Leviticus 4:3

For the Priest

4:3 “‘If the high priest 1  sins so that the people are guilty, 2  on account of the sin he has committed he must present a flawless young bull to the Lord 3  for a sin offering. 4 

Leviticus 15:14

15:14 Then on the eighth day he is to take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, 5  and he is to present himself 6  before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent and give them to the priest,

Leviticus 15:29

15:29 Then on the eighth day she must take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons 7  and she must bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent,

1 tn Heb “the anointed priest” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the high priest (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

2 tn Heb “to the guilt of the people”; NRSV “thus bringing guilt on the people.”

3 tn Heb “and he shall offer on his sin which he sinned, a bull, a son of the herd, flawless.”

4 sn The word for “sin offering” (sometimes translated “purification offering”) is the same as the word for “sin” earlier in the verse. One can tell which rendering is intended only by the context. The primary purpose of the “sin offering” (חַטָּאת, khatta’t) was to “purge” (כִּפֶּר, kipper, “to make atonement,” see 4:20, 26, 31, 35, and the notes on Lev 1:4 and esp. Lev 16:20, 33) the sanctuary or its furniture in order to cleanse it from any impurities and/or (re)consecrate it for holy purposes (see, e.g., Lev 8:15; 16:19). By making this atonement the impurities of the person or community were cleansed and the people became clean. See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:93-103.

5 tn Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14; cf. Lev 1:14 and esp. 5:7-10).

6 tc The MT has the Qal form of the verb בּוֹא (bo’) “to come” here, but the LXX (followed generally by the Syriac and Tg. Ps.-J.) reflects the Hiphil form of the same verb, “to bring” as in v. 29 below. In v. 29, however, there is no additional clause “and give them to the priest,” so the Hiphil is necessary in that context while it is not necessary here in v. 14.

7 tn Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14; cf. Lev 1:14 and esp. 5:7-10).