Commentary on Leviticus 1.4

Verses 1–12. "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the sons of Israel: When a soul sins through ignorance, and does any of all the commandments of the Lord which he commanded not to be done: if the priest who is anointed sins, making the people transgress, he shall offer for his sin a calf without blemish to the Lord, and he shall bring it to the door of the tabernacle of witness before the Lord, and he shall lay his hand on its head and slaughter it to the Lord. He shall also draw of the blood of the calf, bringing it into the tabernacle of witness; and when he has dipped his finger in the blood, he shall sprinkle of it seven times before the Lord against the veil of the sanctuary; and he shall put of the same blood on the horns of the altar of the most pleasing incense to the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of witness. And all the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offerings at the entrance of the tabernacle. And the fat of the calf he shall offer for the sin, both that which covers the vital parts and all that is within, the two kidneys and the net that is over them beside the flanks, and the fat of the liver with the kidneys, as it is taken from the calf of the victim of peace offerings; and he shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. But the skin and all the flesh with the head and the feet and the entrails and the dung and the rest of the body he shall carry out of the camp to a clean place where the ashes are usually poured out, and he shall burn them on a pile of wood; they shall be burned in the place of the poured-out ashes."

The lawgiver has left out nothing that was necessary, marking out the differences of ways of life and showing us, in the offering of the sacrifices, the ways in which we must live. After this he necessarily sets out the sacrifice of Christ, through which the forgiveness of sins and redemption were granted to us. You will know this if you examine the lawgiver's words and compare with the colouring of this image the very realities of the sacrifice of the Only-begotten.

Before other things, then, attend first to this, that he said sins belong to the soul. For some accuse the body as the cause of sin. But it is not so: for if the soul is sound, the wantonness of the flesh will not harm it at all; if the soul governs it in the way it ought, it withdraws and ceases. But if you say, "Yet he said that it sins unwillingly": yes, but not compelled by the flesh; rather by ignorance of the good, which it suffers through negligence and the imitation of worse people, and through which it thinks harmful things pleasant.

But see this also, how in many things he mixes in the priest; for he says: "When a soul sins, and does any of all the commandments of the Lord which he commanded not to be done, if the priest who is anointed sins." If indeed "the priest who is anointed sins," he speaks of a priest like the others who offers for sins, because Christ too showed himself like us; for of him Paul says: "Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in all things, that he might become a merciful and faithful priest in the things that pertain to God, to reconcile the sins of the people," setting out very many things of this law in the Lord. But now what follows must be inquired into.

For see, the lawgiver called the sin of the priest himself the sin of the people: because a negligent visible priest, either sinning himself or not punishing sinners, entices the unlearned to the like. But the priest perceived by the mind neither committed sin himself nor neglected us even a little; he gave us the written law besides the law of nature, and, as Paul says, did not leave himself without witness. Yet since this figure must be fitted to Christ as far as possible, so that the colouring of the image may be completed in every point, we must take what is said as is worthy of Christ, the priest perceived by the mind. For if he had used the long-suffering of God, who does not wish to destroy the sinner, he would have seemed to give licence to sinners; that is why Isaiah says: "Why have you made us stray, O Lord, from your ways? You have hardened our heart, so that we did not fear you." Habakkuk too complains in a way of similar things: "Why do you not look upon those who do wickedly, and keep silent when the ungodly devours one more righteous than himself? And you make men like the fish of the sea and like creeping things that have no ruler." And Paul writes this to the Romans; for he says that Christ was made for us a propitiation through faith in his blood, "for the showing of his righteousness"; and of what righteousness he added: "through the redemption of sins committed before, in the forbearance of God."

