7 'The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before the Lord in the tent of meeting ; and all the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting . 8 ' He shall remove from it all the fat of the bull of the sin offering : the fat that covers the entrails , and all the fat which is on the entrails , 9 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins , and the lobe of the liver , which he shall remove with the kidneys 10 (just as it is removed from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings ), and the priest is to offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering . 11 'But the hide of the bull and all its flesh with its head and its legs and its entrails and its refuse , 12 that is, all the rest of the bull , he is to bring out to a clean place outside e the camp where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire ; where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned .
13 ' Now if the whole congregation of Israel commits error and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly , and they commit any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done , and they become guilty ; 14 when the sin which they have committed becomes known , then the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd for a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting . 15 'Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord , and the bull shall be slain before the Lord . 16 'Then the anointed priest is to bring some of the blood of the bull to the tent of meeting ; 17 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord , in front of the veil . 18 'He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the tent of meeting ; and all the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Leviticus 4:7-18
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.