Leviticus 4:22
New International Version
“’When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the commands of the LORD his God, when he realizes his guilt

New Living Translation
“If one of Israel’s leaders sins by violating one of the commands of the LORD his God but doesn’t realize it, he is still guilty.

English Standard Version
“When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the LORD his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt,

Berean Standard Bible
When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the commandments of the LORD his God, he incurs guilt.

King James Bible
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;

New King James Version
‘When a ruler has sinned, and done something unintentionally against any of the commandments of the LORD his God in anything which should not be done, and is guilty,

New American Standard Bible
‘When a leader sins and unintentionally does any of the things which the LORD his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty,

NASB 1995
‘When a leader sins and unintentionally does any one of all the things which the LORD his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty,

NASB 1977
‘When a leader sins and unintentionally does any one of all the things which the LORD God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty,

Legacy Standard Bible
‘When a leader sins and unintentionally does any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty,

Amplified Bible
‘When a ruler or leader sins and unintentionally does any one of the things the LORD his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty,

Christian Standard Bible
“When a leader sins and unintentionally violates any of the commands of the LORD his God by doing what is prohibited, and incurs guilt,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When a leader sins and unintentionally violates any of the commands of the LORD his God by doing what is prohibited, and incurs guilt,

American Standard Version
When a ruler sinneth, and doeth unwittingly any one of all the things which Jehovah his God hath commanded not to be done, and is guilty;

Contemporary English Version
Any tribal leader who disobeys me without knowing it is still guilty.

English Revised Version
When a ruler sinneth, and doeth unwittingly any one of all the things which the LORD his God hath commanded not to be done, and is guilty;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"When a leader unintentionally does something wrong-even one thing that is forbidden by any of the commands of the LORD his God-he will be guilty.

Good News Translation
If it is a ruler who sins and becomes guilty of breaking one of the LORD's commands without intending to,

International Standard Version
"When a ruler inadvertently sins, disobeying any one of the commands of the LORD his God that should not be violated, he will be guilty.

Majority Standard Bible
When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the commandments of the LORD his God, he incurs guilt.

NET Bible
"'Whenever a leader, by straying unintentionally, sins and violates one of the commandments of the LORD his God which must not be violated, and he pleads guilty,

New Heart English Bible
"'When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which the LORD his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty;

Webster's Bible Translation
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;

World English Bible
“‘When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty,
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
When a prince sins, and has done [something against] one of all the commands of his God YHWH [regarding things] which are not to be done, through ignorance, and has been guilty,

Young's Literal Translation
When a prince doth sin, and hath done something against one of all the commands of Jehovah his God regarding things which are not to be done, through ignorance, and hath been guilty --

Smith's Literal Translation
When a chief shall sin, and do one from all the commands of Jehovah his God, which he shall not do in erring, and being guilty,
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
If a prince shall sin, and through ignorance do any one of the things that the law of the Lord forbiddeth,

Catholic Public Domain Version
If a leader will have sinned, and through ignorance will have done one of the many things which the law of the Lord prohibits,

New American Bible
Should a tribal leader do wrong inadvertently by violating any one of the prohibitions of the LORD his God, and thus be guilty,

New Revised Standard Version
When a ruler sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by commandments of the LORD his God ought not to be done and incurs guilt,
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
When a ruler shall sin and shall do something through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty;

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And if a Ruler will sin and will do one of all of the commandments of LORD JEHOVAH his God, those that are not done, in error, and he will be guilty;
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
When a ruler sinneth, and doeth through error any one of all the things which the LORD his God hath commanded not to be done, and is guilty:

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And if a ruler sin, and break one of all the commands of the Lord his God, doing the thing which ought not to be done, unwillingly, and shall sin and trespass,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Laws for Sin Offerings
21Then he is to take the bull outside the camp and burn it, just as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly. 22When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the commandments of the LORD his God, he incurs guilt. 23When he becomes aware of the sin he has committed, he must bring an unblemished male goat as his offering.…

Cross References
Numbers 15:27-29
Also, if one person sins unintentionally, he is to present a year-old female goat as a sin offering. / And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the person who erred by sinning unintentionally; and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven. / You shall have the same law for the one who acts in error, whether he is a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you.

Leviticus 5:17-19
If someone sins and violates any of the LORD’s commandments even though he was unaware, he is guilty and shall bear his punishment. / He is to bring to the priest an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock as a guilt offering. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the wrong he has committed in ignorance, and he will be forgiven. / It is a guilt offering; he was certainly guilty before the LORD.”

Leviticus 6:24-30
And the LORD said to Moses, / “Tell Aaron and his sons that this is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, the sin offering shall be slaughtered before the LORD; it is most holy. / The priest who offers it shall eat it; it must be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. ...

Numbers 28:15
In addition to the regular burnt offering with its drink offering, one male goat is to be presented to the LORD as a sin offering.

2 Chronicles 33:9-13
So Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites. / And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they did not listen. / So the LORD brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. ...

2 Chronicles 29:21-24
They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And the king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD. / So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splattered it on the altar. They slaughtered the rams and splattered the blood on the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs and splattered the blood on the altar. / Then they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands on them. ...

1 Kings 8:33-34
When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, praying and pleading with You in this temple, / then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave to their fathers.

1 Kings 8:46-50
When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near, / and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’ / and when they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of the enemies who took them captive, and when they pray to You in the direction of the land that You gave to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your Name, ...

2 Samuel 24:10-25
After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” / When David got up in the morning, the word of the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: / “Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’” ...

