Leviticus 4:27-35
When an individual becomes aware of unintentional sin, God provides a sin offering that restores covenant fellowship through sacrificial mediation.
27 “ ‘If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and is guilty,
28 if his sin which he has sinned is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has sinned.
29 He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering.
30 The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.
31 All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
32 “ ‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without defect.
33 He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.
34 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.
35 He shall remove all its fat, like the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven.
When an individual becomes aware of unintentional sin, God provides a sin offering that restores covenant fellowship through sacrificial mediation.
This passage prescribes the sin offering required when an individual member of the Israelite community commits an unintentional sin against the LORD's commands. It explains the sacrificial procedure through which personal guilt is addressed and covenant purity is restored.
Leviticus 4:27-35 is the fourth and final major case in the purification offering sequence of Leviticus 4. The chapter has moved from the anointed priest, to the whole community, to a leader, and now to an ordinary member of the community. The procedure for an individual resembles the leader's offering more than the priestly or communal offerings: the blood is applied to the horns of the altar of burnt offering rather than brought into the tent of meeting. This passage also provides two acceptable animal options: a female goat or a female lamb.
Leviticus 4:27-35 belongs to Israel's tabernacle worship in the wilderness and concludes the main purification offering cases by addressing the ordinary individual member of the community. Israel is the redeemed covenant people of the LORD. This passage shows that every member of the covenant community remains accountable to God's commands and has access to God's appointed provision for forgiveness. The individual brings a female goat or female lamb without defect. The animal is slaughtered at the place of the burnt offering. The priest applies blood to the horns of the altar of burnt offering, pours the remaining blood at the altar base, removes the fat portions, burns them on the altar, makes atonement, and the sinner is forgiven. The instruction concerns any member of the community who sins unintentionally and the priest who mediates the atoning blood rite. The offering is less costly than the bull required for priestly or communal sin and differs from the male goat required for a leader. The female goat or lamb shows an offering scaled to the ordinary worshiper while preserving the holiness of sacrifice. The passage completes the sequence from priest to community to leader to ordinary individual, showing that sin and atonement must be handled at every level of covenant life.
The Sin Offering: Purification for Unintentional Sin
No one in the covenant community is beyond the reach of sin or beyond the mercy of God's appointed atonement.