Lev 4:22-23 | NETfull | STEP | “‘Whenever a leader, by straying unintentionally, sins and violates one of the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be violated, and he pleads guilty,

Leviticus 4:22-23

For the Leader

22 “‘Whenever ^{▼▼ This section begins with the relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר (’asher) which usually means “who” or “which,” but here means “whenever.”} a leader, by straying unintentionally, ^{▼▼ See the Lev 4:2 note on “straying.”} sins and violates one of the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be violated, ^{▼▼ Heb “and does one from all the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be done”; cf. NRSV “ought not to be done”; NIV “does what is forbidden in any of the commands.”} and he pleads guilty, 23 or his sin that he committed ^{▼▼ Heb “or his sin which he sinned in it is made known to him”; NAB “if he learns of the sin he committed.”} is made known to him, ^{▼▼ 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.} he must bring a flawless male goat as his offering. ^{▼▼ Heb “a he-goat of goats, a male without defect”; cf. NLT “with no physical defects.”}