Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 4

If a soul shall sin. It will be seen that while the three previous kinds of offerings, namely, the burnt offering (Leviticus 1:1–17), the grain offering (Leviticus 2:1–16), and the peace offering (Leviticus 3:1–17), are spoken of as familiarly known and practiced among the Israelites before the giving of the Law, the sin offering and the trespass offering are here introduced as a new injunction. Here, we no longer find the voluntary formula, If any man of you bring, etc. (Leviticus 1:2; Leviticus 2:1; Leviticus 3:1), as you are accustomed to bringing; but rather, if a soul shall sin ... let him bring for his sin offering a young bullock, etc.

Through ignorance. He did it inadvertently, and at the time of its commission did not know that it was a transgression, but recognized it as a sin after he did it. (Leviticus 4:22; Leviticus 4:27; Leviticus 5:18; Leviticus 22:14.) According to the practice that was practiced during the second Temple, the sin here spoken of, for which the sin offering was brought, was:

1. A sin committed through ignorance, or involuntarily, as opposed to a sin committed with a set purpose .
2. A sin against a negative command.
3. A sin that consisted in acts, not in words or thoughts, as is deduced from the expression and shall do against any of them;.
4. Acts of such a nature that, if committed intentionally, they would subject the sinner to the awful punishment of excision .

The priest that is anointed. — To illustrate this law, the conduct of the high priest is cited as the first instance, to show when and how this exalted official is to offer the sin offering in question. In this way, the Levitical law indicates that even the chief of the priesthood was only a frail being like the rest of the people, and was exposed to the same infirmities as the laity, thus preventing the assumption of spiritual superiority. Therefore, the Apostle remarks, the law made those high priests who had infirmity, and who needed daily to offer up sacrifices, first for their own sins, and then for the people’s; but our high priest, Christ Jesus, was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens (Hebrews 7:27–28).

The phrase “the priest that is anointed” for “the high priest” is restricted to this book, where it occurs four times (Leviticus 4:3; Leviticus 4:5; Leviticus 4:16; Leviticus 6:15 in the Hebrew text, verse 22 in English translations). “The great priest,” or high priest, is the designation used in the other parts of the Pentateuch (Leviticus 21:10; Numbers 35:25; Numbers 35:28), and in Joshua (Joshua 20:6); while in the later books of the Old Testament this official is called chief priest (2 Kings 25:18; 2 Chronicles 19:11; 2 Chronicles 24:11; 2 Chronicles 26:20; 2 Chronicles 31:10; Ezra 7:5).

He is called “the anointed priest,” because, like Aaron, he alone was anointed when he succeeded to the high office, while the ordinary priests were simply consecrated. Their anointing descended with them throughout all future generations by virtue of being the descendants of Aaron. (See Leviticus 8:12.)

According to the sin of the people. — This means that, having committed in ignorance the same sin as the common people, he is as liable to it as they are. From the phrase “against any commandments of the Lord” in the preceding verse, as well as from Leviticus 10:6; Leviticus 21:10–15, it is clear that the sin of ignorance referred to here does not refer to the unintentional neglect of his official duty, which falls to the high priest as the spiritual head of the people, but to any offense whatsoever committed in ignorance.

According to the marginal reading, to make the people guilty, or more literally, to the guilt of the people, which is equally valid, the meaning of the passage is that by committing a sin, he causes the people to transgress, because they follow his example; or that, due to the intimate connection that existed between the representative of the nation and the people, the sin of the one was the sin of the other. (1 Chronicles 21:3.)

A young bullock. — Literally, a steer, the son of a bull. The sacrificial rules that existed at the time of Christ minutely defined the respective ages of the bullock: the steer, the son of a bull, and the calf. The bullock or ox which was brought as a sacrifice had to be three years old: “the steer the son of a bull,” rendered in this passage, and in the Authorized Version generally, by “a young bullock” (Exodus 29:1; Leviticus 4:14; Leviticus 16:3; Leviticus 23:8, and elsewhere), had to be two years old; while the calf had to be in its first year.

To the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. —Better, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. (See Leviticus 1:3.) The regulations about the bringing of the sin offering up to the sprinkling of the blood are the same as those about the other sacrifices.

And bring it. —That is, after the high priest had received the blood into the bowl , he is to bring it out of the court where the victim was slain into the tent of meeting.

And the priest shall dip his finger. —The different treatment of the blood is here to be noticed. While in the case of the other sacrifices the priest threw the blood upon the walls of the altar of burnt offering , in the sin offering before us the high priest is first of all to dip his finger seven times in the blood, and sprinkle it before the Lord. The finger, according to the rules that prevailed during the second Temple, was that of the right hand, as the blood was always taken and sprinkled with the right hand. Seven, being a complete number, is used for the perfect finishing of a work.

Hence the seven days of creation (Genesis 2:2–3); seven branches were in the golden candlestick (Exodus 25:37; Exodus 37:23); seven times the blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:14); seven times the oil was sprinkled upon the altar when it was consecrated (Leviticus 8:11); seven days were required for consecrating the priests (Leviticus 8:35); seven days were necessary for purifying the defiled (Leviticus 12:2; Numbers 19:19); seven times Naaman washed in the Jordan (2 Kings 5:10; 2 Kings 5:14); seven days Jericho was besieged, and seven priests with seven trumpets blew when the walls fell down (Joshua 6:0); the lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God (Revelation 5:6); seven seals are on God’s book (Revelation 1:5), etc.

Before the Lord. —As the Lord was enthroned on the mercy-seat between the cherubim (Exodus 25:22) in the Holy of Holies, the phrase “before the Lord” is used for the place in front of the Holy of Holies, where the altar of incense, the showbread, and the golden candlestick stood (Exodus 27:21; Exodus 28:35; Exodus 30:8; Exodus 34:34, etc.), and towards which the blood was sprinkled.

Before the veil of the sanctuary. —This phrase is simply explanatory of the former phrase. As the veil separated the Holy of Holies, where the Shekinah dwelt, from the holy place, the words are simply used as another expression for “before the Lord.” This clause has, however, been variously interpreted from time immemorial. Since before is not in the original, but is supplied in the translation, some have maintained that the veil itself was sprinkled; while others, who, with the Authorized Version, regard the whole phrase as meaning “before the veil,” declare that the blood was sprinkled on the floor of the sanctuary in front of the veil.