The lawgiver, then, plainly seems to signify that priest to whom it was said, "You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek," him who was anointed by the Father, to whom David said: "Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of your kingdom is a right sceptre. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you." And that the lawgiver has here signified this priest himself is plain from this: in the case of the whole multitude of the sons of Israel, and of the ruler, and of each one of the people who comes to know his sin, he commanded an offering; but here it is not so; rather he says: "If the priest who is anointed sins, making the people transgress." And first he lays upon him the sin of the people, because Christ bore the sins of the people. Then he does not say, as of the others, "and afterwards understands his sin." For since he was God and knew all things, how could he be ignorant of the sins which he took up from us? He, then, fittingly offered a sacrifice for our sins; of which Paul writes to the Hebrews: "So Christ also, offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time without sin to those who await him for salvation." Yet "he shall offer" himself "for his sin," and the Seventy add "which he has sinned." And his sin is called our sin, as of one who once took it upon himself; hence Paul too said: "We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God; and him who knew no sin he made sin for us."

"A calf without blemish to the Lord": namely, he offers his flesh to the Father; without blemish, because "he committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth." And he is a calf because on the cross he tossed our enemies perceived by the mind. And since the Seventy render "a calf from the oxen," we understand the same as said "from the oxen," because according to the flesh he came from the fathers who were glorious for the righteousness of the law.

And where does he offer the calf, that is, his flesh? "At the door of the tabernacle of witness, before the Lord." At the door, so that we may understand that the sacrifice of Christ came about according to the teachings and traditions of the apostles. For we showed above that these are the doors of the tabernacle of witness, as giving entrance into heaven, which is taught and proved to be the tabernacle of witness. For Isaiah has a most plain proof of this witness, saying: "Who stretches out the heavens as nothing, and spreads them out like a tabernacle to dwell in." "Before the Lord," because the mystery of the cross was being completed in the Father's sight, so much so that the Lord said to the Father, who was certainly looking on: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."

And he commanded him to lay his hand on the head of the calf and to slaughter the calf. For no one offered him, nor could anyone have sacrificed him, unless he himself had handed himself over to suffer. That is why he not only said, "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again," but also, anticipating, he sacrificed himself at the supper of the apostles; those who receive the power of the mysteries know this. This priest the Seventy called not only "anointed," or smeared, but also "consecrated in the hands." For he was consecrated in the hands first at the mystical supper, taking bread and breaking it, and then through the cross, when he was fastened to the wood. Then, receiving the dignity of the priesthood, or rather, since he always had it, then fulfilling it in deed as well, he completed the sacrifice which was for us.

He himself, drawing of the blood of the calf, brings it into the tabernacle of witness. That we must take the calf as the flesh of the Lord he himself taught when he set out the parable of the prodigal son: [he said] that the father killed for him the fatted calf and gave him the first robe and a ring, signifying by the calf the sacrifice of the Only-begotten, by the robe baptism, and by the ring the pledge of the Spirit. And that he brought of the blood into the tabernacle of witness, Paul too teaches to the Hebrews, saying: "Christ, being present as high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, nor through the blood of bulls and calves but through his own blood, entered once for all into the holy place, having found eternal redemption." And again: "For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with hands, a copy of the true, but into heaven itself, to appear before the face of God for us." Let us understand, then, that the tabernacle of witness here is heaven, because the prophets have testified that God dwells in it: "He who dwells in the heavens," he says, "will laugh at them." And "no one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven," the Only-begotten said of himself to men. There he brought in the blood, because he rose from the dead bearing the scars of his sufferings; hence he also offered his body to Thomas to be touched, and so ascended into heaven.

What follows proves it: "When he has dipped his finger in the blood, he shall sprinkle of it seven times before the Lord against the veil of the sanctuary." He calls the flesh of the Lord by many names, because it also accomplished many works. Hence the Lord himself named his various titles in fitting words of the dispensation: now himself a sacrifice, now a shepherd, then again a vine, the bread of life and a grain of wheat. And now, then, he has called his flesh the veil; we cannot doubt this, since Paul says in explaining this mystery: "Having, brothers, confidence for entrance into the holy place in the blood of Christ, by the new and living way which he opened for us through the veil, that is, his flesh, and [having] a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a pure heart, in full assurance of faith." That is why it was also called the veil of the sanctuary, for it bore the figure of the flesh of the Holy of Holies.

