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Levítico 4

ARC · Chapter 4/27

1Fallou mais o Senhor a Moysés, dizendo:

2Falla aos filhos de Israel, dizendo: Quando uma alma peccar por erro contra alguns dos mandamentos do Senhor, ácerca do que se não deve fazer, e obrar contra algum d'elles:

3Se o sacerdote ungido peccar para escandalo do povo, offerecerá pelo seu peccado, que peccou, um novilho sem mancha, ao Senhor, por expiação do peccado.

4E trará o novilho á porta da tenda da congregação, perante o Senhor, e porá a sua mão sobre a cabeça do novilho, e degolará o novilho perante o Senhor.

5Então o sacerdote ungido tomará do sangue do novilho, e o trará á tenda da congregação:

6E o sacerdote molhará o seu dedo no sangue, e d'aquelle sangue espargirá sete vezes perante o Senhor, diante do véu do sanctuario.

7Tambem porá o sacerdote d'aquelle sangue sobre os cornos do altar do incenso aromatico, perante o Senhor, que está na tenda da congregação: e todo o resto do sangue do novilho derramará á base do altar do holocausto, que está á porta da tenda da congregação.

8E toda a gordura do novilho da expiação tirará d'elle: a gordura que cobre a fressura, e toda a gordura que está sobre a fressura,

9E os dois rins, e a gordura que está sobre elles, que está sobre as tripas, e o redenho de sobre o figado, com os rins, o tirará,

10Como se tira do boi do sacrificio pacifico: e o sacerdote o queimará sobre o altar do holocausto.

11Mas o coiro do novilho, e toda a sua carne, com a sua cabeça e as suas pernas, e as suas entranhas, e o seu esterco,

12Todo aquelle novilho levará fóra do arraial a um logar limpo, onde se lança a cinza, e o queimará com fogo sobre a lenha: onde se lança a cinza se queimará.

13Mas, se toda a congregação d'Israel errar, e o negocio fôr occulto aos olhos da congregação, e se fizerem, contra um de todos os mandamentos do Senhor, aquillo que se não deve fazer, e forem culpados;

14E o peccado em que peccarem fôr notorio, então a congregação offerecerá um novilho, por expiação do peccado, e o trará diante da tenda da congregação,

15E os anciãos da congregação porão as suas mãos sobre a cabeça do novilho perante o Senhor: e degolar-se-ha o novilho perante o Senhor.

16Então o sacerdote ungido trará do sangue do novilho á tenda da congregação,

17E o sacerdote molhará o seu dedo n'aquelle sangue, e o espargirá sete vezes perante o Senhor, diante do véu.

18E d'aquelle sangue porá sobre os cornos do altar, que está perante a face do Senhor, na tenda da congregação: e todo o resto do sangue derramará á base do altar do holocausto, que está diante da porta da tenda da congregação.

19E tirará d'elle toda a sua gordura, e queimal-a-ha sobre o altar;

20E fará a este novilho, como fez ao novilho da expiação; assim lhe fará, e o sacerdote por elles fará propiciação, e lhes será perdoado o peccado

21Depois levará o novilho fóra do arraial, e o queimará como queimou o primeiro novilho: é expiação do peccado da congregação.

22Quando um principe peccar, e por erro obrar contra algum de todos os mandamentos do Senhor seu Deus, n'aquillo que se não deve fazer, e assim fôr culpado;

23Ou se o seu peccado, no qual peccou, lhe fôr notificado, então trará pela sua offerta um bode tirado das cabras, macho sem mancha,

24E porá a sua mão sobre a cabeça do bode, e o degolará no logar onde se degola o holocausto, perante a face do Senhor: expiação do peccado é.

25Depois o sacerdote com o seu dedo tomará do sangue da expiação, e o porá sobre os cornos do altar do holocausto: então o resto do seu sangue derramará á base do altar do holocausto.

26Tambem queimará sobre o altar toda a sua gordura como gordura do sacrificio pacifico: assim o sacerdote por elle fará expiação do seu peccado, e lhe será perdoado.

27E, se qualquer outra pessoa do povo da terra peccar por erro, fazendo contra algum dos mandamentos do Senhor, aquillo que se não deve fazer, e assim fôr culpada;

28Ou se o seu peccado, no qual peccou, lhe fôr notificado, então trará pela sua offerta uma cabra sem mancha, pelo seu peccado que peccou,

29E porá a sua mão sobre a cabeça da expiação do peccado, e degolará a expiação do peccado no logar do holocausto.