Ezekiel 45:18-20
This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the first day of the first month you are to take a young bull without blemish and purify the sanctuary. / And the priest is to take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gateposts of the inner court. / You must do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for anyone who strays unintentionally or in ignorance. In this way you will make atonement for the temple.

Hebrews 9:7
But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.

Hebrews 9:22
According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Hebrews 10:1-4
For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. / If it could, would not the offerings have ceased? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt the guilt of their sins. / Instead, those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, ...

Hebrews 10:11-12
Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. / But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.

Romans 3:23-25
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, / and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. / God presented Him as an atoning sacrifice in His blood through faith, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.


Treasury of Scripture

When a ruler has 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;

a ruler hath sinned.

Numbers 1:4,16
And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers…

Numbers 7:2
That the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, offered:

Exodus 18:21
Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:

and done

Leviticus 4:2,13
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: …

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Leviticus 4
1. The sin offering of ignorance
3. for the priest
13. for the congregation
22. for the ruler
27. for any of the people














When a leader
The Hebrew word for "leader" here is "נָשִׂיא" (nasi), which refers to a prince, chief, or ruler. In the context of ancient Israel, this term would apply to someone with significant authority and responsibility within the community. The role of a leader is crucial, as they are expected to guide the people in accordance with God's laws. This highlights the importance of accountability among those in positions of power, reminding us that leadership is not just about authority but also about serving and guiding others in righteousness.

sins unintentionally
The Hebrew word for "sins" is "חָטָא" (chata), which means to miss the mark or to err. The addition of "unintentionally" (בִּשְׁגָגָה, bishgagah) indicates that the sin was not committed with deliberate intent. This distinction is vital in understanding the nature of sin and the human condition. Even leaders, who are expected to be exemplary, can fall short. This serves as a reminder of the pervasive nature of sin and the need for vigilance and humility in our walk with God.

and does what is forbidden
The phrase "does what is forbidden" refers to actions that are against God's commandments. The Hebrew root here is "אָסַר" (asar), meaning to bind or prohibit. This underscores the concept of divine law as a binding covenant between God and His people. Leaders are expected to uphold these laws, and any deviation, even unintentional, requires correction. This reflects the holiness of God and the seriousness with which His commandments are to be regarded.

in any of the commands of the LORD his God
The "commands of the LORD" are the divine instructions given to the Israelites, encapsulated in the Torah. The use of "his God" personalizes the relationship between the leader and God, emphasizing that these are not just abstract rules but commands from a personal deity who desires a covenant relationship with His people. This phrase calls leaders to a higher standard of obedience and reverence for God's law, recognizing that their actions have spiritual implications.

he incurs guilt
The Hebrew word for "guilt" is "אָשֵׁם" (asham), which implies a state of liability or culpability. This indicates that even unintentional sins have consequences and require atonement. The concept of guilt here is not just a legal status but a spiritual condition that affects one's relationship with God. It serves as a sobering reminder of the need for repentance and the provision of atonement through the sacrificial system, which ultimately points to the perfect atonement found in Jesus Christ.

(22) When a ruler hath sinned.--The third instance adduced is that of a ruler sinning inadvertently (Leviticus 4:22-26). As the word here translated "ruler" is used for a king (1Kings 11:34; Ezekiel 34:24; Ezekiel 46:2), the head of a tribe (Numbers 1:4-16) or of the division of a tribe (Numbers 34:18), opinions differ as to the exact position of the personage here meant. Now, in comparing the phrase used with regard to the sin of ignorance in the case of the high priest, the congregation, and any one of the people, it will be seen that in all the three instances it is simply described as a sin "against any commandments of the Lord"(comp. Leviticus 4:2; Leviticus 4:13; Leviticus 4:27), whereas in the case of the ruler, we have the exceptional phrase, "against any of the commandments of the Lord his God." Hence the interpretation obtained during the second Temple that the addition of the phrase his God, which shows a peculiar relationship to his God, denotes here one over whom God alone is exalted--the sovereign who is only responsible to his God. . . . Verses 22-26. - The case of a ruler or nobleman. The clause, Or if his sin... come to his knowledge, should be rather translated, If perhaps his sin come to his knowledge. He is to offer a kid of the goats, or rather a he-goat. The blood is not to be carried into the tabernacle, as in the two previous cases, but put upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, which stood outside in the court, and, as a consequence of the blood not having been taken into the tabernacle, the flesh is not to be burnt outside the camp, but to be eaten by the priests in the court of the tabernacle (see Leviticus 6:26).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
When
אֲשֶׁ֥ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

a leader
נָשִׂ֖יא (nā·śî)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5387: An exalted one, a king, sheik, a rising mist

sins
יֶֽחֱטָ֑א (ye·ḥĕ·ṭā)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2398: To miss, to sin, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, lead astray, condemn

unintentionally
בִּשְׁגָגָ֖ה (biš·ḡā·ḡāh)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 7684: A mistake, inadvertent transgression

and does
וְעָשָׂ֡ה (wə·‘ā·śāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

what
אֲשֶׁ֧ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

is prohibited
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

by any
אַחַ֣ת (’a·ḥaṯ)
Number - feminine singular
Strong's 259: United, one, first

of
מִכָּל־ (mik·kāl)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the commandments
מִצְוֺת֩ (miṣ·wōṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 4687: Commandment

of the LORD
יְהוָ֨ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

his God,
אֱלֹהָ֜יו (’ĕ·lō·hāw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

he incurs guilt.
וְאָשֵֽׁם׃ (wə·’ā·šêm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 816: To be guilty, to be punished, perish


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OT Law: Leviticus 4:22 When a ruler sins and unwittingly does (Le Lv Lev.)
Leviticus 4:21
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