Since, then, the finger of God is said to be his power (hence the magicians of Pharaoh, yielding to Moses' miracles, said, "It is the finger of God"; and David sang to him, "For I shall see the heavens, the works of your fingers"; and the Lord himself again said to the Jews, "But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you"), he fittingly dips his finger in the blood, to show that the sufferings of the Lord's flesh were brought about by the power of the divinity. For how otherwise could such things have happened then, that is, the withdrawal of the sun, the earthquake, the splitting of the rocks and the like? This, then, by the power of the divinity …. And he sprinkled seven times, because he did this for the forgiveness of sins and for supplying us with the Holy Spirit. For the said number is accustomed to signify both, so that Peter said to the Lord: "If my brother sins against me, how often shall I forgive him? Up to seven times?" and the Lord answered: "I do not say to you seven times, but up to seventy times seven," multiplying the number because of the operations of the Spirit. For the prophet Isaiah numbered seven, saying: "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him"; then, dividing his gifts, he says: "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and godliness, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him."

And that we must take the blood as his passion, the words of Pilate and of the Jews prove: for when he was being handed over to the cross, the one cries out, "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man," and they, "His blood be on us and on our children." Peter too mentions this sprinkling in his catholic epistle, naming himself an apostle "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." But if you say that his passion took place before he ascended into heaven, whereas the lawgiver speaks of it after the priest's entrance into the tabernacle,

which we said signifies heaven: when you dip your finger in the blood and sprinkle, know the truth, that he who was crucified below in the flesh is in heaven in his divinity. And for this reason he said to the chief priests as they were judging him and about to crucify him: "I say to you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God." In saying "from now on," he was showing that at the very time when the calf was being sacrificed below, he himself, as high priest, was offering the sacrifice for himself in heaven.

What follows agrees with this: "And he shall put of the same blood on the horns of the altar of the most pleasing incense to the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of witness." Here he signifies the seat of the cherubim; for that they are an altar Isaiah made plain through the vision of the seraphim; for he says: "And one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar." And "incense of composition," as the Seventy say: he speaks of the composition of all the virtues, as in incense, which are the incense perceived by the mind. For where is it fitting for the virtues to be compounded, if not at the seat of God? Even if they are practised on earth, they nonetheless come down from heaven. Hence Paul too said of those who lived in the virtues: "But our citizenship is in heaven." And James says: "But the wisdom that is from above is first of all kind," saying that wisdom is one of the general virtues; for after it fortitude and justice and chastity, and much more the others, are ranked with it. These, being four, as I think, and pre-eminent, are fittingly named the horns of the said altar, because they are the kinds of the other virtues. And Isaiah too says: "Mercies …." The Lord anoints these with his own blood, giving them greater and more perfect strength, so that they may prevail against the forces of the adversaries.

He commanded all the rest of the calf's blood to be poured out around the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is in the tabernacle of witness. Let us again understand the altar of burnt offering as the body of Christ: for as he is himself priest and sacrifice, so he is also the altar. And if what is signified by many names is one (for we said that he must be understood also as the veil), there is nothing that can stand in the way of this; for since there are many operations in him, there are fittingly also many names. Nor is it right to reject the interpretation on these grounds as false; for it is the custom of divine Scripture to suggest one thing by many names, as Zechariah shows; for he says: "And I answered and said to him: What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left? And I answered a second time and said to him: What are the two kinds of olives that are beside the two golden beaks, in which are the pourers of gold? And he said to me: Do you not know what these are? And I said: I do not know, Lord. And he said: These are the two sons of the oil of splendour, who stand by the Lord of the whole earth." Zechariah asks about two certain things, the olive trees and those that pour the oil into the lampstand; but the angel who answered him gave one interpretation to the two questions. And that the altar perceived by the mind is the body of the Lord blessed Paul too understands, as you may learn from his own words; for he says: "We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat," meaning the body of Christ; for it is not lawful for the Jews to eat of it. This altar is fittingly at the entrance of the tabernacle of witness, that is, at the entrance of heaven, because through it we have entrance into heaven.