30Depois o sacerdote com o seu dedo tomará do seu sangue, e o porá sobre os cornos do altar do holocausto: e todo o resto do seu sangue derramará á base do altar;

31E tirará toda a gordura, como se tira a gordura do sacrificio pacifico; e o sacerdote a queimará sobre o altar por cheiro suave ao Senhor: e o sacerdote fará propiciação por ella, e lhe será perdoado o peccado.

32Mas, se pela sua offerta trouxer uma cordeira para expiação do peccado, sem mancha trará,

33E porá a sua mão sobre a cabeça da expiação do peccado, e a degolará por expiação do peccado, no logar onde se degola o holocausto.

34Depois o sacerdote com o seu dedo tomará do sangue da expiação do peccado, e o porá sobre os cornos do altar do holocausto: então todo o resto do seu sangue derramará na base do altar

35E tirará toda a sua gordura, como se tira a gordura do cordeiro do sacrificio pacifico; e o sacerdote a queimará sobre o altar, em cima das offertas queimadas do Senhor: assim o sacerdote por ella fará expiação dos seus peccados que peccou, e lhe será perdoado o peccado.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God establishes the sin offering for sin committed "through ignorance" (unintentionally), with different procedures depending on who sinned: the anointed priest, the whole congregation, a leader, or an ordinary person.

Explanation

This chapter carefully distinguishes the severity of sin by the position of the one who committed it — the greater the responsibility (priest, then the whole nation), the larger and more elaborate the required sacrifice. This teaches that leadership carries greater responsibility before God, not less. The focus is on unintentional sin, committed through ignorance or carelessness, showing that even unintended failures required reconciliation with God. The application today: seek God with honesty even when we sin without realizing it, without minimizing the fault just because it wasn't intentional.

