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Leviticus 1:4

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4 1He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be 2accepted for him 3to make atonement for him.
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Leviticus 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 1:4

And he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt
offering
According to the Targum of Jonathan, it was his right hand; but it is generally thought by the Jewish writers that both hands were laid on; so Ben Gersom and Aben Ezra, with whom Maimonides

FOOTNOTES:

F5 agrees, who says, he that lays on hands ought to lay on with all his strength, with both his hands upon the head of the beast, as it is said, "upon the head of the burnt offering": not upon the neck, nor upon the sides; and there should be nothing between his hands and the beast: and as the same writer says F6, it must be his own hand, and not the hand of his wife, nor the hand of his servant, nor his messenger; and who also observes F7, that at the same time he made confession over the burnt offering both of his sins committed against affirmative and negative precepts: and indeed by this action he owned that he had sinned, and deserved to die as that creature he brought was about to do, and that he expected pardon of his sin through the death of the great sacrifice that was a type of. Moreover, this action signified the transferring of his sins from himself to this sacrifice, which was to be offered up to make atonement for them; so Gersom observes; see ( Leviticus 16:21 Leviticus 16:22 ) . This denotes the translation of our sins from us, and the imputation of them to Christ, who was offered up in our room and stead, to make atonement for them, as follows:

and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him:
that is, the burnt offering should be accepted in his room and stead, and hereby an atonement of his sins should be made for him, typical of that true, real, and full atonement made by the sacrifice of Christ, which this led his faith unto.


F5 Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 3. sect. 13.
F6 Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 3. sect. 8. Vid. T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 93. 2.
F7 Ib. sect. 14.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Leviticus 1:4 In-Context

2 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock.
3 "If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD.
4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
5 Then he shall kill the bull before the LORD, and Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
6 Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces,

Cross References 3

  • 1. Leviticus 3:2, 8, 13; Leviticus 4:4, 15, 24, 29, 33; Leviticus 8:14, 18, 22; Leviticus 16:21; Exodus 29:10, 15, 19
  • 2. Leviticus 22:21, 27; [Isaiah 56:7; Romans 12:1; Philippians 4:18]
  • 3. Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31, 35; Numbers 15:25; 2 Chronicles 29:23, 24; [Leviticus 9:7; Leviticus 16:24]
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.