Leviticus 4:27-35

For the Common Person

4:27 “‘If an ordinary individual ¹  sins by straying unintentionally ²  when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, ³  and he pleads guilty 4:28 or his sin that he committed ⁴  is made known to him, ⁵  he must bring a flawless female goat ⁶  as his offering for the sin ⁷  that he committed. 4:29 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter ⁸  the sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 4:30 Then the priest must take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 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 ⁹  on his behalf and he will be forgiven. ¹⁰ 

4:32 “‘But if he brings a sheep as his offering, for a sin offering, he must bring a flawless female. 4:33 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it for a sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 4:34 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 all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 4:35 Then the one who brought the offering ¹¹  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 ¹²  on his behalf for his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven. ¹³ 

[4:27]  ¹ 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.”

[4:27]  ² tn Heb “If one person sins by straying, from the people of the land.” See Lev 4:2 for a note on “straying.”

[4:27]  ³ tn Heb “by doing it, one from the commandments of the Lord which must not be done.”

[4:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned is made known to him”; cf. NCV “when that person learns about his sin.”

[4:28]  ⁵ tn Lev 4:27b-28a is essentially the same as 4:22b-23a (see the notes there).

[4:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “a she-goat of goats, a female without defect”; NAB “an unblemished she-goat.”

[4:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “on his sin.”

[4:29]  ⁸ tc The LXX has a plural form here (see v. 24 above and the note on Lev 1:5a).

[4:31]  ⁹ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

[4:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

[4:35]  ¹¹ 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).

[4:35]  ¹² sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

[4:35]  ¹³ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).