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 4:21

4:21 He ⁵  must bring the rest of the bull outside the camp ⁶  and burn it just as he burned the first bull – it is the sin offering of the assembly.

Leviticus 4:31

4:31 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 ⁷  on his behalf and he will be forgiven. ⁸ 

Leviticus 4:35

4:35 Then the one who brought the offering ⁹  must remove all its fat (just as the fat of the sheep is removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts of the Lord. So the priest will make atonement ¹⁰  on his behalf for his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven. ¹¹ 

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 sn See the note on the word “slaughter” in v. 15.

⁶ tn Heb “And he shall bring out the bull to from outside to the camp.”

⁷ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

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

⁹ tn Heb “Then he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here “he” refers to the offerer rather than the priest (contrast the clauses before and after).

¹⁰ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

¹¹ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).