New Living Translation
Leviticus 1:4
4Lay 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.
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“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you present an animal as an offering to the Lord, you may take it from your herd of cattle or your flock of sheep and goats. 3“If the animal you present as a burnt offering is from the herd, it must be a male with no defects. Bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle so you may be accepted by the Lord. 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. 5Then slaughter the young bull in the Lord’s presence, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, will present the animal’s blood by splattering it against all sides of the altar that stands at the entrance to the Tabernacle. 6Then skin the animal 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 3:2Lay your hand on the animal’s head, and slaughter it at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, will splatter its blood against all sides of the altar.
- Leviticus 4:4He must bring the bull to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the Lord.
- Leviticus 8:14Then Moses presented the bull for the sin offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the bull’s head,
- Leviticus 16:21He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness.
- Exodus 29:10“Bring the young bull to the entrance of the Tabernacle, where Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on its head.
- Numbers 8:12“Next the Levites will lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls. Present one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to purify the Levites and make them right with the Lord.
- Isaiah 53:4Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!
- 2 Corinthians 5:20So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
- Leviticus 22:21“If you present a peace offering to the Lord from the herd or the flock, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, you must offer a perfect animal. It may have no defect of any kind.
- Isaiah 56:7I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.
- Romans 12:1And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
- Philippians 4:18At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God.
- Leviticus 4:20just as he does with the bull offered as a sin offering for the high priest. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 5:6Then you must bring to the Lord as the penalty for your sin a female from the flock, either a sheep or a goat. This is a sin offering with which the priest will purify you from your sin, making you right with the Lord.
- Leviticus 6:7Through this process, the priest will purify you before the Lord, making you right with him, and you will be forgiven for any of these sins you have committed.”
- Leviticus 9:7Then Moses said to Aaron, “Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering to purify yourself and the people. Then present the offerings of the people to purify them, making them right with the Lord, just as he 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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