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 4:13

For the Whole Congregation

4:13 “‘If the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally ⁵  and the matter is not noticed by ⁶  the assembly, and they violate one of the Lord’s commandments, which must not be violated, ⁷  so they become guilty,

Leviticus 5:3

5:3 or when he touches human uncleanness with regard to anything by which he can become unclean, ⁸  even if he did not realize it, but he himself has later come to know it and is guilty;

Leviticus 6:5

6:5 or anything about which he swears falsely. ⁹  He must restore it in full ¹⁰  and add one fifth to it; he must give it to its owner when he is found guilty. ¹¹ 

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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 “strays”; KJV “sin through ignorance.” The verb “strays” here is the verbal form of the noun in the expression “by straying” (see the note on Lev 4:2 above).

⁶ tn Heb “is concealed from the eyes of”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “escapes the notice of.”

⁷ tn Heb “and they do one from all the commandments of the Lord which must not be done” (cf. v. 2).

⁸ tn Heb “or if he touches uncleanness of mankind to any of his uncleanness which he becomes unclean in it.”

⁹ tn Heb “or from all which he swears on it to falsehood.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “in its head.” This refers “the full amount” in terms of the “principal,” the original item or amount obtained illegally (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:338; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 84).

¹¹ tn Heb “to whom it is to him he shall give it in the day of his being guilty.” The present translation is based on the view that he has been found guilty through the legal process (see the note on v. 4 above; cf., e.g., TEV and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 33-34). Others translate the latter part as “in the day he offers his guilt [reparation] offering” (e.g., NIV and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 73, 84), or “in the day he realizes his guilt” (e.g., NRSV and J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:319, 338).