3 If the chief priest by doing wrong becomes a cause of sin to the people, then let him give to the Lord for the sin which he has done, an ox, without any mark, for a sin-offering. 4 And he is to take the ox to the door of the Tent of meeting before the Lord; and put his hand on its head and put it to death before the Lord. 5 And the chief priest is to take some of its blood and take it to the Tent of meeting; 6 And the priest is to put his finger in the blood, shaking drops of it before the Lord seven times, in front of the veil of the holy place. 7 And the priest is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar on which perfume is burned before the Lord in the Tent of meeting, draining out all the rest of the blood of the ox at the base of the altar of burned offering which is at the door of the Tent of meeting. 8 And he is to take away all the fat of the ox of the sin-offering; the fat covering the inside parts and all the fat of the inside parts, 9 And the two kidneys, with the fat on them, which is by the top part of the legs, and the fat joining the liver and the kidneys, he is to take away, 10 As it is taken from the ox of the peace-offering; and it is to be burned by the priest on the altar of burned offerings. 11 And the skin of the ox and all its flesh, with its head and its legs and its inside parts and its waste, 12 All the ox, he is to take away outside the circle of the tents into a clean place where the burned waste is put, and there it is to be burned on wood with fire.
13 And if all the people of Israel do wrong, without anyone's knowledge; if they have done any of the things which by the Lord's order are not to be done, causing sin to come on them; 14 When the sin which they have done comes to light, then let all the people give an ox for a sin-offering, and take it before the Tent of meeting. 15 And let the chiefs of the people put their hands on its head before the Lord, and put the ox to death before the Lord. 16 And the priest is to take some of its blood to the Tent of meeting; 17 And put his finger in the blood, shaking drops of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil. 18 And he is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the Tent of meeting; and all the rest of the blood is to be drained out at the base of the altar of burned offering at the door of the Tent of meeting. 19 And he is to take off all its fat, burning it on the altar. 20 Let him do with the ox as he did with the ox of the sin-offering; and the priest will take away their sin and they will have forgiveness. 21 Then let the ox be taken away outside the tent-circle, that it may be burned as the other ox was burned; it is the sin-offering for all the people.
22 If a ruler does wrong, and in error does any of the things which, by the order of the Lord his God, are not to be done, causing sin to come on him; 23 When the sin which he has done is made clear to him, let him give for his offering a goat, a male without any mark. 24 And he is to put his hand on the head of the goat and put it to death in the place where they put to death the burned offering before the Lord: it is a sin-offering. 25 And the priest is to take some of the blood of the offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burned offering, draining out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burned offering. 26 And all the fat of it is to be burned on the altar like the fat of the peace-offering; and the priest will take away his sin and he will have forgiveness.
27 And if any one of the common people does wrong in error, doing any of the things which the Lord has given orders are not to be done, causing sin to come on him; 28 When the sin which he has done is made clear to him, then he is to give for his offering a goat, a female without any mark, for the sin which he has done. 29 And he is to put his hand on the head of the sin-offering and put it to death in the place where they put to death the burned offering. 30 And the priest is to take some of the blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burned offering, and all the rest of its blood is to be drained out at the base of the altar. 31 And let all its fat be taken away, as the fat is taken away from the peace-offerings, and let it be burned on the altar by the priest for a sweet smell to the Lord; and the priest will take away his sin and he will have forgiveness. 32 And if he gives a lamb as his sin-offering, let it be a female without any mark; 33 And he is to put his hand on the head of the offering and put it to death for a sin-offering in the place where they put to death the burned offering. 34 And the priest is to take some of the blood of the offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burned offering, and all the rest of the blood is to be drained out at the base of the altar; 35 And let him take away all its fat, as the fat is taken away from the lamb of the peace-offerings; and let it be burned by the priest on the altar among the offerings made by fire to the Lord: and the priest will take away his sin and he will have forgiveness.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Leviticus 4:3-35
Commentary on Leviticus 4:1-12
(Read Leviticus 4:1-12)
Burnt-offerings, meat-offerings, and peace-offerings, had been offered before the giving of the law upon mount Sinai; and in these the patriarchs had respect to sin, to make atonement for it. But the Jews were now put into a way of making atonement for sin, more particularly by sacrifice, as a shadow of good things to come; yet the substance is Christ, and that one offering of himself, by which he put away sin. The sins for which the sin-offerings were appointed are supposed to be open acts. They are supposed to be sins of commission, things which ought not to have been done. Omissions are sins, and must come into judgment: yet what had been omitted at one time, might be done at another; but a sin committed was past recall. They are supposed to be sins committed through ignorance. The law begins with the case of the anointed priest. It is evident that God never had any infallible priest in his church upon earth, when even the high priest was liable to fall into sins of ignorance. All pretensions to act without error are sure marks of Antichrist. The beast was to be carried without the camp, and there burned to ashes. This was a sign of the duty of repentance, which is the putting away sin as a detestable thing, which our soul hates. The sin-offering is called sin. What they did to that, we must do to our sins; the body of sin must be destroyed, Hebrews 13:11-13.
Commentary on Leviticus 4:13-21
(Read Leviticus 4:13-21)
If the leaders of the people, through mistake, caused them to err, an offering must be brought, that wrath might not come upon the whole congregation. When sacrifices were offered, the persons, on whose behalf they were devoted, were to lay their hands on the heads of the victims, and to confess their sins. The elders were to do so, when the sacrifices were offered for the whole congregation. The load of sin was supposed then to be borne by the guiltless animal. When the offering is completed, it is said, atonement is made, and the sin shall be forgiven. The saving of churches and kingdoms from ruin, is owing to the satisfaction and mediation of Christ.
Commentary on Leviticus 4:22-26
(Read Leviticus 4:22-26)
Those who have power to call others to account, are themselves accountable to the Ruler of rulers. The sin of the ruler, committed through ignorance, must come to his knowledge, either by the check of his own conscience, or by the reproof of his friends; both which even the best and greatest, not only should submit to, but be thankful for. That which I see not, teach thou me, and, Show me wherein I have erred, are prayers we should put up to God every day; that if, through ignorance, we fall into sin, we may not through ignorance abide in it.
Commentary on Leviticus 4:27-35
(Read Leviticus 4:27-35)
Here is the law of the sin-offering for a common person. To be able to plead, when charged with sin, that we did it ignorantly, and through the surprise of temptation, will not bring us off, if we have no interest in that great plea, Christ hath died. The sins of ignorance committed by a common person, needed a sacrifice; the greatest are not above, the meanest are not below Divine justice. None, if offenders, were overlooked. Here rich and poor meet together; they are alike sinners, and welcome to Christ. From all these laws concerning the sin-offerings, we may learn to hate sin, and to watch against it; and to value Christ, the great and true Sin-offering, whose blood cleanses from all sin, which it was not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away. For us to err, with the Bible in our hands, is the effect of pride, sloth, and carelessness. We need to use frequent self-examination, with serious study of the Scriptures, and earnest prayer for the convincing influences of God the Holy Spirit; that we may detect our sins of ignorance, repent, and obtain forgiveness through the blood of Christ.