Leviticus 9:2

Lev 9:2 And he said unto Aaron, Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer [them] before the LORD.

Ver. 2. Take thee a young calf] In remembrance, and for the remission of Aaron’s sin about the golden calf; as some Hebrews are of opinion.

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 9:2. For a sin-offering — For himself and his own sins, which was an evidence of the imperfection of that priesthood, and of the necessity of a better. The Jewish writers suggest, that a calf was appointed to remind him of his sin in making the golden calf. Thereby he had rendered himself for ever unworthy of the honour of the priesthood; on which he had reason to reflect with sorrow and shame, in all the atonements he made.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9:2-4 These sacrifices—the sin and whole burnt offerings for the priests and the sin, burnt, peace, and grain offerings for the people—were offered at the beginning of the priests’ ministry to make certain that all sin was atoned for and the covenant with God affirmed. Only the guilt offering was omitted.

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

Aaron entereth into the possession of the Priesthood: and offereth the four principal sacrifices, the burnt offering, the sin offering, the peace offerings, and the meat offering.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 2. Take thee a young calf, &c.] As these sacrifices were for Aaron himself, they are furnished by himself and not by the people, for they were designed to make atonement for his own sin. See Le 4:3. And this is supposed by the Jews to have been intended to make an atonement for his sin in the matter of the golden calf. This is very probable, as no formal atonement for that transgression had yet been made.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(2) A young calf for a sin offering.—Literally, a calf, the son of a bull, which, according to the canonical law, was a calf of the second year, whilst a steer, the son of a bull, rendered in the Authorised Version by “young bullock,” was defined to be three years old, or in its third year. (See Lev_4:3.) Before they could mediate for the forgiveness of the people, Aaron and his sons had first to bring a sin offering for themselves, in expiation probably for the feeling of pride which they might have fostered at having been so highly distinguished and chosen to be the mediators of the people. This sin offering, however, showed him that, though a high priest, he was beset with the same infirmities, and stood in need of the same atonement, as the people whom he represented. As this is the only instance in which a calf is appointed for a sin offering, and as the offerer who is ordered to bring this exceptional sacrifice is Aaron, Jewish tradition will have it that it was designed to refer to the sin of the golden calf which he made for the people. (Exo_32:4-6.) So old and universal is this interpretation, that it is expressed in the ancient Chaldee Version of the Pentateuch. This sense seems to derive support from Lev_9:7.

Before the Lord.—That is, before the door of the tent of meeting (see Lev_1:5; Lev_1:11), on the altar of burnt offering.

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

2. a bull calf] Only here is a calf appointed for a Sin-Offering. According to Jewish tradition, expressed in Targ. Jon., it was to remind Aaron of his sin in making the golden calf at Horeb (Exodus 32).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he said unto Aaron,.... In the presence of the people of Israel:

take thee a young calf for a sin offering; one not exceeding a year old, as in Lev 9:3 but this was not for the sin of making the calf only, to which the Jewish writers restrain it, but for all other sins of his, which it was necessary should be expiated before he offered sacrifices for the sins of others:

and a ram for a burnt offering; being a strong and innocent creature, was a proper emblem of Christ, the Lamb of God, that takes away by his sacrifice the sins of men:

without blemish; this character belongs, as Aben Ezra observes, both to the calf and ram, which were both to be without spot, and so proper types of Christ the Lamb without spot and blemish, free both from original and actual sin:

and offer them before the Lord; on the altar of burnt offering, which stood in the court of the tabernacle near where Jehovah was, to whom every sacrifice for sin was to be offered, being committed against him, and whose justice must be satisfied for it.

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

Calf. As they had formerly adored a calf, so now they sacrifice one to God. (St. Jerome in Jer. vii.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

A young calf, Heb. a calf, the son of a bull or cow; which may seem to be added purposely to intimate that it was not a young calf properly so called, but a young bullock, for that was the sacrifice enjoined for the high priest’s sin-offering, Lev 4:3. Though it be not material, if this be a young calf, and that a young bull, because the grounds and ends of the several sacrifices differ, that Le 4; being for his particular sin, and this for his own and family’s sins in general, and therefore no wonder if the sacrifices also differ. For a sin offering, for himself and his own sins, which was an evidence of the imperfection of that priesthood, and of the necessity of another and a better.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Calf for a sin offering — The Hebrew for calf also signifies calf image.

Exo_32:4. Thus Moses delicately reminds Aaron of the great sin which he had committed in making the golden calf, and teaches him that the animal which was the object of idolatrous worship among the Egyptians, as a symbol of the deity, is fit only for a sin offering to Jehovah, the Creator of all things. See chap. iv, Introductory.

Without blemish — See Lev_1:3, note.

Before the Lord — This was at the door of the tabernacle. Lev_1:3, note.

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

For a sin-offering - For himself and his own sins, which was an evidence of the imperfection of that priesthood, and of the necessity of a better. The Jewish writers suggest, that a calf was appointed, to remind him of his sin in making the golden calf. Thereby he had rendered himself forever unworthy of the honour of the priesthood: on which he had reason to reflect with sorrow and shame, in all the atonements he made.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

קח לך עגל TAKE THEE A CALF — This animal was selected as a sin offering to announce to him that the Holy One, blessed be He, granted him atonement by means of this calf for the incident of the golden calf which he had made (Midrash Tanchuma, Shmini 4)

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND HE [Moses] SAID TO AARON: TAKE THEE A BULL-CALF FOR A SIN-OFFERING. Moses, our teacher, had been commanded about these offerings, as he said at the end [of the section], This is the thing which the Eternal commanded that ye should do, although this [command for these specific offerings] is not expressly mentioned. Similarly, And Moses said: This is the thing which the Eternal hath commanded: Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, [where the verse indicates that Moses received a Divine command although it is not specifically mentioned]. Also, I am the G-d of Beth-el, when Jacob related [to his wives all that G-d’s angel had told him in the dream], even though it is not mentioned in Scripture that he was so told. I have already shown to you, 12:21. many such examples in the sections on the commandments regarding the Passover.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.