Leviticus 4:2-3

4:2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘When a person sins by straying unintentionally ¹  from any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, and violates any ²  one of them ³  –

For the Priest

4:3 “‘If the high priest ⁴  sins so that the people are guilty, ⁵  on account of the sin he has committed he must present a flawless young bull to the Lord ⁶  for a sin offering. ⁷ 

Leviticus 4:13

For the Whole Congregation

4:13 “‘If the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally ⁸  and the matter is not noticed by ⁹  the assembly, and they violate one of the Lord’s commandments, which must not be violated, ¹⁰  so they become guilty,

Leviticus 4:12

4:12 all the rest of the bull ¹¹  – he must bring outside the camp ¹²  to a ceremonially clean place, ¹³  to the fatty ash pile, ¹⁴  and he must burn ¹⁵  it on a wood fire; it must be burned on the fatty ash pile.

Leviticus 4:27

For the Common Person

4:27 “‘If an ordinary individual ¹⁶  sins by straying unintentionally ¹⁷  when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, ¹⁸  and he pleads guilty

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¹ tn Heb “And a person, when he sins in straying.” The English translation of “by straying” (בִּשְׁגָגָה [bishgagah] literally, “in going astray; in making an error”) varies greatly, but almost all suggest that this term refers to sins that were committed by mistake or done not knowing that the particular act was sinful (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:228-29). See, e.g., LXX “involuntarily”; Tg. Onq. “by neglect”; KJV “through ignorance”; ASV, RSV, NJPS “unwittingly”; NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “unintentionally”; NAB, NEB “inadvertently”; NCV “by accident.” However, we know from Num 15:27-31 that committing a sin “by straying” is the opposite of committing a sin “defiantly” (i.e., בְּיַד רָמָה [bÿyad ramah] “with a raised hand,” v. 30). In the latter case the person, as it were, raises his fist in presumptuous defiance against the Lord. Thus, he “blasphemes” the Lord and has “despised” his word, for which he should be “cut off from among his people” (Num 15:30-31). One could not bring an offering for such a sin. The expression here in Lev 4:2 combines “by straying” with the preposition “from” which fits naturally with “straying” (i.e., “straying from” the Lord’s commandments). For sins committed “by straying” from the commandments (Lev 4 throughout) or other types of transgressions (Lev 5:1-6) there was indeed forgiveness available through the sin offering. See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:94-95.

² tn This is an emphatic use of the preposition מִן (min; see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 56-57, §325).

³ tn The “when” clause (כִּי, ki) breaks off here before its resolution, thus creating an open-ended introduction to the following subsections, which are introduced by “if” (אִם [’im] vv. 3, 13, 27, 32). Also, the last part of the verse reads literally, “which must not be done and does from one from them.”

⁴ tn Heb “the anointed priest” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the high priest (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

⁵ tn Heb “to the guilt of the people”; NRSV “thus bringing guilt on the people.”

⁶ tn Heb “and he shall offer on his sin which he sinned, a bull, a son of the herd, flawless.”

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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).

⁹ tn Heb “is concealed from the eyes of”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “escapes the notice of.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and they do one from all the commandments of the Lord which must not be done” (cf. v. 2).

¹¹ tn All of v. 11 is a so-called casus pendens (also known as an extraposition or a nominative absolute), which means that it anticipates the next verse, being the full description of “all (the rest of) the bull” (lit. “all the bull”) at the beginning of v. 12 (actually after the first verb of the verse; see the next note below).

¹² tn Heb “And he (the offerer) shall bring out all the bull to from outside to the camp to a clean place.”

¹³ tn Heb “a clean place,” but referring to a place that is ceremonially clean. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ tn Heb “the pouring out [place] of fatty ash.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “burn with fire.” This expression is somewhat redundant in English, so the translation collocates “fire” with “wood,” thus “a wood fire.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “an individual from the people of the land”; cf. NASB “anyone of the common people” (KJV, ASV both similar); NAB “a private person.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “If one person sins by straying, from the people of the land.” See Lev 4:2 for a note on “straying.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “by doing it, one from the commandments of the Lord which must not be done.”