God’s Word Translation
Leviticus 1:4
4Place your hand on the animal’s head. The burnt offering will be accepted to make peace with the Lord.
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“Tell the Israelites: If any of you bring a sacrifice to the Lord, you must offer an animal from your cattle, sheep, or goats. 3“If you bring a burnt offering from your cattle, you must offer a male that has no defects. Offer it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that the Lord will accept you. Place your hand on the animal’s head. The burnt offering will be accepted to make peace with the Lord. 5Then slaughter the bull in the Lord’s presence. Aaron’s sons, the priests, will offer the blood. They will throw it against all sides of the altar that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 6Skin 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 3:2Place your hand on the animal’s head. Then slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, will throw the blood against the altar on all sides.
- Leviticus 4:4He must bring the bull into the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He will place his hand on the bull’s head. He will then slaughter the bull in the Lord’s presence.
- Leviticus 8:14He brought the bull that was the offering for sin. Aaron and his sons placed their hands on its head.
- Leviticus 16:21Aaron will place both hands on its head. He will confess over it all the sins, all the rebellious acts, and all the things the Israelites did wrong. He will transfer them to the goat’s head. A man will be appointed to release the goat in the desert.
- Exodus 29:10“Then bring the young bull to the front of the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons will place their hands on its head.
- Numbers 8:12“The Levites will place their hands on the heads of the young bulls. Sacrifice one of them as an offering for sin and the other one as a burnt offering to the Lord. These sacrifices will make peace with the Lord for the Levites.
- Isaiah 53:4He certainly has taken upon himself our suffering and carried our sorrows, but we thought that God had wounded him, beat him, and punished him.
- 2 Corinthians 5:20Therefore, we are Christ’s representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God.
- Leviticus 22:21A person may bring the Lord a fellowship offering to fulfill a vow or for a freewill offering. Whether it is from the cattle, sheep, or goats, it must be an animal that has no defects in order to be accepted. It must never be an animal that has defects.
- Isaiah 56:7Then I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them happy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, because my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.
- Romans 12:1Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God’s compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him. This kind of worship is appropriate for you.
- Philippians 4:18You have paid me in full, and I have more than enough. Now that Epaphroditus has brought me your gifts, you have filled my needs. Your gifts are a soothing aroma, a sacrifice that God accepts and with which he is pleased.
- Leviticus 4:20He will do the same thing with this bull that he did with the bull used as the offering for sin. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for the people, and they will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 5:6Bring your guilt offering to the Lord for the sin you committed. It must be a female sheep or goat as an offering for sin. Then the priest will make peace with the Lord for what you did wrong.
- Leviticus 6:7So the priest will make peace with the Lord. Then you will be forgiven for whatever you did that made you guilty.”
- Leviticus 9:7Moses told Aaron, “Come to the altar and sacrifice an offering for sin and a burnt offering to make peace with the Lord for your sins and the sins of the people. Also make an offering for the people, to make peace with the Lord for them as the Lord 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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