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This chapter is concerning the sin-offering, which was properly intended to make atonement for a sin committed through ignorance, I. By the priest himself, Le 4:1-12. Or, II. By the whole congregation, Le 4:13-21. Or, III. By a ruler, Le 4:22-26. Or, IV. By a private person, Le 4:27-35, etc.
1-35
Law of the Sin-Offering (1490 BC)
繁體中文
贖罪祭的律法（主前1490年）
¹ 耶和華對摩西說：
² 「你曉諭以色列人說：若有人在耶和華所吩咐不可行的甚麼事上誤犯了一件，
³ 或是受膏的祭司犯罪，使百姓陷在罪裡，就當為他所犯的罪獻上沒有殘疾的公牛犢給耶和華為贖罪祭。
⁴ 他要牽公牛到會幕門口、耶和華面前，按手在牛的頭上，把牛宰於耶和華面前。
⁵ 受膏的祭司要取些公牛的血，帶到會幕裡，
⁶ 把指頭蘸於血中，在耶和華面前對著聖所的幔子彈血七次，
⁷ 又要把些血抹在會幕內、耶和華面前香壇的四角上，再把公牛所有的血倒在會幕門口、燔祭壇的腳那裡。
⁸ 要把贖罪祭公牛所有的脂油，乃是蓋臟的脂油和臟上所有的脂油，
⁹ 並兩個腰子和腰子上的脂油，就是靠腰兩旁的脂油，與肝上的網子和腰子，一概取下，
¹⁰ 與從平安祭的牛所取的一樣；祭司要把這些燒在燔祭的壇上。
¹¹ 公牛的皮和所有的肉，連頭帶腿，並臟腑與糞，
¹² 就是全公牛，要搬到營外潔淨之地、倒灰之所，用火燒在柴上。
前三章所包含的律法似乎是摩西一次領受的。此處開始了另一次會面、另一日的典章。神從二基路伯之間榮耀的寶座上頒布了這些命令。如今神進入一個比先前更嚴格意義上嶄新的主題。燔祭、素祭和平安祭，看來在西奈山頒布律法之前就已有人獻上；先祖對這些祭並非全然陌生（Ge 8:20, Ex 20:24），並且在其中他們也顧念罪孽，為其贖罪，Job 1:5。但律法如今因過犯而添上（Ga 3:19），律法既已進入，最終叫過犯顯多（Ro 5:20），百姓便被引進一條更明確地以獻祭為罪贖罪的路——這條路比任何其他禮儀制度更完全地是將來美事的影兒，但實體是基督，是祂藉著一次獻上自己便除掉了罪，並永遠完全了那些得以成聖的人。
I. 我們看到Le 4:2所設的一般情形。請注意：1. 關於罪的一般定義：罪被描述為違背耶和華的任何誡命；因為罪就是違背律法，即違背神的律法。人的聰明或意志，人的發明或命令，都不能使神的律法所未定為罪的事成為罪。同樣說：若一個魂犯罪，因為若不是這樣或那樣出於靈魂的行動，就不是罪；因此被稱為靈魂的罪（Mic 6:7），而且受其損害的正是靈魂，Pr 8:36。2. 關於需要獻這些祭的罪。（1）這些被假定為明顯的行為；因為若要求他們為每一個罪惡的意念或言語都獻祭，那任務就永無止境了。這些在贖罪日一年一次全體贖罪；但此處所說的是違背誡命的行為。（2）這些被假定為犯行的罪——行了不可行的事。疏忽之罪也是罪，也必受審判；但一時忽略的可以日後補行，這樣聽從勝過獻祭：但犯行卻已無法挽回。（3）這些被假定為誤犯的罪。若是擅敢行的事，公然藐視律法和立法者，那犯罪的人必被剪除，再沒有贖罪的祭了，Heb 10:26,27, Nu 15:30。但若犯罪的人或是不曉得律法（我們可以設想在許多情形中確有許多人如此，因為禁令繁多且各樣），或是出乎意料地被引誘陷入罪中——其情形足以表明他對罪的抗拒是真誠的，只是被罪勝過了，如Ga 6:1的說法——在這種情形下，贖罪祭這補救性的律法便提供了出路。猶太人說：「那些唯有擅敢犯時當被剪除的罪，若在無知中犯下，才可以藉獻祭贖罪。」
II. 律法從受膏祭司——即大祭司——的情形開始，假設他誤犯了罪；因為律法立的是有軟弱的人為祭司。雖然他的無知比任何人更不可推諉，他仍被允許獻祭。他的職分不能如此開脫他的罪以致無需祭物便可得赦；卻也不至於加重他的罪以致他獻祭後仍不得赦免。他若犯罪使百姓陷在罪裡（情形如此設定，Le 4:3），這等於假設他在這事上與其他以色列人站在同等的地位，絲毫不能享受他的祭司特權。關於大祭司贖罪祭的律法如下：1. 他必須獻一隻無殘疾的公牛犢為贖罪祭（Le 4:3），與為全會眾所獻的一樣貴重（Le 4:14）；而為任何其他官長或普通人，獻一隻山羊便夠了，Le 4:23,28。這暗示了大祭司犯罪所帶罪咎的嚴重。他的地位顯赫，與神和百姓的關係都十分密切，這大大加重了他的過犯；見Ro 2:21。2. 獻祭者的手要按在祭牲頭上（Le 4:4），同時鄭重悔罪認罪，將罪歸到贖罪祭牲頭上，Le 16:21。不認罪就不得赦免，Ps 32:5, Pr 28:13。這也表示對這設立之贖罪途徑的信心，視為將來更美之事的預表——雖然他們不能清楚辨明。按手在牲畜頭上的人，藉此承認自己本該受死，而神樂意悅納這牲畜代他受死，這是神極大的憐憫。猶太學者自己也說，贖罪祭和贖愆祭唯有為那些悔改並信靠其贖罪功效的人才有效。3. 公牛必須宰殺，處理血的過程必須極其莊重；因為血才能贖罪，若不流血就不得赦免，Le 4:5-7。大祭司贖罪祭牲的血有些要在幔子前向耶和華彈七次，眼睛望著施恩座——雖然施恩座被幔子遮掩：有些要抹在金壇的四角上，因為祭司自己正是在那壇前事奉；這樣便表明除去他因罪而沾染事奉的污穢。這也說明了基督的滿足對祂代求之功效的影響。祂祭牲的血抹在祂燒香的壇上，灑在耶和華面前。這一切做完之後，其餘的血要倒在銅祭壇的腳那裡。藉此儀式，罪人承認自己本該如此被倒出如水。這也表示在真悔改中將靈魂傾吐於神面前，並預表我們的救主將命傾倒，以至於死。4. 內臟的脂油要燒在燔祭壇上，Le 4:8-10。藉此，祭物和贖罪的目的指向神的榮耀——祂既因罪受辱，便因祭得榮。這表示我們的主耶穌被做成罪（即贖罪祭）為我們受難時的劇烈痛苦，尤其是祂靈魂的憂傷和內心的煎熬。這也教導我們效法基督的死，將肉體釘在十字架上。5. 牲畜的頭和身體、皮和一切，都要搬到營外一個指定的地方，在那裡燒成灰燼，Le 4:11,12。這極具意義：（1）表示悔改的本分——將罪當作可憎之物除掉，是靈魂所恨惡的。真心悔改的人對他們的偶像說：「去吧；我們與偶像還有甚麼相干？」贖罪祭被稱為罪。他們怎樣待贖罪祭，我們也要怎樣對待我們的罪；罪的身體必須被毀滅，Ro 6:6。（2）表示赦免的特權。神赦免罪時，便完全塗抹它，將它丟在背後。*猶大的罪孽必被尋找卻尋不見。*使徒特別留意這個儀式，並將其應用於基督（Heb 13:11-13）——祂在城門外受苦，在髑髏地，那裡如倒祭壇灰一樣倒著死人的灰。
¹³ 「以色列全會眾若犯了罪，隱瞞了眼目不看，誤犯了一件耶和華所吩咐不可行的甚麼事，就有了罪；
¹⁴ 會眾一知道所犯的罪就要獻一隻公牛犢為贖罪祭，牽到會幕前。
¹⁵ 會眾中的長老就要在耶和華面前按手在牛的頭上，將牛在耶和華面前宰了。
¹⁶ 受膏的祭司要把些公牛的血帶到會幕裡，
¹⁷ 把指頭蘸於血中，在耶和華面前彈七次。
¹⁸ 又要把些血抹在會幕內耶和華面前壇的四角上，再把所有的血倒在會幕門口燔祭壇的腳那裡。
¹⁹ 把牛所有的脂油都取下，燒在壇上；
²⁰ 收拾這牛，與那贖罪祭的牛一樣。祭司要為他們贖罪，他們必蒙赦免。
²¹ 他要把牛搬到營外，燒了，像燒頭一個牛一樣；這是會眾的贖罪祭。
這是以贖罪祭為全民之罪贖罪的律法。若百姓的領袖因誤解律法而引導百姓走迷，當錯誤被發現時，就必須獻祭，免得憤怒臨到全會眾。請注意：1. 教會有可能犯錯，她的引導者有可能誤導她。此處假設全會眾都可能犯罪，而且是誤犯。神在地上總會有教會；但祂從未說教會是無誤的，或在進天堂之前完全純潔、毫無腐敗。2. 為全會眾獻祭時，長老要按手在祭牲頭上（至少三人），作為百姓的代表和代理人。我們所設想的罪可能是一般百姓所普遍採用的某種習俗，他們出於以為合法的假設而行之，後來查考後才發現並非如此。在這種情形中，習俗的普遍性（也許是從祖先所傳下來的）和大眾以為合法的意見，並不能使他們免罪，他們仍必須獻祭贖罪。有許多不良的習俗和言語方式，人們以為其中沒有甚麼害處，卻可能將罪咎和憤怒帶到一國之上；因此長老既有責任改革，也有責任向神代求赦免，Joe 2:16。3. 這贖罪祭的血如同前一個一樣，要在耶和華面前彈七次，Le 4:17。不是在那裡倒出，而只是彈；因為基督之血的潔淨功效，當時和如今都充分地以彈血來表明和代表，Isa 52:15。要彈七次。七是完全的數字，因為神六日創造世界，第七日便安息；所以這表示基督所作完全的滿足，以及藉此對信徒心靈的完全潔淨；見Heb 10:14。血也要抹在香壇的四角上，Jer 17:1似乎暗示了這一點——那裡說猶大的罪刻在他們壇的四角上。他們若不離棄罪惡，將贖罪祭牲的血抹在壇角上不但不能除去罪咎，反而將罪更牢固地綁住，延續了對它的記念，成為對他們不利的見證。Re 9:13也暗示了這一點——那裡聽見有聲音從金壇的四角出來；即聖徒的禱告得了平安的答覆，那些禱告之所以蒙悅納且有功效，全靠抹在那壇四角上的贖罪祭牲之血；比較Re 8:3。4. 當祭禮完成，便說：贖了罪，罪必蒙赦免，Le 4:20。赦免的應許建立在贖罪的基礎上。此處所說的是全會眾之罪的赦免，即免去那罪所當受的全國性審判。請注意：教會和國度得免毀滅，全靠基督的滿足與代求。
²² 「官長若行錯，誤犯了他神耶和華所吩咐不可行的甚麼事，就有了罪；
²³ 他所犯的罪自己知道了，就要牽一隻沒有殘疾的公山羊為供物，
²⁴ 按手在山羊的頭上，宰於耶和華面前、宰燔祭牲的地方；這是贖罪祭。
²⁵ 祭司要用指頭取些贖罪祭牲的血，抹在燔祭壇的四角上，把血倒在燔祭壇的腳那裡。
²⁶ 所有的脂油都要燒在壇上，正如平安祭的脂油一樣。祭司要為他贖罪，他的罪必蒙赦免。
請注意此處：1. 神留意官長所犯的罪，並為之不悅。那些有權叫別人交賬的人，自己也要向萬王之王交賬；因為無論他們多麼高，總有比他們更高的。這一點在於此處說所違背的誡命是他神耶和華的誡命，Le 4:22。他在別人面前是君王，但當知道耶和華是他的神。2. 官長誤犯的罪，被假定日後會被他自己所知（Le 4:23），這要麼是藉著良心的責備，要麼是藉著朋友的規勸——這二者我們眾人，即使是最優秀最偉大的人，不僅當順服，也當感恩。我們做錯了的事，應當極其渴望得知。我所不明白的，求你指教我；我若有錯，求你向我顯明——這是我們每天都當向神獻上的禱告，好叫我們雖因無知陷入罪中，卻不至因無知而滯留其中。3. 為官長獻的贖罪祭是一隻山羊，不是像為祭司和全會眾那樣獻公牛；他的贖罪祭牲的血也不像另外兩種那樣要帶進會幕，而是全部用於銅祭壇上（Le 4:25）；祭牲的肉也不像另外兩種那樣要搬到營外焚燒。這暗示官長的罪雖然比普通人的更嚴重，卻不如大祭司或全會眾的罪那樣可惡，也不會造成那樣致命的後果。為官長獻一隻山羊便夠了，但為一個支派要獻公牛，為要表明官長雖大於個人，卻小於全體。大人物立壞榜樣是壞事，但眾人都跟從壞榜樣則更糟。4. 應許贖罪必蒙悅納、罪必赦免（Le 4:26），即若他悔改歸正；否則神曾指著以利——以色列的士師——起誓說，他家的罪孽雖獻祭奉獻，也永不得贖，1Sa 3:14。
²⁷ 「民中若有人誤犯了罪，行了耶和華所吩咐不可行的甚麼事，有了罪，
²⁸ 他所犯的罪自己知道了，就要為所犯的罪牽一隻沒有殘疾的母山羊為供物，
²⁹ 按手在贖罪祭牲的頭上，在那宰燔祭牲的地方宰了。
³⁰ 祭司要用指頭取些羊的血，抹在燔祭壇的四角上，所有的血都要倒在壇的腳那裡。
³¹ 又要把羊所有的脂油都取下，正如從平安祭牲的脂油所取的一樣；祭司要燒在壇上，為獻與耶和華為馨香的祭；祭司要為他贖罪，他必蒙赦免。
³² 「人若牽一隻羊羔為贖罪祭的供物，必要牽一隻沒有殘疾的母羊羔，
³³ 按手在贖罪祭牲的頭上，在那宰燔祭牲的地方宰了，作贖罪祭。
³⁴ 祭司要用指頭取些贖罪祭牲的血，抹在燔祭壇的四角上，所有的血都要倒在壇的腳那裡；
³⁵ 又要把所有的脂油都取下，正如從平安祭牲的羊羔所取的一樣；祭司要按獻與耶和華火祭的條例燒在壇上；祭司要為他所犯的罪贖罪，他必蒙赦免。
I. 此處是為平民獻贖罪祭的律法，與為官長所獻的惟一區別在於：平民可獻山羊或羊羔，官長只可獻山羊；為官長的必須是公的，為平民的是母的；至於辦理祭物的一切細節則相同。請注意：1. 所設的情形：民中若有人誤犯了罪，Le 4:27。先知設想他們不像大人物那樣曉得耶和華的道路和他們神的法則（Jer 5:4），然而若他們誤犯了罪，仍必須獻贖罪祭。請注意，即使誤犯的罪也需要藉獻祭贖罪。當我們被控犯罪時，若能辯稱自己是在無知中被試探所勝而犯下的，這並不能使我們脫罪——除非我們在那偉大的辯護——基督已經死了——中有分，並有權享受其功效。我們眾人都需要像大衛（他是君王）那樣禱告，求神潔淨我們隱而未現的過錯——即我們自己所不明白或未察覺的過失，Ps 19:12。2. 一個普通、不為人知的人所犯的誤犯之罪，也需要獻祭；因為最偉大的人不能免於責備，最卑微的人也不在神的公義監察之外。百姓中沒有一個人若犯了罪，會在人群中被忽略。3. 贖罪祭不但被接納，而且蒙悅納，即使是從一個平民所獻的，也藉此贖了罪，Le 4:31,35。在此富人和窮人、君王和農夫相遇；他們都一樣歡迎來到基督面前，並在同樣的條件下得著祂祭物的功效。見Job 34:19。
II. 從這一切關於贖罪祭的律法，我們可以學到：1. 恨惡罪，防備罪。要為之贖罪必須宰殺如此多無辜而有用的牲畜，那必然是極惡之事。2. 珍視基督——那偉大而真實的贖罪祭。祂的血洗淨一切的罪，而公牛和山羊的血斷不能除罪。如今，若有人犯罪，基督是挽回祭（1Jo 2:1,2），不僅為猶太人，也為外邦人。也許基督在正要獻上自己為祭時所發的禱告——父啊，赦免他們，因為他們所做的，他們不曉得——正是暗示了這條關於為誤犯之罪獻祭的律法。
英語原文
Law of the Sin-Offering (1490 BC)
¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
² Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:
³ If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.
⁴ And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the LORD.
⁵ And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:
⁶ And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the LORD, before the vail of the sanctuary.
⁷ And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
⁸ And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
⁹ And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away,
¹⁰ As it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering.
¹¹ And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung,
¹² Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.
The laws contained in the first three chapters seem to have been delivered to Moses at one time. Here begin the statutes of another session, another day. From the throne of glory between the cherubim God delivered these orders. And he enters now upon a subject more strictly new than those before. Burnt-offerings, meat-offerings, and peace-offerings, it should seem, had been offered before the giving of the law upon mount Sinai; those sacrifices the patriarchs had not been altogether unacquainted with (Ge 8:20, Ex 20:24), and in them they had respect to sin, to make atonement for it, Job 1:5. But the law being now added because of transgressions (Ga 3:19), and having entered, that eventually the offence might abound (Ro 5:20), they were put into a way of making atonement for sin more particularly by sacrifice, which was (more than any of the ceremonial institutions) a shadow of good things to come, but the substance is Christ, and that one offering of himself by which he put away sin and perfected for ever those who are sanctified.
I. The general case supposed we have, Le 4:2. Here observe, 1. Concerning sin in general, that it is described to be against any of the commandments of the Lord; for sin is the transgression of the law, the divine law. The wits or wills of men, their inventions or their injunctions, cannot make that to be sin which the law of God has not made to be so. It is said likewise, if a soul sin, for it is not sin if it be not some way or other the soul's act; hence it is called the sin of the soul (Mic 6:7), and it is the soul that is injured by it, Pr 8:36. 2. Concerning the sins for which those offerings were appointed. (1.) They are supposed to be overt acts; for, had they been required to bring a sacrifice for every sinful thought or word, the task had been endless. Atonement was made for those in the gross, on the day of expiation, once a year; but these are said to be done against the commandments. (2.) They are supposed to be sins of commission, things which ought not to be done. Omissions are sins, and must come into judgment; but what had been omitted at one time might be done at another, and so to obey was better than sacrifice: but a commission was past recall. (3.) They are supposed to be sins committed through ignorance. If they were done presumptuously, and with an avowed contempt of the law and the Law-maker, the offender was to be cut off, and there remained no sacrifice for the sin, Heb 10:26,27, Nu 15:30. But if the offender were either ignorant of the law, as in divers instances we may suppose many were (so numerous and various were the prohibitions), or were surprised into the sin unawares, the circumstances being such as made it evident that his resolution against the sin was sincere, but that he was overtaken in it, as the expression is (Ga 6:1), in this case relief was provided by the remedial law of the sin-offering. And the Jews say, "Those crimes only were to be expiated by sacrifice, if committed ignorantly, for which the criminal was to have been cut off if they had been committed presumptuously."
II. The law begins with the case of the anointed priest, that is, the high priest, provided he should sin through ignorance; for the law made men priests who had infirmity. Though his ignorance was of all others least excusable, yet he was allowed to bring his offering. His office did not so far excuse his offence as that it should be forgiven him without a sacrifice; yet it did not so far aggravate it but that it should be forgiven him when he did bring his sacrifice. If he sin according to the sin of the people (so the case is put, Le 4:3), which supposes him in this matter to stand upon the level with other Israelites, and to have no benefit of his clergy at all. Now the law concerning the sin-offering for the high priest is, 1. That he must bring a bullock without blemish for a sin-offering (Le 4:3), as valuable an offering as that for the whole congregation (Le 4:14); whereas for any other ruler, or a common person, a kid of the goats should serve, Le 4:23,28. This intimated the greatness of the guilt connected with the sin of a high priest. The eminency of his station, and his relation both to God and to the people, greatly aggravated his offences; see Ro 2:21. 2. The hand of the offerer must be laid upon the head of the offering (Le 4:4), with a solemn penitent confession of the sin he had committed, putting it upon the head of the sin-offering, Le 16:21. No remission without confession, Ps 32:5, Pr 28:13. It signified also a confidence in this instituted way of expiating guilt, as a figure of something better yet to come, which they could not stedfastly discern. He that laid his hand on the head of the beast thereby owned that he deserved to die himself, and that it was God's great mercy that he would please to accept the offering of this beast to die for him. The Jewish writers themselves say that neither the sin-offering nor the trespass-offering made atonement, except for those that repented and believed in their atonement. 3. The bullock must be killed, and a great deal of solemnity there must be in disposing of the blood; for it was the blood that made atonement, and without shedding of blood there was no remission, Le 4:5-7. Some of the blood of the high-priest's sin-offering was to be sprinkled seven times before the veil, with an eye towards the mercy-seat, though it was veiled: some of it was to be put upon the horns of the golden altar, because at that altar the priest himself ministered; and thus was signified the putting away of that pollution which from his sins did cleave to his services. It likewise serves to illustrate the influence which Christ's satisfaction has upon the prevalency of his intercession. The blood of his sacrifice is put upon the altar of his incense and sprinkled before the Lord. When this was done the remainder of the blood was poured at the foot of the brazen altar. By this rite, the sinner acknowledged that he deserved to have his blood thus poured out like water. It likewise signified the pouring out of the soul before God in true repentance, and typified our Saviour's pouring out his soul unto death. 4. The fat of the inwards was to be burnt upon the altar of burnt-offering, Le 4:8-10. By this the intention of the offering and of the atonement made by it was directed to the glory of God, who, having been dishonoured by the sin, was thus honoured by the sacrifice. It signified the sharp sufferings of our Lord Jesus, when he was made sin (that is, a sin-offering) for us, especially the sorrows of his soul and his inward agonies. It likewise teaches us, in conformity to the death of Christ, to crucify the flesh. 5. The head and body of the beast, skin and all, were to be carried without the camp, to a certain place appointed for that purpose, and there burnt to ashes, Le 4:11,12. This was very significant, (1.) Of the duty of repentance, which is the putting away of sin as a detestable thing, which our soul hates. True penitents say to their idols, "Get you hence; what have we to do any more with idols?" The sin-offering is called sin. What they did to that we must do to our sins; the body of sin must be destroyed, Ro 6:6. (2.) Of the privilege of remission. When God pardons sin he quite abolishes it, casts it behind his back. The iniquity of Judah shall be sought for and not found. The apostle takes particular notice of this ceremony, and applies it to Christ (Heb 13:11-13), who suffered without the gate, in the place of a skull, where the ashes of dead men, as those of the altar, were poured out.
