¹sn The quotation introduced here extends from Lev 4:2 through 5:13, and encompasses all the sin offering regulations. Compare the notes on Lev 1:1 above, and 5:14 and 6:1 [5:20 HT] below.
²tn Heb “And a person, when he sins in straying.”
sn The English translation of “by straying” (hg`g`v=B! [B!vg~g~h] literally, “in going astray; in making an error”) varies greatly, but almost all suggest that this term refers to sins that were committed by mistake or done not knowing that the particular act was sinful (Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 [AB], 228-229). See, e.g., LXX “involuntarily”; Tg. Onq. “by neglect”; KJV “through ignorance”; RSV, NJPS “unwittingly”; NIV, NASB, NRSV “unintentionally”; NAB, NEB “inadvertently”; etc. However, we know from Num 15:27-31 that committing a sin “by straying” is the opposite of committing a sin “defiantly” (i.e., hm*r` dy~B= [B=y~d r*m*h] “with a raised hand,” v. 30). In the latter case the person, as it were, raises his fist in presumptuous defiance against the Lord. Thus, he “blasphemes” the Lord and has “despised” his word, for which he should be “cut off from among his people” (Num 15:30-31). One could not bring an offering for such a sin. The expression here in Lev 4:2 combines “by straying” with the preposition “from” which fits naturally with “straying” (i.e., “straying from” the Lord’s commandments). For sins committed “by straying” from the commandments (Lev 4 throughout) or other types of transgressions (Lev 5:1-6) there was indeed forgiveness available through the sin offering. See NIDOTTE 2:94-95.
³tn This is an emphatic use of the preposition /m! (see R.J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, §325).
⁴tn The “when” clause (yK! in Hebrew) breaks off here before its resolution, thus creating an open ended introduction to the following subsections, which are introduced by “if” (Heb. <a! vv. 3, 13, 27, 32). Also, the last part of the verse reads literally, “which must not be done and does from one from them.”
⁵tn Heb “the anointed priest.”
⁶tn Heb “to the guilt of the people.”
⁷tn Heb “and he shall offer on his sin which he sinned, a bull, a son of the herd, flawless.”
⁸sn 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” (taF*j^) was to “purge” (rP#K! “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 NIDOTTE 2:93-103.
⁹tn Heb “from the blood of the bull” and similarly throughout this chapter.
¹⁰tn The Hebrew verb hzn (Hiphil) does indeed mean “sprinkle” or “splatter.” Contrast “splash” in Lev 1:5 (qrz).
¹¹tn Heb “of the blood.” The relative pronoun (“it”) has been used in the translation here for stylistic reasons.
¹²tn 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” (Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 [AB], 234 and Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 60).
¹³tn The Hebrew term tk#r)P* is usually translated “veil” or “curtain,” 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 NIDOTTE 3:687-89).
¹⁴tn Heb “all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall take up from it.”
¹⁵tc The MT has here the preposition lu^ (u^l, “on; upon” [i.e., “which covers on the entrails,” as awkward in Hebrew as it is in English]), but the Samaritan Pentateuch, LXX, Syriac, and Targums read ta# (a#T), 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 (lu^) the entrails” at the end of the verse.
¹⁶tn Heb “…and the protruding lobe on the liver on the kidneys he shall remove it.”
¹⁷tn See the notes on Lev 3:3-4 above (cf. also 3:9-10, 14-15).
¹⁸tn 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).
¹⁹tn Heb “And he (the offerer) shall bring out all the bull to from outside to the camp to a clean place…”
²⁰sn That is, to a place that is ceremonially clean.
²¹tn Literally, “the pouring out (place) of fatty ash.”
²²tn Literally, “burn with fire.”
²³sn The verb “strays” is the verbal form of the noun in the expression “by straying” (see the note on Lev 4:2 above).
²⁴tn Heb “and they do one from all the commandments of the Lord which must not be done” (cf. v. 2).
²⁵tn Heb “and the sin which they committed on it becomes known.” The Hebrew h*yl#u* (“on it”) probably refers back to “one of the commandments” in v. 13 (Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 [AB], 243).
²⁶tn Heb “and he shall slaughter.” The singular verb seems to refer to an individual who represents the whole congregation, perhaps one of the elders referred to at the beginning of the verse, or the priest (cf. v. 21). The LXX and Syriac make the verb plural, referring to “the elders of the congregation.”
²⁷tn Heb “the anointed priest.”
²⁸tn 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.
²⁹tn The Hebrew verb hzn (Hiphil) does indeed mean “sprinkle” or “splatter.” Contrast “splash” in Lev 1:5 (qrz).
³⁰tc 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; Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 47).
³¹tn See the note on v. 6 above.
³²tn See the note on v. 6 above.
³³sn See the identification of this altar in v. 7.
³⁴tn 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.
³⁵tn Heb “all its fat from it.”
sn See the full rendition of the fat regulations in Lev 4:8-9 above.
³⁶tn 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.
³⁷sn Cf. Lev 4:11-12 above for the disposition of “the [rest of] the bull.”
³⁸sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
³⁹tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to them” or “it shall be forgiven to them.”
⁴⁰sn See the note on the word “slaughter” in v. 15.
⁴¹tn Heb “And he shall bring out the bull to from outside to the camp.”
⁴²tn This section begins with the relative pronoun rv#a& which usually means “who” or “which,” but here means “whenever.”
⁴³tn Heb “and does one from all the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be done.”
⁴⁴tn See the Lev 4:2 note on “straying.”
⁴⁵tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned in it is made known to him.”
⁴⁶tn Lev 4:22b-23a is difficult. The translation offered here suggests that there are two possible legal situations envisioned, separated by the Hebrew oa (“or”) at the beginning of v. 23. Lev 4:22b refers to any case in which the leader readily admits his guilt (i.e., “pleads guilty”), whereas v. 23a refers to cases where the leader is convicted of his guilt by legal action. See NIDOTTE 2:95-96 and Lev 4:27-28 and esp. the notes on Lev 5:1 below.
⁴⁷tn Heb “a he-goat of goats, a flawless male.”
⁴⁸tn The LXX has a plural form here and also for the same verb later in the verse. See the note on Lev 1:5a.
⁴⁹tn 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.
⁵⁰sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
⁵¹tn Heb “from.” In this phrase the preposition /m! may be referring to the reason or cause (“on account of, because of”; GKC §119.z). As Hartley (Leviticus, 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 /m-ta rhfl-lu rpky, ‘he will make expiation for…to cleanse…from…,’ as in 16:30.”
⁵²tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him.”
⁵³tn Heb “an individual from the people of the land.”
⁵⁴tn Heb “If one person sins by straying, from the people of the land.” See Lev 4:2 for a note on “straying.”
⁵⁵tn Heb “by doing it, one from the commandments of the Lord which must not be done.”
⁵⁶tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned is made known to him.”
⁵⁷tn Lev 4:27b-28a is essentially the same as 4:22b-23a (see the notes there).
⁵⁸tn Heb “a she-goat of goats, a flawless female.”
⁵⁹tn Heb “on his sin.”
⁶⁰tc The LXX has a plural form here (see v. 24 above and the note on Lev 1:5a).
⁶¹sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
⁶²tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him.”
⁶³tn 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).
⁶⁴sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
⁶⁵tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him.”