Leviticus 4:23-28

4:23 or his sin that he committed ¹  is made known to him, ²  he must bring a flawless male goat as his offering. ³  4:24 He must lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slaughter ⁴  it in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord – it is a sin offering. 4:25 Then the priest must 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 he must pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 4:26 Then the priest ⁵  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 ⁶  on his behalf for ⁷  his sin and he will be forgiven. ⁸ 

For the Common Person

4:27 “‘If an ordinary individual ⁹  sins by straying unintentionally ¹⁰  when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, ¹¹  and he pleads guilty 4:28 or his sin that he committed ¹²  is made known to him, ¹³  he must bring a flawless female goat ¹⁴  as his offering for the sin ¹⁵  that he committed.

Leviticus 16:15

16:15 “He must then slaughter the sin offering goat which is for the people. He is to bring its blood inside the veil-canopy, ¹⁶  and he is to do with its blood just as he did to the blood of the bull: He is to sprinkle it on the atonement plate and in front of the atonement plate.

Numbers 15:24

15:24 then if anything is done unintentionally ¹⁷  without the knowledge of ¹⁸  the community, the whole community must prepare one young bull for a burnt offering – for a pleasing aroma to the Lord – along with its grain offering and its customary drink offering, and one male goat for a purification offering.

Numbers 28:30

28:30 as well as one male goat to make an atonement for you.

Romans 8:3

8:3 For God achieved what the law could not do because ¹⁹  it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

Romans 8:2

8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ²⁰  in Christ Jesus has set you ²¹  free from the law of sin and death.

Colossians 1:21

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ²²  minds ²³  as expressed through ²⁴  your evil deeds,

¹ tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned in it is made known to him”; NAB “if he learns of the sin he committed.”

² tn Lev 4:22b-23a is difficult. The present translation suggests that there are two possible legal situations envisioned, separated by the Hebrew אוֹ (’o, “or”) at the beginning of v. 23. Lev 4:22b refers to any case in which the leader readily admits his guilt (i.e., “pleads guilty”), whereas v. 23a refers to cases where the leader is convicted of his guilt by legal action (“his sin…is made known to him”). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:95-96; Lev 4:27-28; and esp. the notes on Lev 5:1 below.

³ tn Heb “a he-goat of goats, a male without defect”; cf. NLT “with no physical defects.”

⁴ tn The LXX has a plural form here and also for the same verb later in the verse. See the note on Lev 1:5a.

⁵ 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.

⁶ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

⁷ 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.”

⁸ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

⁹ 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.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “If one person sins by straying, from the people of the land.” See Lev 4:2 for a note on “straying.”

¹¹ tn Heb “by doing it, one from the commandments of the Lord which must not be done.”

¹² tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned is made known to him”; cf. NCV “when that person learns about his sin.”

¹³ tn Lev 4:27b-28a is essentially the same as 4:22b-23a (see the notes there).

¹⁴ tn Heb “a she-goat of goats, a female without defect”; NAB “an unblemished she-goat.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “on his sin.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “and he shall bring its blood into from house to the veil-canopy.”

¹⁷ tn The idea of לִשְׁגָגָה (lishgagah) seems to be that of “inadvertence” or “without intent.” The text gives no indication of how this offense might be committed, or what it might include. It probably describes any transgressions done in ignorance of the Law that involved a violation of tabernacle procedure or priestly protocol or social misdemeanor. Even though it was done unintentionally, it was still a violation and called for ritual purification.

¹⁸ tn Heb “[away] from the eyes of the community.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “in that.”

²⁰ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

²¹ tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.

²² tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

²³ tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

²⁴ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.