Leviticus 4: The Sin Offering
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:
If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering.
And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the Lord.
And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock’s blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:
And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Lord, before the vail of the sanctuary.
And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away,
As it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering.
And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung,
Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.
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;
When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation.
And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord: and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord.
And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock’s blood to the tabernacle of the congregation:
And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, even before the vail.
And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the Lord, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar.
And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.
And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.
When a ruler hath sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty;
Or if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish:
And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord: it is a sin offering.
And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering.
And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.
And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty;
Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.
And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.
And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.
And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the Lord; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish.
And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.
And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar:
And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
Leviticus 4 delves into the crucial topic of the sin offering, outlining the means by which God’s people could receive forgiveness for unintentional sins. In order for a holy God to interact with sinful humans, establishing an offering to atone for the sins of God’s people was an absolute necessity. Interestingly, the natural human reaction for dealing with sin is to hide, as Adam and Eve did in the garden after they sinned (Genesis 3:8). That God himself had to initiate this is obvious from the opening phrase: “The LORD spoke to Moses.” Making a way for sinners to be made right with him has always been important to God.
The Essence of the Sin Offering
Israel’s sin offering provided forgiveness and atonement for sins committed unintentionally against any of the LORD’s commands. This is a broad statement that covers all kinds of situations, although in Leviticus 5:1-6 the Lord gave four specific examples of unintentional sins needing atonement. Should you wonder about intentional sins committed in deliberate rebellion against God, know that the only atonement for them was the death of the offender. The phrase “before the LORD” occurs ten times in chapter 4 alone, and many times afterward. This means that through these rituals people were constantly being reminded that their sin was first and foremost an offense against the holy God they worshiped; thus, it was him they needed to satisfy. David showed he understood this truth when he was finally forced to face his sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. David cried out to God in his prayer of confession: “Against you—you alone—I have sinned and done this evil” (Psalm 51:4).
A Tiered System of Atonement
The structure of Leviticus 4 outlines the sin offering requirements for four groups in Israel’s camp. These groups were the anointed priest (4:3), “the whole community of Israel” (4:13), leaders (4:22), and “the common people” (4:27). The word common, of course, had nothing to do with their intrinsic value to God. Rather, it was a recognition of their diverse positions within the community and the potential impact their sins would have on the nation. This difference applied to the cost of the animals (or grain in the case of extreme poverty) that were required for the sacrifice and the ritual of applying the blood to achieve atonement.
The Anointed Priest (Leviticus 4:3-12)
The sins of the anointed priest were the first that needed to be atoned for. The entire sacrificial system would grind to a halt if the high priest, which is probably the more precise way to refer to the “anointed priest,” was carrying unforgiven sin that would disqualify him from ministering before the Lord. His sin would bring guilt on the entire nation, so his sacrifice had to be a young, unblemished bull, the costliest animal for an Israelite.
The priest would lay his hand on the bull’s head, signifying that this animal was bearing his sin. He was then to slaughter it before the LORD, catching the creature’s blood in a bowl. The anointed priest who sinned took the blood of the sacrifice into the tabernacle, dipped his finger in the bowl, and sprinkled that blood seven times (4:5-6) in front of the veil that separated the holy place from the most holy place. He then applied blood to the horns of the altar of fragrant incense, pouring out the rest at the base of the altar of burnt offering (4:7). The fat of the sacrifice was burned as a further offering to the Lord, and the rest of the carcass was taken away and burned (4:8-12). Many of these procedures were the same for other offerings, but it’s important to note that the priest had to be first in line for cleansing and forgiveness so he could serve effectively before the Lord in handling the people’s sin offerings.
The Whole Community of Israel (Leviticus 4:13-21)
The second set of sin offering procedures is for the whole community of Israel. This signals a logical progression because if the congregation as a whole was under God’s displeasure for sin, nothing good was going to happen at the individual level. Similarly, in the church, God’s people need to keep short their sin accounts with the Lord, so that we can move ahead as one to advance his kingdom on earth. And even though the church is not given a formal ritual for corporate confession in Scripture, it is very appropriate for a local body of believers to acknowledge where they have fallen short and to seek God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
The purification from sin for the community involved bringing a young bull (4:14) instead of a full-grown one. The elders of the community, as the congregation’s leaders and representatives, laid their hands on the bull’s head in confession of sin and acknowledgment that the bull was being offered in place of the people (4:15). The bull was slaughtered and burned in a way similar to the previous procedures, and the result was atonement and forgiveness of sins (4:15-21).
Leaders (Leviticus 4:22-26)
A leader who sinned unintentionally was to bring an unblemished male goat as his offering (4:22-23). Such a person could have been either a tribal leader or an official in one of the clans of a particular tribe. When the goat was slaughtered, the priest applied some of its blood to the horns of the altar of burnt offering (4:25).
The Common People (Leviticus 4:27-35)
If one of the common people in the Israelite community sinned unintentionally, he could bring an unblemished female goat or lamb for his sin offering (4:27-28, 32); these options were less costly for the average person to purchase. The ritual for atonement, however, was the same as for the leader (4:29, 33-35). No one who sinned in ignorance and offended Israel’s holy God was left without a remedy—but addressing the offense always required the shedding of blood.
Leviticus 4 reveals God's meticulous plan for atonement. The sacrifices were a shadow of the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ, who takes away the sin of the world.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:
If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering.
