Leviticus 4:27-35 Meaning: The Common Person's Path to Atonement
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,
28if 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.
29He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering.
30The 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.
31All 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.
33He 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.
34The 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.
35He 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.
27And 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;
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.
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.
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.
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.
32And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish.
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.
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:
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.
27And if any one of the common people sin unwittingly, in doing any of the things which Jehovah hath commanded not to be done, and be guilty;
28if his sin, which he hath sinned, be made known to him, then he shall bring for his oblation a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.
29And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin-offering, and kill the sin-offering in the place of burnt-offering.
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 all the blood thereof shall he pour out at the base of the altar.
31And all the fat thereof shall he take away, 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 savor unto Jehovah; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.
32And if he bring a lamb as his oblation for a sin-offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish.
33And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin-offering, and kill it for a sin-offering in the place where they kill the burnt-offering.
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 all the blood thereof shall he pour out at the base of the altar.
35And all the fat thereof shall he take away, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of peace-offerings; and the priest shall burn them on the altar, upon the offerings of Jehovah made by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him as touching his sin that he hath sinned, and he shall be forgiven.
27`And if any person of the people of the land sin through ignorance, by his doing something against one of the commands of Jehovah regarding things which are not to be done, and hath been guilty--
28or his sin which he hath sinned hath been made known unto him, then he hath brought in his offering, a kid of the goats, a perfect one, a female, for his sin which he hath sinned,
29and he hath laid his hand on the head of the sin-offering, and hath slaughtered the sin-offering in the place of the burnt-offering.
30`And the priest hath taken of its blood with his finger, and hath put on the horns of the altar of the burnt-offering, and all its blood he doth pour out at the foundation of the altar,
31and all its fat he doth turn aside, as the fat hath been turned aside from off the sacrifice of the peace-offerings, and the priest hath made perfume on the altar, for sweet fragrance to Jehovah; and the priest hath made atonement for him, and it hath been forgiven him.
32`And if he bring in a sheep for his offering, for a sin-offering, a female, a perfect one, he doth bring in,
33and he hath laid his hand on the head of the sin-offering, and hath slaughtered it for a sin-offering in the place where he slaughtereth the burnt-offering.
34`And the priest hath taken of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and hath put on the horns of the altar of the burnt-offering, and all its blood he poureth out at the foundation of the altar,
35and all its fat he turneth aside, as the fat of the sheep is turned aside from the sacrifice of the peace-offerings, and the priest hath made them a perfume on the altar, according to the fire-offerings of Jehovah, and the priest hath made atonement for him, for his sin which he hath sinned, and it hath been forgiven him.
27And if any one of the people of the land sin through inadvertence, that he do [somewhat against] any of the commandments of Jehovah [in things] which should not be done, and be guilty;
28if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge, then he shall bring his offering, a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.
29And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin-offering, and slaughter the sin-offering at the place of the burnt-offering.
30And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put [it] on the horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.
31And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace-offering; and the priest shall burn it on the altar, for a sweet odour to Jehovah; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
32And if he bring a sheep for his offering for sin, a female without blemish shall he bring it.
33And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin-offering, and slaughter it for a sin-offering at the place where they slaughter the burnt-offering.
34And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and put [it] on the horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.
35And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of peace-offering; and the priest shall burn them on the altar, with Jehovah's offerings by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.
Meaning in one sentence
Learn why the sin offering for a common Israelite was a female goat or lamb, and how this reveals God's care for every person's need for atonement.
Context
Leviticus 4 gives laws for sin offerings for four groups: the high priest, the whole congregation, a ruler, and the common person. This passage (verses 27, 35) addresses the last group, the ordinary Israelite, called am ha'arets or 'people of the land.' They had no special office. If they sinned unintentionally against any of the Lord's commands, they became guilty. Once the sin became known, they had to bring a female goat or a lamb without defect. They laid a hand on its head, slaughtered it at the burnt offering altar, and the priest took some blood to the horns and poured the rest at the base. The fat was burned as a sweet aroma. The priest made atonement, and the person was forgiven. The ritual emphasized that even inadvertent sin required a substitute, and that God made a way for everyone to be cleansed.
