Leviticus 4:13-35

Lev 4:13 And if the whole company of Israel sins through ignorance, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and if they do that which ought not to be done to any of all the commands of Jehovah, and are guilty;

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. Gersom interprets it, through the ignorant teaching of the judges, who by their instruction cause the people to err, and commit sins of ignorance.

Lev 4:14 when the sin is known which they have sinned against it, then the congregation shall bring near a young bull for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation.

But if the sin of the congregation was only the omission of some ceremonial duty, a kid of the goats was to be offered, Numbers 15:24 then it shall be if it is committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation shall offer up one young bull for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor to Jehovah, with its food offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering.

Lev 4:15 And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the young bull before Jehovah, and the young bull shall be killed before Jehovah.

And the elders of the congregation - These must be two at least, some say three, and some say five; the more generally received notion is, that they were three of the sanhedrim; though the Targum of Jonathan makes them to be the twelve rulers of the twelve tribes:

Lev 4:16 And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the young bull's blood to the tabernacle of the congregation.

Lev 4:17 And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle seven times before Jehovah, before the veil.

Lev 4:18 And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before Jehovah, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Lev 4:19 And he shall take all its fat from it and burn it on the altar.

Lev 4:20 And he shall do with the young bull as he did with the young bull for a sin offering; so shall he do to it. And the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.

Lev 4:21 And he shall carry forth the young bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is a sin offering for the congregation.

Lev 4:22 When a ruler has sinned and through ignorance has acted against one of the commands of Jehovah his God, which is not to be done, and is guilty;

When a ruler hath sinned - Under the term nasi, one that is lifted up above others in honour, power, and authority, or that bears the weight of government: the word comes from one which signifies to lift up, or to bear; it may be understood of a governor of a family, or of a tribe, it is possible that any person who held any kind of political dignity among the people is meant, though the rabbins generally understand it of the king. The trespass of such a civil functionary being less serious in its character and consequences than that either of the high priest or the congregation, a sin offering of inferior value was required--"a kid of the goats"; and neither was the blood carried into the sanctuary, but applied only to the altar of burnt offering; nor was the carcass taken without the camp; it was eaten by the priests-in-waiting.

Lev 4:23 or if his sin which he has sinned shall be made known to him, he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish.

A kid of the goats - A shaggy he-goat, in distinction from a smooth-haired he-goat. It was the regular sin-offering at the yearly festivals Leviticus 16:9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which Jehovah's lot fell, and offer it for a sin offering. Leviticus 16:15 Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil. And he shall do with that blood as he did with the blood of the young bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy-seat and before the mercy-seat. Numbers 28:15 And one kid of the goats for a sin offering to Jehovah shall be prepared, besides the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. Numbers 28:22 and one goat, a sin offering to make an atonement for you. Numbers 28:30 one kid of the goats, to make an atonement for you and at the consecration of the priests Leviticus 9:3 And speak to the sons of Israel, saying, Take a kid of the goats for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb of the first year, all without blemish, for a burnt offering. while the smooth-haired goat appears to have been generally offered for the other sacrifices Psalms 50:9 I will take no bull out of your house, nor he-goats out of your folds Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? says Jehovah; I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

Lev 4:24 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where he kills the burnt offering before Jehovah. It is a sin offering.

Lev 4:25 And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out its blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering.

And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger- With the finger of his right hand, as the Talmudists observe, and Gersom on the place; the priest first received the blood into a basin or ministering vessel, and then dipped the finger of his right hand into it, that next the thumb:

and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering; the four horns of it; in this there was a difference between the sacrifice of the anointed priest and of the congregation, and this of the ruler; the blood of the former was put upon the horns of the altar of incense, this upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering:

and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering; the South bottom of it; the order of the priest's proceeding in putting the blood was different from that used in putting it on the horns of the altar of incense; here he first put the blood upon the southeast horn, then upon the northeast, next upon the northwest, and then upon the southwest; and upon the bottom of that horn where he finished, he poured the remainder of the blood, which was the southern bottom.

Lev 4:26 And he shall burn all its fat on the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.

Lev 4:27 And if any one of the people of the land sins through ignorance, by doing that which is not to be done against one of the commands of Jehovah, and is guilty;

the people of the land, that is, any individual who was not a priest, king, or ruler among the people; any of the poor or ordinary sort. Any of these, having transgressed through ignorance, was obliged to bring a lamb or a kid, the ceremonies being nearly the same as in the preceding cases. The original may denote the very lowest of the people, the laboring or agricultural classes.

They typified Him whose soul was made an offering for sin, Isaiah 53:10 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. 2Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And it is worthy of remark, that the Greek word used by Paul in that verse is the same by which the Septuagint, in more than fourscore places in the Pentateuch, translate the Hebrew word hattaah, sin, which in all those places our translation renders sin-offering.

From all these laws concerning the sin-offerings we may learn
1. To hate sin, and to watch against it.
2. To value Christ, the great and true sin-offering, whose blood cleanses from all sin,

Lev 4:28 or if his sin which he has sinned shall be made known to him, then he shall bring his offering, a ewe of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has sinned.

Lev 4:29 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.

Lev 4:30 And the priest shall take of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood of it at the bottom of the altar.

Lev 4:31 And he shall take away all its fat, as the fat is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet savor to Jehovah. And the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.

Lev 4:32 And if he brings a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish.

he shall bring it a female without blemish; typical of Christ the Lamb of God, without spot and without blemish, 1Peter 1:19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Lev 4:33 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where he kills the burnt offering.

Lev 4:34 And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all its blood at the bottom of the altar.

Lev 4:35 And he shall take away all the fat of it, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings. And the priest shall burn them on the altar, on the fire offerings to Jehovah. And the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he has sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.