Leviticus 4:11

Lev 4:11 And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung,

Ver. 11. And the skin, &c.] {See Trapp on "Lev 1:9"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lev_4:11-12

The whole bullock shall he carry forth.

Why the skin, flesh, and other parts of the bullock was carried out of the host

1. The legal reason was because it was a sacrifice for sin, and therefore unmeet to be burnt as other sacrifices upon the altar.

2. The historical reason, because the Lord suffered without the gate of the city.

3. The moral reason, to show that the skin with the flesh was carried forth so the priest should be far off, not only from sin, but the occasion thereof.

4. The mystical reason, that Christ doth cast out-of-doors, and remove far away from us our sins.

5. Now further, the sin-offering for the priest, and for the whole congregation were burnt without, to show the horror and greatness of their sin; and though it were unclean, being a sacrifice for sin, yet because some part thereof, namely the fat, was burnt upon the altar, the remaining part was with reverence to be burned, and in a clean place, and therefore without the camp, because it was separated from the common pollutions which might happen within the camp.

6. The Hebrews further observe that the high priests sin-offering was commanded to be burnt openly without the camp, to the end that no man might be ashamed to confess his sin. (A. Willet, D. D.)

To bear patiently the momentary afflictions of this life

Whereas Lev_4:12, the bullock was to be carried out of the host, the apostle applieth it to Christ suffering without the gate, making this further use of it--Let us go forth therefore out of the camp, bearing His reproach, for we have no continuing city (Heb_13:13). We should in our meditation and desire go out of the world as out of the camp, and be content to bear reproach for Christs sake, seeing we shall have no long continuance here, but look for an everlasting habitation in heaven; by this reason taken from the shortness of our afflictions the apostle exhorteth thus (2Co_4:17). The imitation of the saints, shortness of time, fragility of the body do persuade to perseverance, nature hath well provided that grief if it be great cannot be long, for a short danger thou shalt receive an everlasting reward. (A. Willet, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4:11-12 Only the offerings for the priest or the entire community were burned outside the camp. Perhaps this was commanded because the offering had figuratively absorbed the contamination of the high priest or the community and therefore had to be disposed of outside the camp. Those guilty were not to partake of or reap any benefit from their own sin offerings, even if they were priests (6:19-23).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh--In ordinary circumstances, these were perquisites of the priests. But in the expiation necessary for a sin of the high priest, after the fat of the sacrifice was offered on the altar, the carcass was carried without the camp [Lev 4:12], in order that the total combustion of it in the place of ashes might the more strikingly indicate the enormity of the transgression, and the horror with which he regarded it (compare Heb 13:12-13).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(11) And the skin of the bullock.—Unlike other burnt offerings, the skins of which were taken off, and became the perquisite of the priests (Lev_7:8), this sin offering was not flayed at all, but was cut to pieces with its skin.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp,.... The Jewish writers interpret it without the three camps (b), the camp of the tabernacle, the camp of the Levites, and the camp of the Israelites; when the temple was built, such sacrifices were carried and burnt without the city of Jerusalem; there were three places for burning; one was in the midst of the court, where they burnt such sacrifices as were unfit and rejected; the other was in the mountain of the house called Birah, where they burnt such as any accident befell them, after the carrying of them out of the court; and the third place was without Jerusalem, called the place of ashes (c): this was typical of Christ being had out of the city of Jerusalem, and suffering without the gates of it, Heb 13:11,

unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out; the ashes of the burnt offerings. This, according to Ainsworth, answered to the place where Christ was crucified, being a place of skulls, or dead men's ashes, Joh 19:17,

and burn him on the wood with fire; any wood might be used for the burning of it, even straw or stubble, which in the Hebrew language are called wood, as Gersom on the place observes, and so Maimonides (d); and it is added, "with fire", as the last writer says (e), to exclude lime and cinder coals:

where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt; openly without; and seeing it is not said, that the priest shall carry forth the bullock, and shall burn it, it is concluded by Gersom on the place, that both may be done lawfully by a stranger, and so Maimonides (f).

