^1:3“ ‘If his offering is a burnt offering⁹ from the herd he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance¹⁰ of the Meeting Tent for its¹¹ acceptance before the Lord. ^1:4He must lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted for him to make atonement¹² on his behalf. ^1:5Then the one presenting the offering¹³ must slaughter the bull¹⁴ before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must present the blood and splash¹⁵ the blood against the sides of the altar which is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.

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Footnotes

9 The burnt offering (עֹלָה, ’olah) was basically a “a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord” (vv. 9, 13, 17). It could serve as a votive or freewill offering (e.g., Lev 22:18–20), an accompaniment of prayer and supplication (e.g., 1 Sam 7:9–10), part of the regular daily, weekly, monthly, and festival cultic pattern (e.g., Num 28–29), or to make atonement either alone (e.g., Lev 1:4; 16:24) or in combination with the grain offering (e.g., Lev 14:20) or sin offering (e.g., Lev 5:7; 9:7). See R. E. Averbeck, 4:.
10 Heb “door” (so , ); “doorway” (likewise throughout the book of Leviticus). The translation “door” or “doorway” may suggest a framed door in a casing to the modern reader, but here the term refers to the entrance to a tent.
11 The correctly has “it” in the text, referring to the acceptance of the animal (cf., e.g., , , ), but “he” in the margin, referring to the acceptance of the offerer (cf. , , ). The reference to a “flawless male” in the first half of this verse suggests that the issue here is the acceptability of the animal to make atonement on behalf of the offerer (Lev 1:4; cf. “for acceptance in your behalf”).
12 “To make atonement” is the standard translation of the Hebrew term כִּפֶּר, (kipper); cf. however “as a sacrifice to take away his sins” ( similar). The English word derives from a combination of “at” plus Middle English “one[ment],” referring primarily to reconciliation or reparation that is made in order to accomplish reconciliation. The primary meaning of the Hebrew verb, however, is “to wipe [something off (or on)]” (see esp. the goal of the sin offering, Lev 4, “to purge” the tabernacle from impurities), but in some cases it refers metaphorically to “wiping away” anything that might stand in the way of good relations by bringing a gift (see, e.g., Gen 32:20 [21 ], “to appease; to pacify” as an illustration of this). The translation “make atonement” has been retained here because, ultimately, the goal of either purging or appeasing was to maintain a proper relationship between the Lord (who dwelt in the tabernacle) and Israelites in whose midst the tabernacle was pitched (see R. E. Averbeck, 2: for a full discussion of the Hebrew word meaning “to make atonement” and its theological significance).
13 Heb “Then he”; the referent (the offerer) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The has “they” rather than “he,” suggesting that the priests, not the offerer, were to slaughter the bull (cf. the notes on vv. and ).
14 Heb “the son of the herd”; cf. “bullock”; , “young bull.”
15 “Splash” (cf. ) or “dash” (cf. ) is better than “sprinkle,” which is the common English translation of this verb (זָרַק, zaraq; see, e.g., , , , ). “Sprinkle” is not strong enough (contrast נָזָה [nazah], which does indeed mean “to sprinkle” or “to splatter”; cf. Lev 4:6).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“ ‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. You are to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to bring an unblemished male. He will bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting so that he may be accepted by the Lord. 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. He is to slaughter the bull before the Lord; Aaron’s sons the priests are to present the blood and splatter it on all sides of the altar that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

NLTNew Living Translation

“If the animal you present as a burnt offering is from the herd, it must be a male with no defects. Bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle so you may be accepted by the Lord. Lay your hand on the animal’s head, and the Lord will accept its death in your place to purify you, making you right with him. Then slaughter the young bull in the Lord’s presence, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, will present the animal’s blood by splattering it against all sides of the altar that stands at the entrance to the Tabernacle.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

If his offering is a burnt offering from the cattle, then he must present an unblemished male; he must present it at the door of the tent of assembly for his acceptance before Yahweh.

“ ‘He must lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering and it will be accepted for him in order to make atonement for him. He must slaughter the young bull before Yahweh, then Aaron’s sons, the priests, will present the blood and sprinkle the blood all around the altar that is at the door of the tent of assembly.

KJV 1900King James Version

If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

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