Imamat 4:23

4:23 or his sin that he committed ¹  is made known to him, ²  he must bring a flawless male goat as his offering. ³ 

Imamat 5:6

5:6 and he must bring his penalty for guilt ⁴  to the Lord for his sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, whether a female sheep or a female goat, for a sin offering. So the priest will make atonement ⁵  on his behalf for ⁶  his sin.

[4:23]  ¹ tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned in it is made known to him”; NAB “if he learns of the sin he committed.”

[4:23]  ² tn Lev 4:22b-23a is difficult. The present translation suggests that there are two possible legal situations envisioned, separated by the Hebrew אוֹ (’o, “or”) at the beginning of v. 23. Lev 4:22b refers to any case in which the leader readily admits his guilt (i.e., “pleads guilty”), whereas v. 23a refers to cases where the leader is convicted of his guilt by legal action (“his sin…is made known to him”). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:95-96; Lev 4:27-28; and esp. the notes on Lev 5:1 below.

[4:23]  ³ tn Heb “a he-goat of goats, a male without defect”; cf. NLT “with no physical defects.”

[5:6]  ⁴ tn In this context the word for “guilt” (אָשָׁם, ’asham) refers to the “penalty” for incurring guilt, the so-called consequential אָשָׁם (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:303; cf. the note on Lev 5:1).

[5:6]  ⁵ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

[5:6]  ⁶ tn See the note on 4:26 regarding the use of מִן (min).