Key Words
The Hebrew word for 'unwittingly' is shgagah, meaning a sin committed by mistake or without awareness. It is not rebellion, but a failure to keep the command. The fact that God provides a sacrifice for such sins shows His mercy. He does not leave us to stumble in the dark; He lights the path back to Himself.
The verb samakh, 'lay his hand,' means to lean or press heavily. The worshipper did not lightly touch the animal; he leaned on it, identifying himself with it. This was a personal act: 'This animal stands in my place.' It is a vivid picture of substitution, something Christians see fulfilled in Christ, who bore our sins in His body.
The word kipper, 'make atonement,' means to cover or ransom. The priest's actions covered the person's guilt, restoring the relationship. This was not something the sinner could do for himself. It was a gift provided by God. Today, we trust that Christ has covered our sins once for all.
How Christians Read This Verse
Across Christian tradition, this passage has been read as pointing forward to Christ. Many commentators, from Matthew Henry to Adam Clarke, note that these sacrifices could not take away sin in themselves; they were shadows of the perfect offering to come. The differentiation between offerings for the common person and the ruler reminds us that every person, regardless of status, stands in need of atonement. Some traditions emphasize the communal aspect: the whole congregation could sin together and need a corporate offering. Others focus on the individual's responsibility to bring their own gift. All see in this ritual a picture of grace: God provides a substitute, and the sinner receives forgiveness through faith.
A common misunderstanding
A common misunderstanding is that if you did not mean to sin, you are not really guilty. After all, you did not know it was wrong. But this passage shows that even unintentional sins incur guilt before God. The standard is His command, not our intention. In fact, the Bible takes all sin seriously because any deviation from God's holiness disrupts our relationship with Him. God graciously provides a covering for even those sins we did not realize we committed. This should deepen our gratitude for Christ, who died for all our sins, known and unknown.
Living This Out
This week, you may become aware of some wrong you did without thinking. Maybe a sharp word you spoke last week, or a moment when you failed to help when you could. The natural reaction is to excuse it. But this passage invites you to take it to the Lord. You do not need to bring a lamb; Christ has already been offered. You can lay your hand on Him in faith, confessing that particular sin, and receive the cleansing He purchased. Take time each day to ask the Holy Spirit to show you any 'unintentional' sin, and then thank Jesus for covering it.
Main takeaway: Even the sins we commit without intention require atonement, and God graciously provides a way for every person to be forgiven through a substitute.
For Families
For ages 5, 8
This part of the Bible tells us what to do when someone does something wrong without meaning to. They had to bring a special animal to say sorry to God. God gave them a way to be friends with Him again.
For ages 9, 12
When an Israelite realized they had broken God's law by accident, they had to bring a lamb or a goat without any spots. They put their hand on its head, showing that the animal was taking their place. Then the priest offered it to God, and the person was forgiven. This reminds us that Jesus is our perfect sacrifice. He takes the punishment for our sins, even the ones we didn't know we did.
Questions People Ask
Why did the common person offer a female goat or lamb while the ruler offered a male?
The difference likely reflects social position and economic means. The ruler's sin was considered more serious because of his influence, requiring a more valuable offering. Both offerings point to the need for a substitute and show that God provides a way for every person to be atoned for according to their station.
What does it mean to 'sin unwittingly'?
The Hebrew word 'shgagah' indicates a sin committed by mistake, without intention or awareness. The person did not know or realize they were breaking God's command. Yet they were still considered guilty and needed a sin offering to restore their relationship with God.
What is the significance of laying hands on the animal's head?
The laying on of hands was a physical act of identification and transfer. The worshipper leaned on the animal's head, symbolically placing their sin on it. This indicated that the animal was dying in their place, a substitution that pointed forward to Christ's atoning work.
Why was the blood applied to the horns of the altar?
The horns of the altar were its most prominent features, representing strength and salvation. Applying blood to them signified that the atonement was complete and the altar was cleansed. The rest of the blood was poured at the base, showing that the life of the animal was fully offered to God.
How does this passage relate to Jesus?
Christians see these Old Testament sacrifices as foreshadowing Jesus Christ, who is described as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Unlike these repeated offerings, His sacrifice was once for all, fully atoning for all sin, including those committed unintentionally. He is the perfect substitute.
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