Fun facts

  • The sin offering for a common person could be a female goat or lamb, far simpler than the young bull required of the anointed priest — reflecting the principle that to whom much is given, much will be required (compare Luke 12:48).
  • The blood was placed on the "horns of the altar," the four projections at its corners — considered the point of greatest holiness on the altar of sacrifice.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Levítico 4:1This call marks the start of a new kind of offering explained from here on: the sin offering, different from the previous three because it deals with mistakes made unintentionally, not with acts of voluntary devotion.
  2. Levítico 4:2The whole chapter deals only with sin “through ignorance,” committed unintentionally or without realizing it — it does not cover someone who disobeys on purpose. That distinction is the foundation of the entire sin-offering system.
  3. Levítico 4:3The anointed priest, the high priest, who sinned had to bring the most costly sacrifice provided for in the chapter, a young bull — because his mistake affected the whole people’s relationship with God, not just his own. The greater a person’s responsibility, the greater the sacrifice required to resolve the failure.
  4. Levítico 4:4Bringing the young bull and laying a hand on its head repeats the gesture of identification already seen in the other sacrifices — except here it is the anointed priest himself who erred and needs to set things right with his own sacrifice.
  5. Levítico 4:5Unlike the other sacrifices, here the priest carries the blood inside the tent, not just to the altar outside — because his mistake, as the religious leader, affected the whole people’s relationship with God.
  6. Levítico 4:6Sprinkling blood “seven times” marked that the ritual was being carried out completely — seven was the number this culture used to signal wholeness, not a count with magical power. The “horns of the altar,” mentioned next, were the four projecting points at the top of the altar, and putting blood there marked the object as purified.
  7. Levítico 4:7There are two altars in this ritual: the incense altar inside the tent, where a little of the blood goes on the horns, and the burnt-offering altar outside, where the rest is poured out — two points marked by the same blood.
  8. Levítico 4:8The young bull’s fat was removed the same way as in the peace offering of the previous chapter — the procedure of setting aside the best part for the altar repeated across several types of sacrifice.
  9. Levítico 4:9Kidneys, the fat around them, and the caul above the liver: the same list of parts already seen in the peace offering, reused here in the priest’s sin offering.
  10. Levítico 4:10The text draws the comparison directly: the fat was taken away “as it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings” — a reminder that several offerings shared the same technical steps, only the reason behind them changed.
  11. Levítico 4:11Skin, flesh, head, legs, entrails, and dung — everything that was not fat stayed off the altar. It was this remainder that would be carried outside the camp and burned, as the next verse says.
  12. Levítico 4:12Carrying the young bull’s carcass outside the camp and burning it there, instead of eating or distributing the meat, showed that this sacrifice was different from the others: it did not become a meal because it had absorbed the priest’s sin, so it was disposed of, not consumed.
  13. Levítico 4:13Here the chapter even allows for a collective mistake: the whole congregation of Israel could commit a sin without realizing it, hidden from the people themselves, and only discovered later.
  14. Levítico 4:14When this collective sin came to light, the solution was the same used for the priest’s mistake: a young bull, offered on behalf of the whole people.
  15. Levítico 4:15Since the whole people could not lay a hand on the animal, the elders performed that gesture representing the entire congregation — the same logic of identification, just done on behalf of everyone.
  16. Levítico 4:16The anointed priest carried the blood of the people’s young bull inside the tent, repeating the path used for his own mistake — a sign that the congregation’s sin was treated with the same seriousness.
  17. Levítico 4:17Sprinkling the blood seven times before the veil was the same gesture of ritual completeness already seen before: seven marked that the procedure was being carried out fully.
  18. Levítico 4:18Blood on the horns of the inner altar and the rest poured out at the base of the outer altar — the same two-altar pattern used for the priest’s mistake, now applied to the sin of the whole people.
  19. Levítico 4:19The fat of the congregation’s young bull went on the altar the same way as the priest’s had — the ritual was, in fact, identical, only who was being represented changed.
  20. Levítico 4:20The text confirms it directly: this young bull was treated “as he did with the bullock for a sin offering” of the priest — the same process, resulting in forgiveness for the whole people.
  21. Levítico 4:21This young bull was also burned outside the camp, just like the priest’s in verse 12 — meat that carried someone’s sin did not become a meal, it was disposed of outside the boundaries of the camp.
  22. Levítico 4:22A leader of the people who sinned brought a male goat — a step below the young bull required of the priest, but more costly than the offering of an ordinary person. The chapter builds a sliding scale of offerings by social standing: the more power, the costlier the sacrifice.
  23. Levítico 4:23When a political leader, not a religious one, discovered he had sinned, the required offering was a male goat — cheaper than the young bull of the priest or the congregation, but still an animal of considerable value.
  24. Levítico 4:24The leader’s goat was killed in the same place as the burnt offering, but note that its blood did not enter the tent as the priest’s did — it stayed only at the outer altar, a sign that the reach of the mistake was smaller.
  25. Levítico 4:25Putting the blood on the horns of the outer altar, without carrying it inside the tent, marked the difference between the sin of a leader and that of the priest or the whole people — the ritual response was proportional to who had erred.
  26. Levítico 4:26The fat of the leader’s goat went on the altar the same way as in the peace offering — but here there is no instruction to burn the rest of the animal outside the camp, suggesting that this meat could be used.
  27. Levítico 4:27An ordinary person who sinned unintentionally brought a female goat, the simplest offering on the scale set out in this chapter. The system made clear that the cost of resolving a mistake depended on the standing of the one who erred, but no one was left without a way to make things right.
  28. Levítico 4:28An ordinary person who discovered they had sinned brought a female goat without blemish — the standard offering for someone who held no position of leadership.
  29. Levítico 4:29Hand on the head, killed in the place of the burnt offering: the same gestures as always, here applied to the mistake of any ordinary person among the people.
  30. Levítico 4:30As with the leader’s case, the ordinary person’s blood stayed only at the outer altar, on the horns and at the base — without entering the tent. Only the priest and the whole people required that extra step.
  31. Levítico 4:31The fat was removed and burned as in the peace offering, and the text again uses “a sweet savour” — the standard phrase for saying the offering was accepted and the mistake, forgiven.
  32. Levítico 4:32Instead of a goat, an ordinary person could also bring a female lamb — another option within the same price range, showing flexibility even in the simplest offering on the scale.
  33. Levítico 4:33The same gestures — hand on the head, killed in the place of the burnt offering — were repeated with the female lamb, with no difference in procedure from the goat.
  34. Levítico 4:34Again, the lamb’s blood stayed only at the outer altar, never inside the tent — reinforcing that the reach of an ordinary person’s sin was treated as more limited.
  35. Levítico 4:35The lamb’s fat was burned together with the other offerings already ablaze on the altar — the chapter ends by reaffirming that, whatever the animal, the result is the same: the mistake resolved, the person forgiven.

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