Leviticus 1:4

4 You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you.

Leviticus 1:4 in Other Translations

4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

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.

4 Lay your hand on the animal’s head, and the LORD will accept its death in your place to purify you, making you right with him.

4 Lay your hand on the head of the Whole-Burnt-Offering so that it may be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you.

4 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

4 Place your hand on the animal's head. The burnt offering will be accepted to make peace with the LORD.

4 He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.

4 " 'The man must place his hand on the head of the burnt offering. Then the LORD will accept it in place of him. It will pay for his sin.

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

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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.

Leviticus 1:4 In-Context

2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the LORD, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.

3 “ ‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD.

4 You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you.

5 You are to slaughter the young bull before the LORD, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

6 You are to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces.

Cross References

• 1. S Exodus 29:10,15; Leviticus 3:2
• 2. ver 3; Leviticus 4:29; Leviticus 6:25; Ezekiel 45:15
• 3. S Genesis 32:20
• 4. S Exodus 29:36; S Exodus 32:30; 2 Chronicles 29:23-24