(b) T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 68. 1. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 42. 2. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Zebachim, c. 12. sect. 5. Jarchi in loc. (c) Maimon. Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 7. sect. 3, 4. (d) Maimon. Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 7. sect. 5. (e) Ib. Vid. T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 75. 1. (f) Maimon. ib.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

11. The skin — This, in the whole burnt offering, was the perquisite of the priest. See note on Lev_7:8. In the sin offering for a priest or the congregation it was to be burned. But in the sin offering for a prince or a private person it is left doubtful.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 11, 12. Full acceptance with God.

The carrying away of all the offered animal (save that part which had been presented to God in sacrifice) and the burning of it in "a clean place" (verse 12), was probably meant to represent the full and perfect acceptance of the offerer by the Holy One of Israel. When the victim had been slain and its blood outpoured on the altar and its richest part accepted in sacrifice, there might seem to have been sufficient indication of Divine mercy. But one sign more was added: the animal which represented the worshipper having shed its blood, and that shed blood having been received as an expiation, it became holy; when, therefore, its flesh was not eaten by the priest (Lev_6:26) in token of its sanctity, every part of the animal was solemnly and reverently consumed, in "a clean place" Nothing, pertaining to that which had become holy through the shed blood should be treated as an unholy thing. Looked at in this light, we gain the valuable thought that when sin has been forgiven through faith in the shed blood of the Redeemer, the sinner is regarded as holy in the sight of God. As everything was thus done by pictorial representation to express the thought of the fullness of Divine forgiveness, so everything was stated in explicit language through the psalmists and prophets to the same effect. (Exo_34:6, 7 Psa_86:5, 15 103:8 145:8 Isa_1:18 Isa_55:7) So, also, our Lord, in the "prince of parables," included everything that could be introduced the robe, the ring, the shoes, the fatted calf to present in the strongest colouring the precious truth that God does not grudgingly or imperfectly forgive, but that he abundantly pardons." The subject demands our consideration of two things

I THE FULNESS OF GOD"S ACCEPTANCE. God"s mercy in Christ Jesus embraces:

1. The entire forgiveness of all past sins, so that all our numerous transgressions of his Law, both the more heinous and the less guilty, are "blotted out" of his "book of remembrance," and no more regarded by him; and so that all our more numerous shortcomings, our failure to be and to do that which the heavenly Father looked for from his children, are entirely forgiven.

2. The overlooking of our present unworthiness; so that the scantiness of our knowledge, the imperfection of our penitence, the feebleness of our faith, the poverty of our resolutions, and our general unworthiness do not stand in the way of his "benign regard.

3. The bestowment of his Divine complacency; so that he not only "receives us graciously," but "loves us freely". (Hos_14:2, Hos_14:4) He feels toward us the love and the delight which a father feels toward the children of his heart and his home. But to gain this inestimable blessing, let us be sure that we have fulfilled

II THE CONDITIONS ON WHICH IT IS BESTOWED. These are twofold. Paul has expressed them thus:

(1) repentance toward God; and

(2) faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Act_20:21)

He who inspired Paul has taught us the same truth in his own words. (Luk_24:47 Act_26:18) There must be the turning of the heart, in shame and sorrow, from sin unto God, and the cordial acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Divine Teacher, the all-sufficient Saviour, the rightful Lord of heart and life, which he claims to be. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The skin ... the parts of the bull—he will carry all these parts outside

The statement "he will carry all these parts" can be placed at the beginning of the sentence. AT: "The priest will carry the skin ... the parts of the bull outside"

a place that they have cleansed for me

A place being ritually pure and suitable to use for serving God is spoken of as if it were physically clean. (See: Metaphor)

they have cleansed for me

Here "they" refers to the priests, and "me" refers to Yahweh.

translationWords

cow

dung

clean

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.