¹³ And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty;
¹⁴ When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation.
¹⁵ And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD.
¹⁶ And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock's blood to the tabernacle of the congregation:
¹⁷ And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even before the vail.
¹⁸ And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
¹⁹ And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar.
²⁰ And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.
²¹ And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.
This is the law for expiating the guilt of a national sin, by a sin offering. If the leaders of the people, through mistake concerning the law, caused them to err, when the mistake was discovered an offering must be brought, that wrath might not come upon the whole congregation. Observe, 1. It is possible that the church may err, and that her guides may mislead her. It is here supposed that the whole congregation may sin, and sin through ignorance. God will always have a church on earth; but he never said it should be infallible, or perfectly pure from corruption on this side heaven. 2. When a sacrifice was to be offered for the whole congregation, the elders were to lay their hands upon the head of it (three of them at least), as representatives of the people and agents for them. The sin we suppose to have been some common custom, taken up and used by the generality of the people, upon presumption of its being lawful, which afterwards, upon search, appeared to be otherwise. In this case the commonness of the usage received perhaps by tradition from their fathers, and the vulgar opinion of its being lawful, would not so far excuse them from sin but that they must bring a sacrifice to make atonement for it. There are many bad customs and forms of speech which are thought to have no harm in them, and yet may bring guilt and wrath upon a land, which therefore it concerns the elders both to reform and to intercede with God for the pardon of, Joe 2:16. 3. The blood of this sin-offering, as of the former, was to be sprinkled seven times before the Lord, Le 4:17. It was not to be poured out there, but sprinkled only; for the cleansing virtue of the blood of Christ was then and still is sufficiently signified and represented by sprinkling, Isa 52:15. It was to be sprinkled seven times. Seven is a number of perfection, because when God had made the world in six days he rested the seventh; so this signified the perfect satisfaction Christ made, and the complete cleansing of the souls of the faithful by it; see Heb 10:14. The blood was likewise to be put upon the horns of the incense-altar, to which there seems to be an allusion in Jer 17:1, where the sin of Judah is said to be graven upon the horns of their altars. If they did not forsake their sins, the putting of the blood of their sin-offerings upon the horns of their altars, instead of taking away their guilt, did but bind it on the faster, perpetuated the remembrance of it, and remained a witness against them. It is likewise alluded to in Re 9:13, where a voice is heard from the four horns of the golden altar; that is, an answer of peace is given to the prayers of the saints, which are acceptable and prevalent only by virtue of the blood of the sin-offering put upon the horns of that altar; compare Re 8:3. 4. When the offering is completed, it is said, atonement is made, and the sin shall be forgiven, Le 4:20. The promise of remission is founded upon the atonement. It is spoken here of the forgiveness of the sin of the whole congregation, that is, the turning away of those national judgments which the sin deserved. Note, The saving of churches and kingdoms from ruin is owing to the satisfaction and mediation of Christ.
²² When a ruler hath sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty;
²³ Or if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish:
²⁴ And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the LORD: it is a sin offering.
²⁵ And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering.
²⁶ And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.
