Leviticus 4:8-10

4:8 “‘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.

Leviticus 4:26

4:26 Then the priest ⁶  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 ⁷  on his behalf for ⁸  his sin and he will be forgiven. ⁹ 

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 ¹⁰  on his behalf and he will be forgiven. ¹¹ 

Leviticus 4:35

4:35 Then the one who brought the offering ¹²  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 ¹³  on his behalf for his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven. ¹⁴ 

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 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.

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

⁸ 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.”

⁹ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

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).

¹² 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).

¹³ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

¹⁴ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).