Bible Strands
Leviticus 4:26
He must burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the peace offerings; thus the priest will make atonement for that man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The passage addresses the priest, instructing him on the precise ritual procedure for a sin offering. This directive occurs during the systematic handling of unintentional transgressions committed by either leaders or common people.
The words — יַקְטִיר (yak.Tir) translates literally as "he will make smoke" and denotes the priest's action of burning the offering. חֶלְבּוֹ (chel.B/o) means "its fat," specifying the exact portion that must be offered on the altar.
The thread — The text explicitly parallels the fat-burning procedure of the peace offering in Leviticus 3:5 and the atonement formula repeated in Leviticus 4:20. This structural pattern reappears in Numbers 15:28, where the priest makes atonement before the LORD for the person who erred.
Why it lands — The verse commands the complete burning of the fat on the altar to establish a direct causal link between the ritual act and the priest's atonement. The reader must accept that forgiveness is granted strictly upon the completion of the prescribed sacrifice, not through independent human initiative.
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 he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 4:20 He shall offer this bull just as he did the bull for the sin offering; in this way the priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 3:5 Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on the burning wood, as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
- Numbers 15:28 And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the person who erred by sinning unintentionally; and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 4:31 Then he is to remove all the fat, just as it is removed from the peace offering, and the priest is to burn it on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 4:35 And he shall remove all the fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the peace offerings, and he shall burn it on the altar along with the food offerings to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 5:10 And the priest must prepare the second bird as a burnt offering according to the ordinance. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 4:8 Then he shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering—the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,
- Leviticus 5:13 In this way the priest will make atonement for him for any of these sins he has committed, and he will be forgiven. The remainder will belong to the priest, like the grain offering.”
- Leviticus 5:16 Regarding any holy thing he has harmed, he must make restitution by adding a fifth of its value to it and giving it to the priest, who will make atonement on his behalf with the ram as a guilt offering, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 5:18 He is to bring to the priest an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock as a guilt offering. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the wrong he has committed in ignorance, and he will be forgiven.