Leviticus 5:9

9 and he shall spatter {some of} the sin offering's blood on the altar's side, and the leftover blood must be drained out on the altar's base; it [is] a sin offering.

Leviticus 5:9 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 5:9

And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin [offering]
upon the side of the altar
Or "wall" ^F3 it is asked ^F4,

``what is the wall at which the rest of the blood is wrung out? this is the lower wall, namely, the half of the height of the altar below, under the thread (of scarlet that goes round the middle of the altar) that the rest of the blood may be squeezed at the bottom of the altar, and because of this the sin offering of the fowl is below,''

that is, the sprinkling of its blood. And so Ben Gersom observes; from hence we learn, says he, that the sprinkling of the sin offering of the fowl was in the lower part of the altar; and I think this sprinkling, adds he, was not in the length, but in the breadth:

and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the
altar;
the blood sprinkled was that which dropped from it when nipped by the priest; this here was squeezed out by him, and was shed at the foot of the altar; so that the altar had all the blood, and nothing but the blood of the fowl, all the rest belonged to the priest {e}: this might be an emblem both of the drops of blood which fell from Christ in the garden, and of the shedding of his blood upon the cross, whereby remission of sin was obtained, and atonement made:

it [is] a sin [offering];
an offering whereby sin was typically expiated and stoned.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (ryq le) (epi ton toicon) , Sept. "super parietem", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius; "ad parietem", Tigurine version.
F4 Maimon. in Misn. Zebachim, c. 6. sect. 4.
F5 Misn. ib.

Leviticus 5:9 In-Context

7 " 'If {he cannot afford a sheep}, he shall bring [as] his guilt offering [for] what he sinned two turtledoves or two {young doves} for Yahweh, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering.

8 He shall bring them to the priest, and he shall present that which [is] for the sin offering first, and [the priest] shall wring its head off {at the back of its neck}, but he must not sever [it],

9 and he shall spatter {some of} the sin offering's blood on the altar's side, and the leftover blood must be drained out on the altar's base; it [is] a sin offering.

10 The second [bird] he must prepare [as] a burnt offering according to the regulation, and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin that he has {committed}, and he shall be forgiven.

11 " 'But if {he cannot afford} two turtledoves or two {young doves}, then, because he has sinned, he shall bring [as] his offering a tenth of an ephah [of] finely milled flour as a sin offering. He must not put oil on it, nor should he put frankincense on it, because it [is] a sin offering.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "from"