Leviticus 1:4

1:3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.

And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

KJV

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He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

And he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

1:5 And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

What does Leviticus 1:4 mean?

Leviticus 1:4 is a verse in the book of Leviticus, in the Old Testament. In the original Hebrew, key words include סָמַךְ (çâmak), יָד (yâd), רֹאשׁ (rôʼsh). It connects to 37 cross-referenced passages elsewhere in Scripture.

Hebrew interlinear

And

shall

putסָמַךְçâmak/saw-mak'/H5564to prop (literally or figuratively); reflexively, to lean upon or take hold of (in a favorable or unfavorable sense)

his

handיָדyâd/yawd/H3027a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.),

upon

the

headרֹאשׁrôʼsh/roshe/H7218the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itc.)

the

burnt

offering;עֹלָהʻôlâh/o-law'/H5930a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending); usually a holocaust (as going up in smoke)

and

shall

acceptedרָצָהrâtsâh/raw-tsaw'/H7521to be pleased with; specifically, to satisfy adebt

for

him

make

atonementכָּפַרkâphar/kaw-far'/H3722to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel

for

him.

Commentary on Leviticus 1:4

HENRY_FULL · Leviticus 1:3–4

Leviticus There is nothing historical in all this book of Leviticus except the account which it gives us of the consecration of the priesthood ( ch. viii.-ix. ), of the punishment of Nadab and Abihu, by the hand of God, for offering strange fire ( ch. x ), and of Shelomith's son, by the hand of the magistrate, for blasphemy ( ch. xxiv ). All the rest of the book is taken up with the laws, chiefly the ecclesiastical laws, which God gave to Israel by Moses, concerning their sacrifices and offerings, their meats and drinks, and divers washings, and the other peculiarities by which God set that people apart for himself, and distinguished them from other nations, all which were shadows of good things to come, which are realized and superseded by the gospel of Christ. We call the book Leviticus, from the Septuagint, because it contains the laws and ordinances of the levitical priesthood (as it is called, Heb. vii. 11 ), and the ministrations of it. The Levites were principally charged with these institutions, both to do their part and to teach the people theirs. We read, in the close of the foregoing book, of the setting up of the tabernacle, which was to be the place of worship; and, as that was framed according to the pattern, so must the ordinances of worship be, which were there to be administered. In these the divine appointment was as particular as in the former, and must be as punctually observed. The remaining record of these abrogated laws is of use to us, for the strengthening of our faith in Jesus Christ, as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and for the increase of our thankfulness to God, that by him we are freed from the yoke of the ceremonial law, and live in the times of reformation. This book begins with the laws concerning sacrifices, of which the most ancient were the burnt-offerings, about which God gives Moses instructions in this chapter. Orders are here given how that sort of sacrifice must be managed. I. If it was a bullock out of the herd, ver. 3-9 . II. If it was a sheep or goat, a lamb or kid, out of the flock, ver. 10-13 . III. If it was a turtle-dove or a young pigeon, ver. 14-17 . And whether the offering was more or less valuable in itself, if it was offered with an upright heart, according to these laws, it was accepted of God. The Law Concerning Offerings. ( b. c. 1490.) 1 And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord , ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. Observe here, 1. It is taken for granted that people would be inclined to bring offerings to the Lord. The very light of nature directs man, some way or other, to do honour to his Maker, and pay him homage as his Lord. Revealed religion supposes natural religion to be an ancient and early institution, since the fall had directed men to glorify God by sacrifice, which was an implicit acknowledgment of their having received all from God as creatures, and their having forfeited all to him as sinners. A conscience thoroughly convinced of dependence and guilt would be willing to come before God with thousands of rams, Mic. vi. 6, 7 . 2. Provision is made that men should not indulge their own fancies, nor become vain in their imaginations and inventions about their sacrifices, lest, while they pretended to honour God, they should really dishonour him, and do that which was unworthy of him. Every thing therefore is directed to be done with due decorum, by a certain rule, and so as that the sacrifices might be most significant both of the great sacrifice of atonement which Christ was to offer in the fulness of time and of the spiritual sacrifices of acknowledgment which believers should offer daily. 3. God gave those laws to Israel by Moses; nothing is more frequently repeated than this, The Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel. God could have spoken it to the children of Israel himself, as he did the ten commandments; but he chose to deliver it to them by Moses, because they had desired he would no more speak to them himself, and he had designed that Moses should, above all the prophets, be a type of Christ, by whom God would in these last days speak to us, Heb. i. 2 . By other prophets God sent messages to his people, but by Moses he gave them laws; and therefore he was fit to typify him to whom the Father has given all judgment. And, besides, the treasure of divine revelation was always to be put into earthen vessels, that our faith might be tried, and that the excellency of the power might be of God. 4. God spoke to him out of the tabernacle. As soon as ever the shechinah had taken possession of its new habitation, in token of the acceptance of what was done, God talked with Moses from the mercy-seat, while he attended without the veil, or rather at the door, hearing a voice only; and it is probable that he wrote what he heard at that time, to prevent any mistake, or a slip of memory, in the rehearsal of it. The tabernacle was set up to be a place of communion between God and Israel; there, where they performed their services to God, God revealed his will to them. Thus, by the word and by prayer, we now have fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, Acts vi. 4 . When we speak to God we must desire to hear from him, and reckon it a great favour that he is pleased to speak to us. The Lord called to Moses, not to come near (under that dispensation, even Moses must keep his distance), but to attend and hearken to what should be said. A letter less than ordinary in the Hebrew word for called, the Jewish critics tell us, intimates that God spoke in a still small voice. The moral law was given with terror from a burning mountain in thunder and lightning; but the remedial law of sacrifice was given more gently from a mercy-seat, because that was typical of the grace of the gospel, which is the ministration of life and peace.

