Bible Strands
Leviticus 4:15
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text directs the elders of the congregation to act after the assembly recognizes its sin and presents a young bull before the Tent of Meeting.
The words — The verb סָמְכוּ (sa.me.khu) = they will lean, denotes the physical act of pressing hands onto the animal's head.
The thread — The ritual of laying hands on a sacrifice appears in Leviticus 1:4 for burnt offerings, while the gathering of seventy elders with Moses and Aaron recurs in Exodus 24:1 and Exodus 24:9.
Why it lands — The text requires the community’s representatives to physically identify with the sin offering before its slaughter, establishing a procedural sequence for atonement.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 1:4 He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
- Exodus 24:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.
- Exodus 24:9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,
- Leviticus 4:4 He must bring the bull to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the LORD.
- Leviticus 8:14 Moses then brought the bull near for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.
- Leviticus 8:22 After that, Moses presented the other ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.
- Leviticus 16:21 Then he is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task.
- Numbers 8:10 You are to present the Levites before the LORD and have the Israelites lay their hands upon them.
- Numbers 11:16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you.
- Numbers 11:25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again.