Discovery BoxLeviticus 4:8-19 
Context4:8 “‘Then he must take up all the fat from the sin offering bull: 1 the fat covering the entrails 2 and all the fat surrounding the entrails, 3 4:9 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys) 4 4:10 – just as it is taken from the ox of the peace offering sacrifice 5 – and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering. 4:11 But the hide of the bull, all its flesh along with its head and its legs, its entrails, and its dung – 4:12 all the rest of the bull 6 – he must bring outside the camp 7 to a ceremonially clean place, 8 to the fatty ash pile, 9 and he must burn 10 it on a wood fire; it must be burned on the fatty ash pile.
4:13 “‘If the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally 11 and the matter is not noticed by 12 the assembly, and they violate one of the Lord’s commandments, which must not be violated, 13 so they become guilty, 4:14 the assembly must present a young bull for a sin offering when the sin they have committed 14 becomes known. They must bring it before the Meeting Tent, 4:15 the elders of the congregation must lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and someone must slaughter 15 the bull before the Lord. 4:16 Then the high priest 16 must bring some of the blood of the bull to the Meeting Tent, 4:17 and that priest must dip his finger in the blood 17 and sprinkle 18 some of the blood seven times 19 before the Lord toward 20 the front of the veil-canopy. 21 4:18 He must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar 22 which is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.
4:19 “‘Then the priest 23 must take all its fat 24 and offer the fat 25 up in smoke on the altar.
Leviticus 4:26
Context4:26 Then the priest 26 must offer all of its fat up in smoke on the altar like the fat of the peace offering sacrifice. So the priest will make atonement 27 on his behalf for 28 his sin and he will be forgiven. 29
Leviticus 4:31
Context4:31 Then he must remove all of its fat (just as fat was removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the Lord. So the priest will make atonement 30 on his behalf and he will be forgiven. 31
1 tn Heb “all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall take up from it.”
2 tc The MT has here the preposition עַל (’al, “on, upon” [i.e., “which covers on the entrails,” as awkward in Hebrew as it is in English]), but Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Targums read אֶת (’et), which is what would be expected (i.e., “which covers the entrails”; cf. Lev 3:3, 9, 14). It may have been mistakenly inserted here under the influence of “on (עַל) the entrails” at the end of the verse.
3 tn Heb “and all the fat on the entrails.” The fat layer that covers the entrails as a whole (i.e., “that covers the entrails”) is different from the fat that surrounds and adheres to the various organs (“on the entrails,” i.e., surrounding them; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:205-7).
4 tn Heb “and the protruding lobe on the liver on the kidneys he shall remove it.”
5 tn Heb “taken up from”; KJV, ASV “taken off from”; NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “removed.” See the notes on Lev 3:3-4 above (cf. also 3:9-10, 14-15).
6 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).
7 tn Heb “And he (the offerer) shall bring out all the bull to from outside to the camp to a clean place.”
8 tn Heb “a clean place,” but referring to a place that is ceremonially clean. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “the pouring out [place] of fatty ash.”
10 tn Heb “burn with fire.” This expression is somewhat redundant in English, so the translation collocates “fire” with “wood,” thus “a wood fire.”
11 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).
12 tn Heb “is concealed from the eyes of”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “escapes the notice of.”
13 tn Heb “and they do one from all the commandments of the
14 tn Heb “and the sin which they committed on it becomes known”; KJV “which they have sinned against it.” The Hebrew עָלֶיהָ (’aleha, “on it”) probably refers back to “one of the commandments” in v. 13 (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:243).
15 tn Heb “and he shall slaughter.” The singular verb seems to refer to an individual who represents the whole congregation, perhaps one of the elders referred to at the beginning of the verse, or the officiating priest (cf. v. 21). The LXX and Syriac make the verb plural, referring to “the elders of the congregation.”
16 tn Heb “the anointed priest” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the high priest (cf. TEV).
17 tn The words “in the blood” are not repeated in the Hebrew text at this point, but must be supplied in the English translation for clarity.
18 tn The Hebrew verb וְהִזָּה (vÿhizzah, Hiphil of נָזָה, nazah) does indeed mean “sprinkle” or “splatter.” Contrast the different Hebrew verb translated “splash” in Lev 1:5 (זָרָק, zaraq).
19 tc The MT reads literally, “and the priest shall dip his finger from the blood and sprinkle seven times.” This is awkward. Compare v. 6, which has literally, “and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle from the blood seven times.” The MT appears to be corrupt by haplography (i.e., assuming v. 6 to be the correct form, in v. 17 the scribe skipped from “his finger” to “from the blood,” thus missing “in the blood”) and metathesis (i.e., this also resulted in a text where “from the blood” stands before “sprinkle” rather than after it; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 47).
20 tn See the note on v. 6 above.
21 tn See the note on v. 6 above.
22 sn See v. 7, where this altar is identified as the altar of fragrant incense.
23 tn Heb “Then he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Based on the parallel statement in 4:10 and 4:31, it is the priest who performs this action rather than the person who brought the offering.
24 tn Heb “take up all its fat from it”; NASB “shall remove all its fat from it.”
sn See the full discussion of the fat regulations in Lev 4:8-9 above.
25 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fat) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Only the fat is meant here, since the “rest” of the bull is mentioned in v. 21.
26 tn Heb “Then he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Based on the parallel statements in 4:10 and 4:31, it is the priest who performs this action rather than the person who brought the offering.
27 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
28 tn Heb “from.” In this phrase the preposition מִן (min) may be referring to the reason or cause (“on account of, because of”; GKC 383 §119.z). As J. E. Hartley (Leviticus [WBC], 47) points out, “from” may refer to the removal of the sin, but is an awkward expression. Hartley also suggests that the phrasing might be “an elliptical expression for יְכַפֵּר עַל־לְטַהֵר אֶת־מִן, ‘he will make expiation for…to cleanse…from…,’ as in 16:30.”
29 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).
30 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
31 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).