Cross-references

Related passages from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

Exodus 29:10

And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock.

Exodus 29:15

Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.

Exodus 29:19

And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.

Leviticus 3:2

And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.

Leviticus 3:8

And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar.

Leviticus 3:13

And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about.

Leviticus 4:4

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.

Leviticus 4:15

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.

Leviticus 4:20

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.

Leviticus 4:24

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.

Leviticus 4:26

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.

Leviticus 4:29

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.

Leviticus 4:31

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.

Leviticus 4:35

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.

Leviticus 5:6

And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.

Leviticus 6:7

And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.

Leviticus 8:14

And he brought the bullock for the sin offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering.

Leviticus 8:22

And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.

Leviticus 9:7

And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering, and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement for thyself, and for the people: and offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them; as the LORD commanded.

Leviticus 16:21

And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: a fit: Heb. a man of opportunity

Leviticus 16:24

And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.

Numbers 8:12

And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the LORD, to make an atonement for the Levites.

Numbers 15:25

And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their ignorance:

Numbers 15:28

And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.

Numbers 25:13

And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.

2 Chronicles 29:23

And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them: forth: Heb. near

2 Chronicles 29:24

And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

Isaiah 53:4 Isaiah 56:7 Daniel 9:24 Romans 3:25 Romans 5:11 Romans 12:1 2 Corinthians 5:20 2 Corinthians 5:21 Hebrews 10:4 1 John 2:2

Topics

Offerings Sacrifices Substitution Types of Christ

Verses like this

Other verses that share key original-language words with Leviticus 1:4.

Exodus 29:10

And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock.

Exodus 29:15

Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.

Exodus 29:19

And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.

Genesis 22:6

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

Genesis 33:10

And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.

Leviticus 4:24

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.

Leviticus 4:29

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.

Leviticus 4:33

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.

Frequently asked questions

What does Leviticus 1:4 say?

Leviticus 1:4 (King James Version) reads: "And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him."

Is Leviticus 1:4 in the Old or New Testament?

Leviticus 1:4 is in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of Leviticus.

Reflect

As you read Leviticus 1:4, what is one truth here you can carry into today?

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