And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before Yahweh; and the bull shall be killed before Yahweh.
- BSB The elders of the congregation are to lay their hands on the bull’s head before the LORD, and it shall be slaughtered before the LORD.
- NKJV And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord. Then the bull shall be killed before the Lord.
- NASB Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord.
- NLT The elders of the community must then lay their hands on the bull’s head and slaughter it before the Lord.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The elders lay their hands on the bull's head as representatives, and it is killed. The community identifies with the substitute through its leaders.
Overview
The elders act on behalf of the whole congregation, laying hands on the bull to identify the people with the substitute that bears their guilt. Representation is central: the many are covered through the one offering. This representative atonement foreshadows Christ, the one who stands in the place of His people and bears their sin as their representative head (Romans 5:18-19).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Lev 1:4And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
- Lev 16:21And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
- Lev 8:14And he brought the bullock for the sin offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering.
- Exod 24:1And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.
- Lev 4:4And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the LORD.
- Exod 24:9Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
- Num 11:16And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.
- Lev 8:22And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.
- Num 8:10And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:
- Deut 21:3–9And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;
- Num 11:25And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 4:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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