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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(24) And kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering.—See Leviticus 1:5.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:22-26 Those who have power to call others to account, are themselves accountable to the Ruler of rulers. The sin of the ruler, committed through ignorance, must come to his knowledge, either by the check of his own conscience, or by the reproof of his friends; both which even the best and greatest, not only should submit to, but be thankful for. 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 if, through ignorance, we fall into sin, we may not through ignorance abide in it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See Leviticus 1:11.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22-26. When a ruler hath sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments—Whatever was the form of government, the king, judge, or subordinate, was the party concerned in this law. The trespass of such a civil functionary being less serious in its character and consequences than that either of the high priest or the congregation, a sin offering of inferior value was required—"a kid of the goats"; and neither was the blood carried into the sanctuary, but applied only to the altar of burnt offering; nor was the carcass taken without the camp; it was eaten by the priests-in-waiting.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The burnt-offering is so called by way of eminency, to wit, the daily burnt-offering, of which Exodus 29:38, of which place see Leviticus 1:11. It is a sin-offering, and therefore to be killed where the burnt-offering is killed, as is expressed Leviticus 6:25 Leviticus 7:2; whereby it is distinguished from the peace-offerings, which were killed elsewhere, Leviticus 3:2.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat,.... His right hand, as the Targum of Jonathan; See Gill on Leviticus 1:4.

and kill it; not the prince, but the priest after mentioned, or the butcher, as the same Targum:

in the place where they hill the burnt offering before the Lord; in the court on the north side of the altar, see Leviticus 1:11,

it is a sin offering: an offering for his sin of ignorance, or "sin"; so Christ our offering is said to be, 2 Corinthians 5:21.

Geneva Study Bible

And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it {h} in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the LORD: it is a sin offering.

(h) That is, the priest shall kill it; for it was not lawful for any out of that office to kill the beast.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

24. where they kill the burnt offering] Cp. Leviticus 1:5; Leviticus 1:11; on the side of the altar northward.

The Heb. word for ‘ruler’ is nâsî’, and is used of the princes of the tribes in Numbers 1:16; Numbers 2:3; Numbers 2:5 etc., Numbers 2:7, Numbers 34:18. Each of the spies sent in Numbers 13 was a nâsî’. The same word is used of the heads of the Gershonites, Kohathites, and Merarites, Numbers 3:24; Numbers 3:30; Numbers 3:35. A.V. has ‘captain’ in ch. 2, ‘chief’ in ch. 3, ‘prince’ in chs. 1, 7 and 34, ‘ruler’ in ch. 13. R.V. has ‘prince’ throughout. The word denotes one in authority over a tribe or over a portion of it. Comparing Ezekiel 34:24 ‘my servant David prince’ (nâsî’ Heb.) with Ezekiel 37:24 ‘my servant David shall be king,’ Jewish tradition infers that a king is meant in this passage.

Leviticus 4:24

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"If (או, see Ges. 155, 2) his sin is made known to him," i.e., if any one called his attention to the fact that he had transgressed a commandment of God, he was to bring a he-goat without blemish, and, having laid his hand upon it, to slay it at the place of burnt-offering; after which the priest was to put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar, and then to burn the whole of the fat upon the altar, as in the case of the peaceoffering (see Leviticus 3:3-4), and thus to make atonement for the prince on account of his sin. עזים שׂעיר, or שׂעיר alone (lit., hairy, shaggy, Genesis 27:11), is the buck-goat, which is frequently mentioned as the animal sacrificed as a sin-offering: e.g., that of the tribe-princes (Numbers 7:16., Leviticus 15:24), and that of the nation at the yearly festivals (Leviticus 16:9, Leviticus 16:15; Leviticus 23:19; Numbers 28:15, Numbers 28:22, Numbers 28:30; Numbers 29:5, Numbers 29:16.) and at the consecration of the tabernacle (Leviticus 9:3, Leviticus 9:15; Leviticus 10:16). It is distinguished in Numbers 7:16. from the attudim, which were offered as peace-offerings, and frequently occur in connection with oxen, rams, and lambs as burnt-offerings and thank-offerings (Psalm 50:9, Psalm 50:13; Psalm 66:15; Isaiah 1:11; Isaiah 34:6; Ezekiel 39:18). According to Knobel, עזים שׂעיר, or שׂעיר, was an old he-goat, the hair of which grew longer with age, particularly about the neck and back, and עזים שׂעירת (Leviticus 4:28; Leviticus 5:16) an old she-goat; whilst עתּוּד was the younger he-goat, which leaped upon the does (Genesis 31:10, Genesis 31:12), and served for slaughtering like lambs, sheep, and goats (Deuteronomy 32:14; Jeremiah 51:40). But as the עזים שׂעיר was also slaughtered for food (Genesis 37:31), and the skins of quite young he-goats are called שׂעירת (Genesis 27:23), the difference between שׂעיר and עתּוּד is hardly to be sought in the age, but more probably, as Bochart supposes, in some variety of species, in which case seir and seirak might denote the rough-haired, shaggy kind of goat, and attud the buck-goat of stately appearance.