And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the Lord.
And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock’s blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:
And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Lord, before the vail of the sanctuary.
And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away,
As it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering.
And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung,
Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.
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;
When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation.
And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord: and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord.
And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock’s blood to the tabernacle of the congregation:
And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, even before the vail.
And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the Lord, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar.
And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.
And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.
When a ruler hath sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty;
Or if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish:
And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord: it is a sin offering.
And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering.
And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.
And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty;
Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.
And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.
And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.
And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the Lord; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish.
And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.
And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar:
And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
Leviticus 4 delves into the crucial topic of the sin offering, outlining the means by which God’s people could receive forgiveness for unintentional sins. In order for a holy God to interact with sinful humans, establishing an offering to atone for the sins of God’s people was an absolute necessity. Interestingly, the natural human reaction for dealing with sin is to hide, as Adam and Eve did in the garden after they sinned (Genesis 3:8). That God himself had to initiate this is obvious from the opening phrase: “The LORD spoke to Moses.” Making a way for sinners to be made right with him has always been important to God.
The Essence of the Sin Offering
Israel’s sin offering provided forgiveness and atonement for sins committed unintentionally against any of the LORD’s commands. This is a broad statement that covers all kinds of situations, although in Leviticus 5:1-6 the Lord gave four specific examples of unintentional sins needing atonement. Should you wonder about intentional sins committed in deliberate rebellion against God, know that the only atonement for them was the death of the offender. The phrase “before the LORD” occurs ten times in chapter 4 alone, and many times afterward. This means that through these rituals people were constantly being reminded that their sin was first and foremost an offense against the holy God they worshiped; thus, it was him they needed to satisfy. David showed he understood this truth when he was finally forced to face his sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. David cried out to God in his prayer of confession: “Against you—you alone—I have sinned and done this evil” (Psalm 51:4).
A Tiered System of Atonement
The structure of Leviticus 4 outlines the sin offering requirements for four groups in Israel’s camp. These groups were the anointed priest (4:3), “the whole community of Israel” (4:13), leaders (4:22), and “the common people” (4:27). The word common, of course, had nothing to do with their intrinsic value to God. Rather, it was a recognition of their diverse positions within the community and the potential impact their sins would have on the nation. This difference applied to the cost of the animals (or grain in the case of extreme poverty) that were required for the sacrifice and the ritual of applying the blood to achieve atonement.
The Anointed Priest (Leviticus 4:3-12)
The sins of the anointed priest were the first that needed to be atoned for. The entire sacrificial system would grind to a halt if the high priest, which is probably the more precise way to refer to the “anointed priest,” was carrying unforgiven sin that would disqualify him from ministering before the Lord. His sin would bring guilt on the entire nation, so his sacrifice had to be a young, unblemished bull, the costliest animal for an Israelite.
The priest would lay his hand on the bull’s head, signifying that this animal was bearing his sin. He was then to slaughter it before the LORD, catching the creature’s blood in a bowl. The anointed priest who sinned took the blood of the sacrifice into the tabernacle, dipped his finger in the bowl, and sprinkled that blood seven times (4:5-6) in front of the veil that separated the holy place from the most holy place. He then applied blood to the horns of the altar of fragrant incense, pouring out the rest at the base of the altar of burnt offering (4:7). The fat of the sacrifice was burned as a further offering to the Lord, and the rest of the carcass was taken away and burned (4:8-12). Many of these procedures were the same for other offerings, but it’s important to note that the priest had to be first in line for cleansing and forgiveness so he could serve effectively before the Lord in handling the people’s sin offerings.
The Whole Community of Israel (Leviticus 4:13-21)
The second set of sin offering procedures is for the whole community of Israel. This signals a logical progression because if the congregation as a whole was under God’s displeasure for sin, nothing good was going to happen at the individual level. Similarly, in the church, God’s people need to keep short their sin accounts with the Lord, so that we can move ahead as one to advance his kingdom on earth. And even though the church is not given a formal ritual for corporate confession in Scripture, it is very appropriate for a local body of believers to acknowledge where they have fallen short and to seek God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
The purification from sin for the community involved bringing a young bull (4:14) instead of a full-grown one. The elders of the community, as the congregation’s leaders and representatives, laid their hands on the bull’s head in confession of sin and acknowledgment that the bull was being offered in place of the people (4:15). The bull was slaughtered and burned in a way similar to the previous procedures, and the result was atonement and forgiveness of sins (4:15-21).
Leaders (Leviticus 4:22-26)
A leader who sinned unintentionally was to bring an unblemished male goat as his offering (4:22-23). Such a person could have been either a tribal leader or an official in one of the clans of a particular tribe. When the goat was slaughtered, the priest applied some of its blood to the horns of the altar of burnt offering (4:25).
The Common People (Leviticus 4:27-35)
If one of the common people in the Israelite community sinned unintentionally, he could bring an unblemished female goat or lamb for his sin offering (4:27-28, 32); these options were less costly for the average person to purchase. The ritual for atonement, however, was the same as for the leader (4:29, 33-35). No one who sinned in ignorance and offended Israel’s holy God was left without a remedy—but addressing the offense always required the shedding of blood.
Leviticus 4 reveals God's meticulous plan for atonement. The sacrifices were a shadow of the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ, who takes away the sin of the world.