Amplified Bible
Leviticus 1:4
4He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.
Leviticus 1:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
Context of Leviticus 1:4
2“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of [domestic] animals from the herd (cattle, oxen) or from the flock (sheep, goats). 3If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting so that he may be accepted before the Lord. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. 5He shall kill the young bull before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. 6Then he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces.
Read all of Leviticus 1Leviticus 1:4 word by word
וְסָמַ֣ךְ יָד֔וֹ עַ֖ל רֹ֣אשׁ הָעֹלָ֑ה וְנִרְצָ֥ה ל֖וֹ לְכַפֵּ֥ר עָלָֽיו׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Leviticus 1:4
- Leviticus 3:2He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice] and kill it at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar.
- Leviticus 4:4He shall bring the bull to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, and shall lay his hand on the bull’s head [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice] and kill the bull before the Lord.
- Leviticus 8:14Then he brought the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull.
- Leviticus 16:21Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the wickedness of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat [the scapegoat, the sin-bearer], and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is prepared [for the task].
- Exodus 29:10“Then you shall bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the bull’s head.
- Numbers 8:12Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, then you are to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.
- Isaiah 53:4But [in fact] He has borne our griefs, And He has carried our sorrows and pains; Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken, Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him].
- 2 Corinthians 5:20So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us; we [as Christ’s representatives] plead with you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God.
- Leviticus 22:21Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a special vow to the Lord or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish in it.
- Isaiah 56:7All these I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
- Romans 12:1Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.
- Philippians 4:18But I have received everything in full and more; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent me. They are the fragrant aroma of an offering, an acceptable sacrifice which God welcomes and in which He delights.
- Leviticus 4:20He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; that is what he shall do with this. So the priest shall make atonement for [the sin of] the people, and they will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 5:6He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord for the sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin.
- Leviticus 6:7The priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he will be forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt.”
- Leviticus 9:7Moses said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and present your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people; and present the offering of the people and make atonement for them, just as the Lord has commanded.”
Commentaries on Leviticus 1:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4He shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering - By the imposition of hands the person bringing the victim acknowledged, The sacrifice as his own. That he offered it as an atonement for his sins. That he was worthy of death because he had sinned, having forfeited his life by breaking the law. That he entreated God to accept the life of the innocent animal in place of his own. And all this, to be done profitably, must have respect to Him whose…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering - The usual ceremony. By it the sacrificer identified himself with his victim Leviticus 3:2, Leviticus 3:8; Leviticus 4:15; Leviticus 8:14; Romans 12:1. To make atonement for him - This phrase belongs more especially to the sin-offerings and the trespass-offerings (compare Leviticus 4:20, Leviticus 4:26, Leviticus 4:31, Leviticus 4:35; Leviticus 5:16, Leviticus 5:18; Leviticus 6:7, etc.) It is…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 3-9Verses 3-9 In the due performance of the Levitical ordinances, the mysteries of the spiritual world are represented by corresponding natural objects; and future events are exhibited in these rites. Without this, the whole will seem unmeaning ceremonies. There is in these things a type of the sufferings of the Son of God, who was to be a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world? The burning body of an animal was but a faint representation of that…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering: The sacrificial animal represented the worshiper in the ceremony (Leviticus 4:4, 15, 24, 29, 33; 16:21). This act showed that the animal's death represented the owner's death. During the Day of Atonement ceremony, it showed that God transferred the owner's sins to the animal (16:20–22). In the peace offering (3:2, 8, 13), the act probably showed ownership of the sacrificed animal. The phrase on his…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. shall put his hand upon the head--This was a significant act which implied not only that the offerer devoted the animal to God, but that he confessed his consciousness of sin and prayed that his guilt and its punishment might be transferred to the victim. and it shall be--rather, "that it may be an acceptable atonement."Read the comment
Topics related to Leviticus 1:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Leviticus 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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