¹耶和华 对摩西 说 ：

¹And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

¹ CHAPTER IV

The law concerning the sin-offering for transgressions committed

through ignorance, 1, 2.

For the priest thus sinning, 3-12.

For the sins of ignorance of the whole congregation, 13-21.

For the sins of ignorance of a ruler, 22-26.

For the sins of ignorance of any of the common people, 27-35.

NOTES ON CHAP. IV.

²你晓谕 以色列 人 说 ：若有人 在耶和华 所吩咐 不可行 的甚么事上误 犯 了一件 ，

²Speak 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:

² Verse 2. If a soul shall sin through ignorance] That is, if

any man shall do what God has forbidden, or leave undone what God

has commanded, through ignorance of the law relative to these

points; as soon as the transgression or omission comes to his

knowledge, he shall offer the sacrifice here prescribed, and

shall not suppose that his ignorance is an excuse for his sin. He

who, when his iniquity comes to his knowledge, refuses to offer

such a sacrifice, sins obstinately and wilfully, and to him there

remains no other sacrifice for sin-no other mode by which he can

be reconciled to God, but he has a certain fearful looking for of

judgment-which shall devour such adversaries; and this seems the

case to which the apostle alludes, Heb 10:26, &c., in the words

above quoted. There have been a great number of subtle questions

started on this subject, both by Jews and Christians, but the

above I believe to be the sense and spirit of the law.

³或是受膏的 祭司 犯罪 ，使百姓 陷在罪 里，就当为他所犯 的罪 把没有残疾 的公牛 犊 献给 耶和华 为赎罪祭 。

³If 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.

³ Verse 3. If the priest that is anointed] Meaning, most

probably, the high priest. According to the sin of the people;

for although he had greater advantages than the people could

have, in being more conversant with the law of God, and his lips

should understand and preserve knowledge, yet it was possible

even for him, in that time in which the word of God had not been

fully revealed, to transgress through ignorance; and his

transgression might have the very worst tendency, because the

people might be thereby led into sin. Hence several critics

understand this passage in this way, and translate it thus: If

the anointed priest shall lead the people to sin; or, literally,

if the anointed priest shall sin to the sin of the people; that

is, so as to cause the people to transgress, the shepherd going

astray, and the sheep following after him.

⁴他要牵 公牛 到会 幕 门口 ，在耶和华 面前 按 手 在牛 的头 上，把牛 宰 于耶和华 面前 。

⁴And 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.

⁴ Verse 4. Lay his hand upon the bullock's head]

See Clarke on Le 1:4.

⁵受膏的 祭司 要取 些公牛 的血 带 到会 幕 ，

⁵And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:

⁶把指头 蘸 于血 中，在耶和华 面前 对着 圣所 的幔子 弹 血 七 次 ，

⁶And 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.

⁶ Verse 6. Seven times] See Clarke on Ex 29:30.

The blood of this sacrifice was applied in three different ways:

1. The priest put his finger in it, and sprinkled it seven times

before the veil, Le 4:6. 2. He put some of it on the horns of

the altar of incense. 3. He poured the remaining part at the

bottom of the altar of burnt-offerings, Le 4:7.

⁷又要把 些血 抹在会 幕 内、耶和华 面前 香 坛 的四角 上，再把公牛 所有的血 倒 在会 幕 门口 、燔祭 坛 的脚 那里。

⁷And 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要把赎罪祭 公牛 所有的脂油 ，乃是盖 脏 的脂油 和脏 上所有的脂油 ，

⁸And 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并两个 腰子 和腰子上的脂油 ，就是靠腰两旁 的脂油，与肝 上的网子 和腰子 ，一概取下 ，

⁹And 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与平安 祭 公牛 上所取 的一样；祭司 要把这些烧 在燔祭 的坛 上。

¹⁰As 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公牛 的皮 和所有的肉 ，并头 、腿 、脏 、腑、粪 ，

¹¹And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung,

¹²就是全公牛 ，要搬到 营 外 洁净 之地 、倒 灰 之所 ，用火 烧 在柴 上。

¹²Even 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.^{a, b}

¹² Verse 12. Without the camp] This was intended

figuratively to express the sinfulness of this sin, and the

availableness of the atonement. The sacrifice, as having the sin

of the priest transferred from himself to it by his confession

and imposition of hands, was become unclean and abominable, and

was carried, as it were, out of the Lord's sight; from the

tabernacle and congregation it must be carried without the camp,

and thus its own offensiveness was removed, and the sin of the

person in whose behalf it was offered. The apostle (Heb 13:11-13)

applies this in the most pointed manner to Christ: "For the bodies

of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the

high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore JESUS

also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood,

suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him

without the camp, bearing his reproach."

¹³以色列 全会众 若行 了耶和华 所吩咐 不可行 的甚么 事，误犯 了罪 ，是隐而未现 ，会众 看 不出来的，

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;

¹³ Verse 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 1Sa 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 1Sa 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.

¹⁴会众 一知道 所犯的罪 就要献 一只公牛 犊 为赎罪 祭，牵 到会 幕 前 。

¹⁴When 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会 中的长老 就要在耶和华 面前 按 手 在牛 的头 上，将牛 在耶和华 面前 宰 了。

¹⁵And 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受膏的 祭司 要取 些公牛 的血 带到会 幕 ，

¹⁶And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock's blood to the tabernacle of the congregation:

¹⁷把指头 蘸 于血 中，在耶和华 面前 对着 幔子 弹 血七 次 ，

¹⁷And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even before the vail.

¹⁸又要把些血 抹 在会 幕 内、耶和华 面前 坛 的四角 上，再把所有的血 倒 在会 幕 门 口、燔祭 坛 的脚 那里。

¹⁸And 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把牛所有的脂油 都取 下，烧 在坛 上；

¹⁹And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar.

