Leviticus 4:15

15 And the elders of the community shall place their hands on the bull's head before Yahweh, and he shall slaughter the bull before Yahweh.

Leviticus 4:15 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 4:15

And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands
upon the head of the bullock before the Lord
These must be two at least, some say three, and some say five ^F8; the more generally received notion is, that they were three of the sanhedrim ^F9; though the Targum of Jonathan makes them to be the twelve rulers of the twelve tribes:

and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord;
in the court near the altar of burnt offering, either by a priest, or Levite, or by a butcher, as the above Targum expresses it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Misn. Sotah, c. 9. sect. 1.
F9 Maimon & Bartenora in Misn. Menachot, c. 9. sect. 7. Maimon. Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 3. sect. 10.

Leviticus 4:15 In-Context

13 " 'If Israel's whole assembly did wrong unintentionally and the matter was concealed from the assembly's eyes, and they acted [against] {any of} Yahweh's commands that should not be {violated}, so that they incur guilt,

14 when the sin that they have {committed} against [that command] becomes known, the assembly shall present {a young bull} as a sin offering, and they shall bring it before [the] tent of assembly.

15 And the elders of the community shall place their hands on the bull's head before Yahweh, and he shall slaughter the bull before Yahweh.

16 Then the anointed priest shall bring {some of} the bull's blood to [the] tent of assembly,

17 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and shall spatter it seven times before Yahweh in front of the curtain.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "someone"; see NET--the 3ms refers to either one of the elders or the priest