Leviticus 4

This chapter gives God’s provision for sins committed without realizing it. The offering grows more costly the greater the responsibility of the sinner: priest, whole community, leader, then ordinary person. In every case blood is shed, the sinner is identified with the animal, and the result is forgiveness.

Leviticus 4:1-2

The LORD speaks to Moses about a new situation: a person sins without meaning to. Sin is real even when it is unplanned, and God does not ignore it. He also does not leave the sinner without a way back. The whole chapter shows His mercy toward the failing.

BSA: unintentionally (“without realizing it, in ignorance”): The sin comes from not knowing or not noticing, yet it still needs cleansing.

Hebrew: בִּשְׁגָגָה (bishgagah, H7684) — “in error, by straying.” The word pictures someone wandering off the path by mistake, not marching off in defiance. Such sin was still sin and still needed an offering.

See also: Numbers 15:27-29; Psalm 19:12.

Leviticus 4:3

The first case is the anointed priest, the high priest. His sin affects everyone, because he represents the people before God. So his offering is the most costly: a young bull with no defect. A leader’s failure is never merely private.

BSA: anointed (“set apart, consecrated”): He was marked out for God’s service, which made his failure weigh more heavily.

Hebrew: חַטָּאת (chatta’t, H2403) — “sin; sin offering.” One Hebrew word names both the sin and the offering for it. The sacrifice stands in for the wrong and carries it.

See also: Hebrews 5:1-3.

Leviticus 4:4

The priest brings the bull to the entrance, lays his hand on its head, and kills it himself. Laying on the hand ties the sinner to the animal. It is his offering, given in his place. Nothing is hidden: it happens before the LORD.

BSA: slaughter (“kill, offer as a sacrifice”): The death is no accident; the life of the animal is deliberately given up.

Hebrew: וְסָמַךְ (vesamakh, H5564) — “and he leaned, pressed.” The verb means to lean one’s weight upon something. The worshiper rests his full weight on the animal that will die for him.

Leviticus 4:5-7

The priest carries the blood into the holy place. He sprinkles it seven times toward the veil, which hides God’s presence. He puts blood on the horns of the incense altar and pours the rest at the base of the burnt-offering altar. Blood goes as near to God as the offering can go. Seven is the number of completeness.

BSA: veil (“a curtain, a separation”): The curtain marks the gap between a holy God and sinful people, and the blood is brought right up to it. horns (“corners, protrusions”): The horns were the altar’s most prominent points, and the blood placed there declared that atonement was made.

Hebrew: פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet, H6532) — “veil, screen.” This is the curtain that screened the inner room where the ark stood. Blood was applied right in front of it, to the very threshold of God’s presence.

See also: Exodus 26:31-33; Hebrews 9:22.

Leviticus 4:8-10

All the fat, both the layers over the inner organs and the kidneys and liver lobe, is taken and burned on the altar. This is the same portion taken from the peace offering. The richest, best part belongs to God and goes up in smoke.

BSA: fat (“choicest, richest part”): The fat stood for the best of the animal, and the best is given to God.

See also: Leviticus 3:3-5.

Leviticus 4:11-12

The rest of the bull, hide, flesh, and waste, is carried outside the camp and burned on the ash heap. That place is called clean because the holy ashes are poured there. The sin offering is treated as bearing something that cannot stay among the people. The New Testament sees Jesus suffering outside the gate in this light.

BSA: outside (“beyond the boundary, away from”): The sin-bearing animal is removed from the community, as sin must be removed. ceremonially clean (“pure, holy, set apart”): Even the dump site for the ashes was a set-apart place, showing that the disposal itself was done in holiness.

See also: Hebrews 13:11-12.

Leviticus 4:13

Next comes the whole community. Everyone can drift into wrong together without anyone noticing. Once the matter is hidden from the assembly, it is still guilt before God. Even shared blind spots are taken seriously and are covered by mercy.

