How do the sin-offering instructions change for the anointed priest, the whole people, a prince and an individual?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

The priest and the whole people offer calves, with blood carried into the tabernacle and the remaining bodies burned outside the camp. A prince offers a buck goat; an individual offers a she-goat or an ewe. Their blood is applied to the burnt-offering altar. The chapter states priestly prayer and mercy or forgiveness in the latter three cases.

Chapter breakdown

The Lord tells Moses to speak to the children of Israel about a person who sins through ignorance by doing something forbidden by one of the Lord’s commandments.

Challoner says that ignorance of what we are bound to know is sinful. He explains that the sacrifices prescribed in this chapter and the following one were appointed for such blameworthy ignorance. This is the note’s explanation.

If the anointed priest sins and makes the people offend, he must offer the Lord a calf without blemish for his sin. He brings it to the door of the testimony before the Lord, puts his hand on its head and sacrifices it to the Lord. He takes some of the calf’s blood into the tabernacle of the testimony.

Challoner interprets this blood as a figure of Christ’s blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins and carried by Christ into the sanctuary of heaven. This comparison belongs to the edition’s note.

The priest dips his finger in the blood and sprinkles it seven times before the Lord, before the sanctuary veil. He puts some of the same blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense, most acceptable to the Lord, inside the tabernacle of the testimony. He pours all the remaining blood at the foot of the altar of holocaust, or burnt offering, at the tabernacle entrance.

He removes the calf’s fat for the sin offering: the fat covering the entrails and all the inward parts, the two little kidneys and the covering upon them by the flanks, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys. It is removed as from the calf of a peace offering and burned on the burnt-offering altar. The skin, all the flesh, the head, feet, bowels, dung and the rest of the body are carried outside the camp to a clean place where ashes are poured out. They are burned there on a pile of wood.

If the whole multitude of Israel, through ignorance, does what is against the Lord’s commandment and later understands its sin, the people must offer a calf for that sin and bring it to the tabernacle door. The elders of the people put their hands on its head before the Lord. The calf is killed in the Lord’s sight. These verses call for a calf without separately stating that it must be without blemish.

The anointed priest carries some of its blood into the tabernacle of the testimony, dips his finger in it and sprinkles it seven times before the veil. He puts some blood on the horns of the altar before the Lord inside the tabernacle, and pours the rest at the foot of the burnt-offering altar at the tabernacle door. He removes all the fat and burns it on the altar, treating this calf as the former one. The priest prays for the people, and the Lord will be merciful to them. The calf itself is carried outside the camp and burned like the former calf, because it is for the sin of the multitude.

If a prince sins through ignorance by doing something the Lord’s law forbids, and later knows his sin, he must offer a buck goat without blemish as a sacrifice to the Lord. He puts his hand on its head and kills it before the Lord where burnt offerings are usually killed, because it is for sin. The priest dips his finger in the victim’s blood, touches the horns of the burnt-offering altar and pours the rest at its foot. He burns the fat there as with peace offerings. The priest prays for the prince and his sin, and it will be forgiven him.

If one of the people of the land sins through ignorance by doing something forbidden by the Lord’s law and later knows the sin, the person must offer a she-goat without blemish. The person puts a hand on the sin victim’s head and kills it at the place of burnt offerings. The priest takes some blood with his finger, touches the horns of the burnt-offering altar and pours the rest at its foot. He removes all the fat as from peace-offering victims and burns it on the altar for a sweet savour to the Lord. He prays for the person, and the sin will be forgiven.

If the person instead offers a victim from the flock for sin, it is to be an ewe without blemish. The person puts a hand on its head and kills it where burnt-offering victims are usually killed. The priest takes some blood with his finger, touches the horns of the burnt-offering altar and pours the rest at its foot. He removes all the fat as the fat of a ram offered for peace offerings is removed, and burns it on the altar as a burnt sacrifice of the Lord. He prays for the person and the sin, and it will be forgiven.

The story inside

The chapter organizes its instructions by who has sinned through ignorance. The anointed priest’s case includes the consequence of making the people offend. The multitude, prince and individual cases each mention coming to know the sin before describing the offering. The priest and multitude offer calves; their blood is carried into the tabernacle and sprinkled seven times before the veil, with blood on the altar inside and the remainder at the burnt-offering altar. Their remaining bodies are burned outside the camp. For the prince’s buck goat and the individual’s she-goat or ewe, the stated blood application is to the burnt-offering altar. The chapter states mercy for the multitude and forgiveness for the prince and individual, alongside the priest’s prayer. These are instructions and promises, not a narrated prince’s successful sacrifice. The text gives the differences without explaining them through an added theory of sanctuary pollution or graded spiritual authority.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Knowing the sin matters in the instructions. The multitude, prince and individual cases explicitly move from ignorance to understanding or knowledge of the offense, then to the prescribed offering. Challoner’s note separately explains blameworthy ignorance.
2
The blood procedures must stay distinct. The priest and multitude cases use seven sprinklings before the veil and an altar inside the tabernacle. The prince and individual cases name the horns and foot of the burnt-offering altar. Combining them would lose commands about both location and action.
3
The text joins priestly prayer to mercy and forgiveness. For the multitude it says the Lord will be merciful; for the prince and individual it promises forgiveness. The remaining calf bodies are burned outside the camp, while the chapter gives no corresponding body-disposal instruction in the prince and individual sections.