Observe here, 1. That God takes notice of and is displeased with the sins of rulers. Those who have power to call others to account are themselves accountable to the ruler of rulers; for, as high as they are, there is a higher than they. This is intimated in that the commandment transgressed is here said to be the commandment of the Lord his God, Le 4:22. He is a prince to others, but let him know the Lord is a God to him. 2. The sin of the ruler which he committed through ignorance is supposed afterwards to come to his knowledge (Le 4:23), which must be either by the check of his own conscience or by the reproof of his friends, both which we should all, even the best and greatest, not only submit to, but be thankful for. What we have done amiss we should be very desirous to come to the knowledge of. That which I see not, teach thou me, and show me wherein I have erred, are prayers we should put up to God every day, that though through ignorance we fall into sin we may not through ignorance lie still in it. 3. The sin-offering for a ruler was to be a kid of the goats, not a bullock, as for the priest and the whole congregation; nor was the blood of his sin-offering to be brought into the tabernacle, as of the other two, but it was all bestowed upon the brazen altar (Le 4:25); nor was the flesh of it to be burnt, as that of the other two, without the camp, which intimated that the sin of a ruler, though worse than that of a common person, yet was not so heinous, nor of such pernicious consequence, as the sin of the high priest, or of the whole congregation. A kid of the goats was sufficient to be offered for a ruler, but a bullock for a tribe, to intimate that the ruler, though major singulis—greater than each, was minor universis—less than the whole. It is bad when great men give bad examples, but worse when all men follow them. 4. It is promised that the atonement shall be accepted and the sin forgiven (Le 4:26), that is, if he repent and reform; for otherwise God swore concerning Eli, a judge in Israel, that the iniquity of his house should not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever, 1Sa 3:14.
²⁷ And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty;
²⁸ Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.
²⁹ And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.
³⁰ And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.
³¹ And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the LORD; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
³² And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish.
³³ And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.
³⁴ And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar:
³⁵ And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
I. Here is the law of the sin-offering for a common person, which differs from that for a ruler only in this, that a private person might bring either a kid or a lamb, a ruler only a kid; and that for a ruler must be a male, for the other a female: in all the circumstances of the management of the offering they agreed. Observe, 1. The case supposed: If any one of the common people sin through ignorance, Le 4:27. The prophet supposes that they were not so likely as the great men to know the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God (Jer 5:4), and yet, if they sin through ignorance, they must bring a sin-offering. Note, Even sins of ignorance need to be atoned for by sacrifice. To be able to plead, when we are charged with sin, that we did it ignorantly, and through the surprise of temptation, will not bring us off if we be not interested in that great plea, Christ hath died, and entitled to the benefit of that. We have all need to pray with David (and he was a ruler) to be cleansed from secret faults, the errors which we ourselves do not understand or are not aware of, Ps 19:12. 2. That the sins of ignorance committed by a single person, a common obscure person, did require a sacrifice; for, as the greatest are not above the censure, so the meanest are not below the cognizance of the divine justice. None of the common people, if offenders, were overlooked in a crowd. 3. That a sin-offering was not only admitted, but accepted, even from one of the common people, and an atonement made by it, Le 4:31,35. Here rich and poor, prince and peasant, meet together; they are both alike welcome to Christ, and to an interest in his sacrifice, upon the same terms. See Job 34:19.
II. From all these laws concerning the sin-offerings we may learn, 1. To hate sin, and to watch against it. That is certainly a very bad thing to make atonement for which so many innocent and useful creatures must be slain and mangled thus. 2. To value Christ, the great and true sin-offering, whose blood cleanses from all sin, which it was not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away. Now, if any man sin, Christ is the propitiation (1Jo 2:1,2), not for Jews only, but for Gentiles. And perhaps there was some allusion to this law concerning sacrifices for sins of ignorance in that prayer of Christ's, just when he was offering up himself a sacrifice, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
本章論及贖罪祭，其設立的目的，乃為誤犯之罪贖罪：一、為祭司本人，Le 4:1-12。二、為全會眾，Le 4:13-21。三、為官長，Le 4:22-26。四、為平民，Le 4:27-35等。