²⁰收拾 这牛 ，与那赎罪祭 的牛 一样。祭司 要为他们赎罪 ，他们必蒙赦免 。

²⁰And 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他要把牛 搬 到营 外 烧 了，象烧 头一个 牛 一样；这是会众 的赎罪祭 。

²¹And 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.

²²官长 若行 了耶和华 ―他神 所吩咐 不可行 的甚么 事，误 犯了罪 ，

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;

²² Verse 22. When a ruler hath sinned] Under the term

nasi, it is probable that any person is meant who held any kind

of political dignity among the people, though the rabbins

generally understand it of the king.



A kid of the goats was the sacrifice in this case, the rites

nearly the same as in the preceding cases, only the fat was burnt

as that of the peace-offering. See Le 4:26, and Le 3:5.

²³所犯 的罪 自己知道 了，就要牵 一只 没有残疾 的公 山羊 为供物 ，

²³Or 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按 手 在羊 的头 上，宰 于耶和华 面前 、宰 燔祭牲 的地方 ；这是赎罪祭 。

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祭司 要用指头 蘸 些赎罪祭 牲的血 ，抹 在燔祭 坛 的四角 上，把血 倒 在燔祭 坛 的脚 那里。

²⁵And 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所有的脂油 ，祭司都要烧 在坛 上，正如平安 祭 的脂油 一样。至于他的罪 ，祭司 要为他赎 了，他必蒙赦免 。

²⁶And 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.

²⁷民 中若有人 行 了耶和华 所吩咐 不可行 的甚么 事，误犯了罪 ，

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;^{c, d}

²⁷ Verse 27. The common people] am haarets, the

people of the land, that is, any individual who was not a priest,

king, or ruler among the people; any of the poor or ordinary

sort. Any of these, having transgressed through ignorance, was

obliged to bring a lamb or a kid, the ceremonies being nearly the

same as in the preceding cases. The original may denote the very

lowest of the people, the labouring or agricultural classes.



The law relative to the general cases of sins committed through

ignorance, and the sacrifices to be offered on such occasions, so

amply detailed in this chapter, may be thus recapitulated. For

all sins and transgressions of this kind committed by the people,

the prince, and the priest, they must offer expiatory offerings.

The person so sinning must bring the sacrifice to the door of the

tabernacle, and lay his hands upon its head, as in a case already

referred to, acknowledging the sacrifice to be his, that he

needed it for his transgression; and thus he was considered as

confessing his sin, and the sin was considered as transferred to

the animal, whose blood was then spilt to make an atonement.

See Clarke on Le 1:4.



Such institutions as these could not be considered as terminating

in themselves, they necessarily had reference to something of

infinitely higher moment; in a word, they typified Him whose soul

was made an offering for sin, Isa 53:10. And taken out of this

reference they seem both absurd and irrational. It is obviously

in reference to these innocent creatures being brought as

sin-offerings to God for the guilty that St. Paul alludes

2Co 5:21, where he says,

He (God) made him to be sin (αμαρτιαν, a sin-offering) for us WHO

KNEW NO SIN, that we might be made the righteousness of God-holy

and pure by the power and grace of God, in or through him.

And it is worthy of remark, that the Greek word used by the apostle

is the same by which the Septuagint, in more than fourscore places

in the Pentateuch, translate the Hebrew word hattaah, sin,

which in all those places our translation renders sin-offering.

Even sins of ignorance cannot be unnoticed by a strict and holy

law; these also need the great atonement: on which account we

should often pray with David, Cleanse thou me from secret faults!

Ps 19:12. How little attention is paid to this solemn subject!

Sins of this kind-sins committed sometimes ignorantly, and more

frequently heedlessly, are permitted to accumulate in their

number, and consequently in their guilt; and from this very

circumstance we may often account for those painful desertions,

as they are called, under which many comparatively good people

labour. They have committed sins of ignorance or heedlessness,

and have not offered the sacrifice which can alone avail in their

behalf. How necessary in ten thousand cases is the following

excellent prayer! "That it may please thee to give us true

repentance; to forgive us all our sins, negligences, and

ignorances; and to endue us with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, to

amend our lives according to thy HOLY WORD."-Litany.

²⁸所犯 的罪 自己知道 了，就要为所犯 的罪 牵 一只 没有残疾 的母 山羊 为供物 ，

²⁸Or 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按 手 在赎罪祭 牲的头 上，在那宰燔祭 牲的地方 宰 了。

²⁹And 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祭司 要用指头 蘸 些羊的血 ，抹 在燔祭 坛 的四角 上，所有的血 都要倒 在坛 的脚 那里，

³⁰And 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又要把羊所有的脂油 都取 下，正如取 平安祭 牲的脂油 一样。祭司 要在坛 上焚烧 ，在耶和华 面前作为馨 香 的祭，为他赎罪 ，他必蒙赦免 。

³¹And 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人若牵 一只绵羊羔 为赎罪祭 的供物 ，必要牵 一只没有残疾 的母 羊，

³²And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish.

³³按 手 在赎罪祭 牲的头 上，在那宰 燔祭 牲的地方 宰 了作赎罪祭 。

³³And 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祭司 要用指头 蘸 些赎罪祭 牲的血 ，抹 在燔祭 坛 的四角 上，所有的血 都要倒 在坛 的脚 那里，

³⁴And 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又要把所有的脂油 都取 下，正如取 平安 祭 羊羔 的脂油 一样。祭司 要按献给耶和华 火祭 的条例，烧 在坛 上。至于所犯 的罪 ，祭司 要为他赎 了，他必蒙赦免 。

³⁵And 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.