Sin Offering of the High Priest. Inadvertences at the altar, which would, if unatoned for, have the most dangerous consequences for the whole community. The anointed priest is the High Priest (Leviticus 6:22; Leviticus 8:12; Leviticus 8:30; Leviticus 21:10). He is the representative of the whole people; his guilt or error is therefore theirs. There is no choice of animals here, as in Leviticus 3. The chief part of the rite is the presentation of the blood, the life of the animal, to Yahweh. It is brought to the tent of meeting, i.e. the actual shrine of the sanctuary, where alone Yahweh meets with the priest. The more important the offence and the offerer, the nearer the blood must be brought to Yahweh; hence, in this case, sprinkling on the altar would not be enough. The priest stands with the blood inside the outer compartment of the shrine, and sprinkles the blood upon the curtain that separates the outer from the inner compartment the latter being regarded as the special abode of the Shekinah, or glory of Yahweh on earth. (For the seven-fold sprinkling, cf. Joshua 6:15; 2 Kings 5:10.) The analogy with the special rite of Leviticus 16 is clear; but nothing is said in Leviticus 16 of the altar of incense; in Exodus 30:10, the sprinkling on the altar of incense is mentioned in connexion with the Day of Atonement, but its use is restricted to that rite. Probably, therefore, unlike the altar, it was within the shrine. Not even the priests may eat of this sacrifice; they are involved in the sin. The duty of burning the carcase belongs to the High Priest himself; but in the text of the LXX and Sam. it is assigned to the priests. The clean place to which the carcase is taken may possibly be a euphemism.
Leviticus 4:3-12
3 If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.
4 And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the LORD.
5 And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:
6 And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the LORD, before the vail of the sanctuary.
7 And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
8 And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
9 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away,
10 As it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering.
11 And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung,
12 Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth withouta the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.