to be burned in a "clean place" because they are holy.
  2. "Outside the camp" reflects the concept of the offering bearing sin away (i.e., one of the goats of Leviticus 16 driven out into the desert to die).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 4:13-21
  13"'Now if the whole congregation of Israel commits error 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 for a sin offering and bring it before 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 slain 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 put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the tent of meeting; and all 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. 19He 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; thus he shall do with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. 21Then he is to bring out the bull to a place outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.'"

4:13 "the matter escapes the notice of the assembly" Because of this unusual phrase many believe that Lev. 4:13-21 possibly refers to some sin by an elected or representative body, such as elders of Israel, or later, the Sanhedrin. This may be the best understanding of this clause. It is interesting to note that one leader affected the whole community.
The rituals of Lev. 4:13-21 are separate and distinct from Leviticus 16.

4:15 "the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head" This is similar to what the High Priest did for the whole congregation on the Day of Atonement, described in Leviticus 16. Here, though, it is a specific sin of a leader(s) who needs to be atoned. See SPECIAL TOPIC: LAYING ON OF HANDS.

4:18 Notice the blood (see SPECIAL TOPIC: BLOOD) is put both

  1. on the veil before the ark
  2. on the horns of the altar of sacrifice, which was the symbol of its power to atone

4:20 "shall make atonement" This VERB appears at Lev. 4:20,26,31,35. See SPECIAL TOPIC: ATONEMENT.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 4:22-26
  22"'When a leader sins and unintentionally does any one of all 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 for his offering a goat, a male without defect. 24He shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slay it in the place where they slay 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. 26All its fat he shall offer up in smoke on the altar as in the case of the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven.'"

4:22 "sins and unintentionally does any one of all the things which the Lord his God has commanded not to be done" See note at Lev. 4:1.

4:23 "if his sin which he has committed is made known to him" Faithful covenant followers are responsible only for what the Law, the Spirit, and other faithful followers make them aware of (cf. Lev. 4:14,28; Ps. 19:7-11,12-14).
The MT starts Lev. 4:23 with a CONJUNCTION (BDB 14) "or." The NET Bible, p. 221, assumes this denotes two possible scenarios.

  1. a leader sins unintentionally, Lev. 4:22
  2. a leader's sin becomes known publically, Lev. 4:23
This same construction is in Lev. 4:27-28. The same thought is found in Lev. 4:13-14.

4:26 "make atonement" This VERB (BDB 497, KB 493, Piel PERFECT with waw) appears in Lev. 4:20, 26,31,35. It is assumed in the previous sin ritual but not stated (see Jewish Study Bible, p. 214). For a full word study on this crucial sacrificial term, see SPECIAL TOPIC: ATONEMENT.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 4:27-31
  27"'Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in 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 for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has committed. He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slay 29 the sin offering at the place of the 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 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 for a soothing aroma to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.'"

4:27-31,32-35 The ritual is repeated for all the sin offerings, except for where the blood is places. See notes at Lev. 4:1-2.

4:27 "the common people" This is literally "the people of the land" (BDB 766 I CONSTRUCT BDB 75).
This can refer to (see Roland deVaux, Ancient Israel, pp. 70-72)

  1. common people
  2. wealthy landowners
Here, #1 fits best.

4:31 "a soothing aroma" This is the only occurrence of this phrase (see SPECIAL TOPIC: A SOOTHING AROMA) in connection with the sin offerings. The Jewish Study Bible, p. 214, says it "is indeed out of place; many scholars believe it to be a scribal error." See SPECIAL TOPIC: TEXTUAL CRITICISM.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 4:32-35
  32"'But if he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring it, a female without defect. 33He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they slay the burnt offering. 34The 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 them up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.

4:35 Notice how the text states that the ritual procedure for offering the "sin offering" is the same as the "peace offering."

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

  1. What part of the sin offerings was burnt on the altar?
  2. What part was eaten by the priests?
  3. How is the sacrifice for the nation in Lev. 4:13-21 different or the same with Leviticus 16, the Day of Atonement?
  4. Why was the blood of the first two groups taken into the holy place but not the last two?
  5. Explain what "unintentional" means.
  6. Why is there no specific mention of a sin offering for the poor who could not afford a lamb?

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