Leviticus 4:5-7

4:5 Then that high priest must take some of the blood ¹  of the bull and bring it to the Meeting Tent. 4:6 The priest must dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle ²  some of it ³  seven times before the Lord toward ⁴  the front of the veil-canopy ⁵  of the sanctuary. 4:7 The priest must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the bull’s blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.

Leviticus 4:11-12

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.

Leviticus 4:16-21

4:16 Then the high priest ¹¹  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 ¹²  and sprinkle ¹³  some of the blood seven times ¹⁴  before the Lord toward ¹⁵  the front of the veil-canopy. ¹⁶  4:18 He must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar ¹⁷  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 ¹⁸  must take all its fat ¹⁹  and offer the fat ²⁰  up in smoke on the altar. 4:20 He must do with the rest of the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; this is what he must do with it. ²¹  So the priest will make atonement ²²  on their behalf and they will be forgiven. ²³  4:21 He ²⁴  must bring the rest of the bull outside the camp ²⁵  and burn it just as he burned the first bull – it is the sin offering of the assembly.

¹ tn Heb “from the blood of the bull” (and similarly throughout this chapter).

² tn The Hebrew verb וְהִזָּה (vÿhizzah, Hiphil of נָזָה, nazah) does indeed mean “sprinkle” or “splatter.” Contrast the different Hebrew verb meaning “splash” in Lev 1:5 (זָרָק, zaraq).

³ tn Heb “of the blood.” The relative pronoun (“it”) has been used in the translation here for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn The particle here translated “toward” usually serves as a direct object indicator or a preposition meaning “with.” With the verb of motion it probably means “toward,” “in the direction of” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:234; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 60); cf. NAB, CEV.

⁵ tn The Hebrew term פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet) is usually translated “veil” (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB) or “curtain” (e.g., NIV, NRSV), but it seems to have stretched not only in front of but also over the top of the ark of the covenant which stood behind and under it inside the most holy place (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).

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

¹² 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.

¹³ 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).

¹⁴ 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).

¹⁵ tn See the note on v. 6 above.

¹⁶ tn See the note on v. 6 above.

¹⁷ sn See v. 7, where this altar is identified as the altar of fragrant incense.

¹⁸ 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.

¹⁹ tn Heb “take up all its fat from it”; NASB “shall remove all its fat from it.”

²⁰ 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.

²¹ sn Cf. Lev 4:11-12 above for the disposition of “the [rest of] the bull.”

²² sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

²³ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to them” or “it shall be forgiven to them.”

²⁴ sn See the note on the word “slaughter” in v. 15.

²⁵ tn Heb “And he shall bring out the bull to from outside to the camp.”