Leviticus 1:3-5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
3 [a](A)If a person’s offering is a burnt offering[b] from the herd, the offering must be a male without blemish.(B) The individual shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to find favor with the Lord, 4 and shall lay a hand[c] on the head(C) of the burnt offering, so that it may be acceptable(D) to make atonement(E) for the one who offers it. 5 The bull shall then be slaughtered[d] before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall offer its blood by splashing it on all the sides of the altar which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.(F)
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- 1:3–5 Entrance of the tent of meeting…before the Lord: probably the forecourt from the entrance of the court to the entrance of the tent (cf. Ex 27). Thus the altar in front of the tent was entirely accessible to the laity.
- 1:3 The burnt offering is used for regular daily (6:1–6) offerings, public festivals (Nm 28–29), purification rituals (Lv 12:6–8; 14:19–20; 15:15, 30), and individuals’ vows and voluntary offerings (22:18–20).
- 1:4 Lay a hand: the imposition of a single hand for the sacrifices in chaps. 1–5 may be a means of designating the animal as belonging to the offerer. See note on 16:21. Atonement: see note on 16:6.
- 1:5 Shall then be slaughtered: lit., “he shall slaughter the bull.” Slaughtering is not something the offerer must do (as opposed to, for example, hand placement [v. 4] or the presentation of sacrificial portions as an elevated offering [7:29–34]). Thus the verb is construed impersonally here.
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