Test your recall

How does the blood procedure for the multitude differ from the prince’s, and what follows the priest’s prayer in each case?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 10856–10864
Leviticus Chapter 4 Of offerings for sins of ignorance. 4:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 4:2. Say to the children of Israel: The soul that sinneth through ignorance, and doth any thing concerning any of the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded not to be done:
Lines 10866–10868
Ignorance.... To be ignorant of what we are bound to know is sinful; and for such culpable ignorance, these sacrifices, prescribed in this and the following chapter, were appointed.
Lines 10870–10878
4:3. If the priest that is anointed shall sin, making the people to offend, he shall offer to the Lord for his sin a calf without blemish. 4:4. And he shall bring it to the door of the testimony before the Lord: and shall put his hand upon the head thereof, and shall sacrifice it to the Lord. 4:5. He shall take also of the blood of the calf: and carry it into the tabernacle of the testimony.
Lines 10880–10881
The blood.... As the figure of the blood of Christ shed for the remission of our sins, and carried by him into the sanctuary of heaven.
Lines 10883–10890
4:6. And having dipped his finger in the blood, he shall sprinkle with it seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary. 4:7. And he shall put some of the same blood upon the horns of the altar of the sweet incense most acceptable to the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the testimony. And he shall pour all the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar of holocaust in the entry of the tabernacle.
Lines 10892–10907
4:8. And he shall take off the fat of the calf for the sin offering, as well that which covereth the entrails, as all the inwards: 4:9. The two little kidneys, and the caul that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys: 4:10. As it is taken off from the calf of the sacrifice of peace offerings. And he shall burn them upon the altar of holocaust. 4:11. But the skin and all the flesh with the head and the feet and the bowels and the dung: 4:12. And the rest of the body, he shall carry forth without the camp into a clean place where the ashes are wont to be poured out: and he shall burn them upon a pile of wood. They shall be burnt in the place where the ashes are poured out.
Lines 10909–10917
4:13. And if all the multitude of Israel shall be ignorant, and through ignorance shall do that which is against the commandment of the Lord, 4:14. And afterwards shall understand their sin: they shall offer for their sin a calf, and shall bring it to the door of the tabernacle. 4:15. And the ancients of the people shall put their hands upon the head thereof before the Lord. And the calf being immolated in the sight of the Lord:
Lines 10919–10938
4:16. The priest that is anointed shall carry of the blood into the tabernacle of the testimony. 4:17. And shall dip his finger in it and sprinkle it seven times before the veil. 4:18. And he shall put of the same blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord, in the tabernacle of the testimony. And the rest of the blood he shall pour at the foot of the altar of holocaust, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony. 4:19. And all the fat thereof he shall take off, and shall burn it upon the altar: 4:20. Doing so with this calf, as he did also with that before. And the priest praying for them, the Lord will be merciful unto them. 4:21. But the calf itself he shall carry forth without the camp, and shall burn it as he did the former calf: because it is for the sin of the multitude.
Lines 10940–10956
4:22. If a prince shall sin, and through ignorance do any one of the things that the law of the Lord forbiddeth, 4:23. And afterwards shall come to know his sin: he shall offer a buck goat without blemish, a sacrifice to the Lord. 4:24. And he shall put his hand upon the head thereof: and when he hath immolated it in the place where the holocaust is wont to be slain before the Lord, because it is for sin, 4:25. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood of the victim for sin, touching therewith the horns of the altar of holocaust, and pouring out the rest at the foot thereof. 4:26. But the fat he shall burn upon it, as is wont to be done with the victims of peace offerings. And the priest shall pray for him, and for his sin: and it shall be forgiven him.
Lines 10958–10975
4:27. And if any one of the people of the land shall sin through ignorance, doing any of those things that by the law of the Lord are forbidden, and offending, 4:28. And shall come to know his sin: he shall offer a she goat without blemish. 4:29. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the victim that is for sin: and shall immolate it in the place of the holocaust. 4:30. And the priest shall take of the blood with his finger, and shall touch the horns of the altar of holocaust: and shall pour out the rest at the foot thereof. 4:31. But taking off all the fat, as is wont to be taken away of the victims of peace offerings, he shall burn it upon the altar, for a sweet savour to the Lord: and he shall pray for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
Lines 10977–10990
4:32. But if he offer of the flock a victim for his sin, to wit, an ewe without blemish: 4:33. He shall put his hand upon the head thereof, and shall immolate it in the place where the victims of holocausts are wont to be slain. 4:34. And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and shall touch the horns of the altar of holocaust: and the rest he shall pour out at the foot thereof. 4:35. All the fat also he shall take off, as the fat of the ram that is offered for peace offerings is wont to be taken away: and shall burn it upon the altar, for a burnt sacrifice of the Lord. And he shall pray for him and his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.