New King James Version
Leviticus 1:4
4Then 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.
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 Living Translation (NLT)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.
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 the livestock—of the herd and of the flock. 3‘If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord. 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. 5He shall kill the bull before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 6And he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into its 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 3:2And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around on the altar.
- Leviticus 4:4He shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the bull before the Lord.
- Leviticus 8:14And he brought the bull for the sin offering. Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull for the sin offering,
- Leviticus 16:21Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.
- Exodus 29:10“You shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull.
- Numbers 8:12Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls, and you shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.
- Isaiah 53:4Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
- 2 Corinthians 5:20Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
- Leviticus 22:21And whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, to fulfill his vow, or a freewill offering from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.
- Isaiah 56:7Even them 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 shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
- Romans 12:1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
- Philippians 4:18Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.
- Leviticus 4:20And he shall do with the bull as he did with the bull as a sin offering; thus he shall do with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.
- Leviticus 5:6and he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.
- Leviticus 6:7So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven for any one of these things that he may have done in which he trespasses.”
- Leviticus 9:7And Moses said to Aaron, “Go to the altar, offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. Offer the offering of the people, and make atonement 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries