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Leviticus 4

Leviticus 4 treats unintentional sin as real guilt and establishes God’s provision for atonement through the sin offering.

YHWH tells Moses how Israel must respond when someone breaks his commands without intending to do so. The instructions move from the anointed priest to the whole congregation, then to a ruler and an ordinary Israelite. Each case requires a sin offering, with different animals and different handling of the blood. The priest makes atonement, and the repeated promise of forgiveness follows the offerings for the congregation, the ruler, and the individual.

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2“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them,
3if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without defect to the LORD for a sin offering.
4He shall bring the bull to the door of the Tent of Meeting before the LORD; and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull, and kill the bull before the LORD.
5The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull, and bring it to the Tent of Meeting.
6The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD, before the veil of the sanctuary.
7The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the Tent of Meeting; and he shall pour out the rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
8He shall take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering from it: the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards,
11He shall carry the bull’s skin, all its meat, with its head, and with its legs, its innards, and its dung
12—all the rest of the bull—outside of the camp to a clean place where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. It shall be burned where the ashes are poured out.
13“‘If the whole congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and are guilty;
14when the sin in which they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting.
15The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD; and the bull shall be killed before the LORD.
16The anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull to the Tent of Meeting.
17The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, before the veil.
18He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in the Tent of Meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
19All its fat he shall take from it, and burn it on the altar.
20He shall do this with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so he shall do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.
21He shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.
22“‘When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which the LORD his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty,
23if his sin in which he has sinned is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without defect.
24He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the LORD. It is a sin offering.
25The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
26All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven.
27“‘If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and is guilty,
28if his sin which he has sinned is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has sinned.
29He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering.
30The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.
31All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma to the LORD; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
32“‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without defect.
33He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.
34The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.
35He shall remove all its fat, like the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of the LORD made by fire. The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven.
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Key verses
Leviticus 4:3The anointed priest’s sin can bring guilt on the people, placing his responsibility at the head of these instructions.
Leviticus 4:26The ruler remains accountable to God, and the prescribed offering ends with an explicit promise of forgiveness.
Leviticus 4:35The chapter closes by extending the same assurance of atonement and forgiveness to an ordinary Israelite.
Where this chapter reaches

Numbers shares instructions for offerings when the congregation or an individual sins without intent, including the priest’s work of atonement and the promise of forgiveness. Hebrews draws on the burning of sacrificial bodies outside the camp when describing Jesus’ suffering outside the gate.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do you notice about the repeated promise of forgiveness after such detailed instructions?

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How does the priest’s capacity to bring guilt on others shape your understanding of spiritual responsibility?

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Questions people ask about Leviticus 4

What does unintentional sin mean in Leviticus 4?

It means violating one of YHWH’s commands without intending the violation. The congregation’s wrongdoing may be hidden from its awareness, and the ruler or individual may learn of the sin afterward. The chapter still calls this guilt and prescribes an offering once the wrongdoing becomes known.

Why are different animals required in Leviticus 4?

The offerings vary with the person or group involved: a bull for the anointed priest or congregation, a male goat for a ruler, and a female goat or lamb for an ordinary Israelite. The chapter does not explain every distinction. It does state that the priest’s sin can bring guilt on the people.

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What the Bible says about guilt →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).