Leviticus 4

Chapters 1–3 of Leviticus deal with the burnt offering, the grain offering (meat offering), and the peace offering. Chapter 4 then introduces the first regulations for the sin offering, a sacrifice for removing sin. The sin offering regulations continue into the opening part of chapter 5.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 The LORD speaks to Moses. The regulations address cases in which anyone unintentionally violates any one of the LORD's prohibitions.
• Verses 3–12 If the anointed priest sins, he offers a young bull without blemish. He lays his hand on the bull's head and slaughters it, then sprinkles its blood seven times before the veil inside the tabernacle of the congregation and puts some on the horns of the altar of incense. The remaining blood is poured out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. The fat is burned on the altar of burnt offering, and everything else, including the hide and the flesh, is burned outside the camp at the place where the ashes are poured out.
• Verses 13–21 If the whole congregation sins unknowingly and later realizes it, a young bull is offered. The elders of the congregation lay their hands on it, and the blood and flesh are handled as in the case of the priest.
• Verses 22–26 A ruler offers a male goat without blemish. The blood is put on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and the fat is burned as with the peace offering.
• Verses 27–31 One of the common people offers a female goat without blemish.
• Verses 32–35 When one of the common people brings a lamb, it must be a female without blemish.

Key Verses

• Leviticus 4:2 "If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done." This verse establishes that the chapter concerns sins committed unknowingly.
• Leviticus 4:20 "And the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them." This is the formula of atonement and forgiveness repeated throughout the chapter.
• Leviticus 4:12 "Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out." The New Testament book of Hebrews refers to this regulation.

People and Places

• The LORD and Moses: the one who gives the regulations and the one who receives and transmits them.
• The anointed priest: commonly understood to be the high priest. The text states that his sin brings guilt (the consequences of sin) upon the people.
• The elders of the congregation: they lay their hands on the offering on behalf of the whole congregation.
• The ruler: a leader of the people.
• The common people: ordinary members of the community.
• The tabernacle of the congregation: another name for the tabernacle.
• The veil: the curtain separating the holy place from the Most Holy Place.
• The altar of incense: the altar inside the tabernacle on which incense is burned.
• The altar of burnt offering: the altar in front of the entrance to the tabernacle.

Points for Reflection

• Differences by status: The higher a person's status, the greater the offering. In the cases of the priest and the congregation, the blood is brought inside the tabernacle and sprinkled there; in the cases of the ruler and the common person, it is put only on the altar of burnt offering. This is commonly read as indicating that the sin of a leader has a greater effect on the community.
• The scope of sins committed "through ignorance": This chapter deals only with unintentional sins. Deliberate sins are addressed separately in Numbers 15.
• The translation "sin offering": Some scholars understand the Hebrew word chatta't as a sacrifice that cleanses the sanctuary, that is, a purification offering.
• Connection to the New Testament: Hebrews 13 draws on this regulation for burning the bodies of animals outside the camp to say that Jesus suffered outside the city gate. Many Christian traditions read the sin offering as a shadow that prefigures Christ's atonement. Other interpretations focus instead on the purification system of ancient Israel itself.