BSA: strays (“to wander, go astray”): The picture is a flock wandering off course, not a people marching in rebellion. escapes (“is hidden, concealed”): The sin is hidden from their eyes, though not from God’s.

Hebrew: יִשְׁגּוּ (yishgu, H7686) — “they go astray, err.” This is the same root as the word for unintentional sin in verse 2, the straying of sheep that do not know they are lost.

See also: Isaiah 53:6.

Leviticus 4:14-15

When the people finally see their sin, they must act. They bring a young bull, and the elders lay hands on its head as the people’s representatives. Knowing the sin is the moment to come near, not to run away. Forgiveness begins with honest recognition.

BSA: aware (“realize, understand”): The offering is called for once the sin comes to light, when understanding dawns.

Leviticus 4:16-18

The priest handles the blood as in the first case. He sprinkles it seven times before the veil, puts it on the altar’s horns inside the tent, and pours out the rest at the bronze altar outside. The sin of all the people needs the same blood as the sin of the high priest, and it is applied to the same places.

BSA: pour out (“all of it, completely”): Nothing of the blood is held back; the whole life of the animal is given.

Leviticus 4:19-21

The fat is burned on the altar and the rest of the bull is burned outside the camp, just as before. The result is stated plainly: the priest makes atonement, and they will be forgiven. The offering does what it was given to do.

BSA: atonement (“cover, reconcile”): The sin is covered over and the relationship with God is restored. forgiven (“pardoned, have their sin removed”): Forgiveness is a real release, not a pretense.

Hebrew: כִּפֶּר (kipper, H3722) — “to cover, make atonement.” The root carries the sense of covering over or wiping away. It is the same word that gives us the name Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

See also: Leviticus 16:30; Hebrews 9:22.

Leviticus 4:22-23

Now a leader, a tribal chief or ruler, falls into sin unknowingly. He too is guilty, and his guilt is his own to deal with when he learns of it. He brings a male goat with no defect. The cost is lower than for the priest or the whole people, but it is still real.

BSA: leader (“ruler, high-ranking official”): Those with authority are held accountable to the LORD their God, not above the law. unblemished (“perfect, without defect”): God receives only the best, which points to the care required in approaching Him.

Hebrew: נָשִׂיא (nasi, H5387) — “one lifted up; chief, prince.” The word means someone raised up above the others. Being lifted up in leadership does not lift a person above the need for forgiveness.

Leviticus 4:24-26

The leader lays his hand on the goat, kills it where burnt offerings are killed, and the priest puts blood on the horns of the bronze altar. The blood does not go inside the tent this time. The fat is burned, and the leader is forgiven. The pattern holds even as the details change.

BSA: forgiven (“pardoned, released from guilt”): He is let go from the debt of his guilt.

Leviticus 4:27-28

Ordinary people are not left out. Any individual who sins by mistake and later learns of it must bring a female goat with no defect. God cares about the guilt of the humblest member of the community as much as the highest.

BSA: common people (“those not of the priestly class, ordinary citizens”): No one is too ordinary to need, or to receive, God’s provision.

Leviticus 4:29-31

The pattern repeats: hand on the head, slaughter at the burnt-offering place, blood on the horns and poured at the base, fat burned. The fat rises as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. The ordinary person is forgiven, and God is pleased to receive the offering.

BSA: pleasing aroma (“a soothing, fragrant smell”): The smoke of the offering is pictured as welcome to God, not merely as waste burned up.

See also: Ephesians 5:2.

Leviticus 4:32-35

A person may bring a lamb instead of a goat, again a female with no defect. The steps are the same, and the fat is burned with the other fire offerings. Again the promise ends the passage: atonement is made, and he will be forgiven. God allows a choice of animal but not a change in how sin is dealt with.

BSA: forgiven (“receive pardon, be reconciled”): Forgiveness here is also a restored relationship, not just a cancelled penalty.

See also: Hebrews 10:4; 1 Peter 1:18-19.