1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Say to the children of Israel: The soul that sins through ignorance, and doth any thing concerning any of the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded not to be done: 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 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. 5 He shall take also of the blood of the calf, and carry it into the tabernacle of the testimony. 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. 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. 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: 9 The two little kidneys, and the caul that is upon them, which is by the hanks, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys, 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. 11 But the skin and all the flesh with the head and the feet and the bowels and the dung, 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.


Chapter 4 It is uncertain whether He spoke these things at the same time he spoke of the provisions in chapters 1-3. (Cornelius a Lapide)

4:1-2 the soul: It says soul because its the principle part of the man. (Nicholas of Lyra)  that sins: Those other sacrifices and oblations did not effect the forgiveness of the whole punishment, neither as to the quantity of the thing offered, as the sacrament of Baptism does, nor as to personal devotion; from which it comes to pass that even here the whole punishment is not taken away.  through ignorance: by this he was held to be guilty to a certain extent, on account of his negligence in acquiring knowledge: yet he was not punished by the judges but expiated his sin by sacrifices. Hence it is written: "The soul that sins through ignorance," etc. This is, however, to be taken as applying to ignorance of fact; and not to ignorance of the Divine precept, which all were bound to know. (St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica)

4:3 priest: that is High Priest.  For the Septuagint has αρχιερευς, the chief priest. and the Chaldean has great priest.  For his sin, because of the dignity of the person, was the largest. (Cornelius a Lapide)  He who was anointed; he who kindles holy fires on the divine altars, who sacrifices to God gifts and salutary offerings; he who intervenes between God and men as a propitiator. Not even he, I say, remains free from the contamination of sin. But see the mercy of God and understand it more fully as Paul teaches. For writing to the Hebrews, he says, “For every priest who is taken from men is appointed by men to offer sacrifices to God.” (Heb 5.1) A little farther it says, “The Law appoints human priests who have weaknesses,” (Heb 7.28). in order that just as they can offer for their own weakness, so also they can offer for that of the people. You see, therefore, the dispensation of divine wisdom. It sets up as priests, not those who could not sin in any way—otherwise, they would not be human—but those who ought indeed to imitate that one “who did not sin,” (1 Pet 2.22). to offer sacrifices first for their own faults and then for the transgressions of the people.” (Cf. Heb 7.27) But what is most to be admired in this kind of priest? Not that he may not sin—because that is impossible—but that he knows and understands his own sin. For he who thinks he has not sinned never corrects himself. In like manner, he is more easily able to pardon those who sin, whose conscience is disturbed by his own weakness. (Origen Hom. on Lev. 2.3)  As Origen says (On Jn 1:29), though various animals were offered up under the Old Law, yet the daily sacrifice, which was offered up morning and evening, was a lamb, as appears from Num. 38:3,4. By which it was signified that the offering up of the true lamb, i.e. Christ, was the culminating sacrifice of all. Hence (Jn. 1:29) it is said: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him Who taketh away the sins of the world." (St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica)  He enjoins as great a sacrifice to be offered for the Priest as for the whole people, and this amounts to a proof on his part, that the wounds of the Priesthood need more assistance—that is, as great as those of all the people together, and they would not have needed a greater, except they were worse; and they are not worse in their nature, but are aggravated through the dignity of the Priest, who dares to commit them. (St. John Chrysostom On the Priesthood 6.16)  anoint: The head and hands, for which they should refrain from sin; and if he does sin, its considered more grievous.  It is well, however, being said, that he is the anointed, because there were many of the Levites, who were not anointed on account of some stain according to the flesh, of whom it does not deal with here. (Hugh of St. Cher)  he shall offer to the Lord for his sin:  In the memory of a molten calf, which Aaron had made. Exod. 31:4  (Nicholas of Lyra)

4:4 And he shall bring it to the door: That is, to the court of which is before the door of the tabernacle.  (Nicholas of Lyra)  sacrifice: For what the high priest himself has committed.  (Jac Menochius)

4:5 He shall take also of the blood: In a suitable vessel. (Nicholas of Lyra)
As St. Paul says of Christ, in Hebrews 9:12, "by his own blood, entered once into the Holies." (Interlinear Gloss)

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, 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. 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, 16 The priest that is anointed shall carry of the blood into the tabernacle of the testimony. 17 And shall dip his finger in it and sprinkle it seven times before the veil. 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. 19 And all the fat thereof he shall take off, and shall burn it upon the altar: 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. 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.

4:13 all the multitude of Israel: He legislated that an equivalent sacrifice be offered whenever the whole people were guilty of such a transgression, his purpose being to bring out the dignity of the priesthood, which he had made of importance equal to the people as a whole. (Theodoret of Cyrus)

22 If a prince shall sin, and through ignorance do any one of the things that the law of the Lord forbiddeth, 23 And afterwards shall come to know his sin, he shall offer a buck goat without blemish, a sacrifice to the Lord. 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, 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. 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.

4:22, 27: He proclaimed that when a ruler broke a law, he should offer, not a calf, but a he goat, that is, a yearling goat- so far removed from the dignity of the high priest is the ruler entrusted with worldly governance.  On the other hand, he ordered the sacrifice of a female goat when the offender is not a priest or ruler, since the make is fitting for the ruler, and the female for the ruled. (Theodoret of Cyrus)

4:26 the priest shall pray for him: It was possible at the time of the Law, for the minds of the faithful, to be united by faith to Christ incarnate and crucified; so that they were justified by faith in Christ: of which faith the observance of these ceremonies was a sort of profession, inasmuch as they foreshadowed Christ. Hence in the Old Law certain sacrifices were offered up for sins, not as though the sacrifices themselves washed sins away, but because they were professions of faith which cleansed from sin.  In fact, the Law itself implies this in the terms employed: for it is written (Lev. 4:26; 5:16) that in offering the sacrifice for sin "the priest shall pray for him . . . and it shall be forgiven him," as though the sin were forgiven, not in virtue of the sacrifices, but through the faith and devotion of those who offered them. It must be observed, however, that the very fact that the ceremonies of the Old Law washed away uncleanness of the body, was a figure of that expiation from sins which was effected by Christ. (St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica)

Sin offerings for private persons

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, 28 And shall come to know his sin, he shall offer a she goat without blemish. 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. 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. 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.

Offering of a lamb

32 But if he offer of the flock a victim for his sin, to wit, an ewe without blemish: 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. 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. 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 for his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.

_______________________________________________________________