Leviticus 4:13

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹³Now if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly so that they violate any of the LORD's commandments and incur guilt by doing what is forbidden,¹⁴when they become aware of the sin they have committed, then the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁵The elders of the congregation are to lay their hands on the bull's head before the LORD, and it shall be slaughtered before the LORD. ¹⁶Then the anointed priest is to bring some of the bull's blood into the Tent of Meeting, ¹⁷and he is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD in front of the veil. ¹⁸He is also to apply some of the blood to the horns of the altar that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting, and he must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁹And he is to remove all the fat from it and burn it on the altar. ²⁰He shall offer this bull just as he did the bull for the sin offering; in this way the priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven. ²¹Then he is to take the bull outside the camp and burn it, just as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the whole congregation: This may refer to some oversight in acts of religious worship, or to some transgression of the letter of the law, which arose out of the peculiar circumstances in which they were found, as in the case mentioned in 1 Samuel 14:32, et seq. The sacrifices and rites in this case were the same as in the preceding; only here the elders laid their hands on the head of the victim, in the name of all the congregation.

through ignorance: Leviticus 4:1, Leviticus 4:2, Leviticus 5:2-5, Leviticus 5:17, Numbers 15:24-29, Joshua 7:11, Joshua 7:24-26, 1 Timothy 1:13, Hebrews 10:26-29

and are guilty: Leviticus 5:2-5, Leviticus 5:17, Leviticus 6:4, Ezra 10:19, Hosea 5:15, *marg. 1 Corinthians 11:27

Reciprocal: Genesis 34:7 - thing Leviticus 4:22 - and done Leviticus 4:27 - common people Numbers 15:22 - General 2 Kings 16:15 - the king's burnt 2 Chronicles 29:24 - the sin offering Ezra 6:17 - a sin offering Ezekiel 40:39 - the sin Hebrews 7:27 - and then James 2:11 - Now

Cross-References

Job 15:22
He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.

Revelation 16:9
And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory.

Revelation 16:11
and curse the God of heaven for their pains and sores; yet they did not repent of their deeds.

Revelation 16:21
And huge hailstones, about a hundred pounds each, rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance,.... That is, all Israel, or the greatest part of them, as Gersom interprets it, through the ignorant teaching of the judges, who by their instruction cause the people to err, and commit sins of ignorance, as Baal Hatturim on the place observes, and Maimonides elsewhere g; wherefore Jarchi, and some others, by the congregation of Israel understand the sanhedrim, or the bench of judges, consisting of seventy one. Ainsworth remarks on the words, that the church may err:

and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly; congregation or church, so that they do not know that it is a sin which they have committed:

and they have done [somewhat against] any of the commandments of the Lord, [concerning things] which should not be done; transgressed negative precepts:

and are guilty; of sin, though as yet they know it not.

g Hilchot Shegagot, c. 12. sect. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Congregation ... assembly - Each of the Hebrew words signifies the people in a collected body. It does not appear that there is any difference between them in the connection in which they are here used.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Leviticus 4:13. If the whole congregation of Israel sin — This probably refers to some oversight in acts of religious worship, or to some transgression of the letter of the law, which arose out of the peculiar circumstances in which they were then found, such as the case mentioned 1 Samuel 14:32, c., where the people, through their long and excessive fatigue in their combat with the Philistines, being faint, flew on the spoil, and took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground, and did eat with the blood and this was partly occasioned by the rash adjuration of Saul, mentioned 1 Samuel 14:24: Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening.

The sacrifices and rites in this case were the same as those prescribed in the preceding, only here the elders of the congregation, i. e., three of the sanhedrim, according to Maimonides, laid their hands on the head of the victim in the name of all the congregation.