But now let us discuss the rest of this sacrifice. Whatever he commanded in the sacrifice of peace offerings, or of salvation, he commanded to be done also in this one: that the two kidneys be offered, and the net that is over them, and the fat of the liver (which the Seventy render "the lobe of the liver"), and that they be burned on the altar of burnt offerings. He divides the sacrifice in two, so that all may be allowed to imitate the sacrifice of Christ: both those who are of the lower way of life (for we said that the sacrifice of peace offerings suits them) and those who are minded for higher things, for whom it is enough to imitate what follows.

"But the skin and all the flesh with the head and the feet and the entrails and the dung and the rest of the body he shall carry out of the camp." He commanded this so that you may not divide Christ, as some divide him, saying: "He who is from Mary suffered; but he who is from God the Father did not suffer." "For to us there is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things," according to what Paul said. Though he suffered as man, yet in his sufferings he works miracles as God, but he is nowhere divided. For this reason [he commanded] his flesh, that is, his humanity, [to be burned], both the man who appeared and the one who was hidden, of whom Paul says: "And even if our outer man is being corrupted, yet the inner is being renewed." For flesh in the Lord means his whole humanity, because "the Word was made flesh." That is why he commanded his flesh to be burned with the head and the feet, or, with the head and the extremities, namely the feet (for so the rest of the interpreters rendered it), so that by the said words we might understand that he who suffered for us is at the beginning and at the end; of whom Paul says: "For in him were created all things, those in heaven and those on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and in him, and he is before all things, and all things hold together in him; and he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he may hold the first place in all things."

Moreover, "with the entrails and the dung," or as the Seventy render it, "with the belly and the excrement": since the belly bears the figure of the mind perceived by the mind, as we showed in the sacrifices of the other burnt offerings, we should by no means be ignorant from this that he who suffered for us had our mind, which some of the heretics deny. And the dung signifies the sins of the human race, which the Crucified took upon himself; for these may truly be called the dung of the Lord. For dung, though it is unclean, does not defile the one who carries it, nor does it belong to our nature, though it is in us; just as our sins, which the Lord bore, were both foreign to him and in no way defiled him, for he remained without sin.

The lawgiver, then, commands the whole calf, that is, the whole Christ, to be cast out of the camp in a most clean place where the ashes are usually poured out, striving to signify most plainly the place of the sacrifice of Christ; for he suffered outside the camp, as Paul testifies, saying: "Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people, suffered outside the gate." And what is the clean place of ashes? Golgotha, namely, and so clean that it cleansed the whole world. And it is rightly called the place of ashes, because in it the sins of the human race were extinguished; hence it is also called a clean place.

"And they shall burn them on a pile of wood." We said that the wood in the fire is the sacred Scriptures. And whatever was done to the Lord at the time of his passion was done to fulfil what the prophets had said, as the Lord shows when he was seized by the Jews, saying: "You have come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to seize me; daily I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not hold me. But this has happened so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." And again: "But Jesus, seeing that all things were accomplished, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst." But though the figure of the Lord's passion appears in every detail, the lawgiver seems to figure this mystery still more plainly in what follows.

Verses 13–21. "But if the whole multitude of Israel is ignorant, and through want of skill does what is against the commandment of the Lord, and afterwards understands its sin, it shall offer a calf for the sin and bring it to the door of the tabernacle; and the elders of the people shall lay their hands on its head before the Lord. And when the calf has been slaughtered in the sight of the Lord, the priest who is anointed shall bring of its blood into the tabernacle of witness, sprinkling it with his finger dipped in it seven times against the veil; and he shall put of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out beside the base of the altar of burnt offerings, which is at the door of the tabernacle of witness; and he shall take all its fat and burn it on the altar. So he shall do with this calf as he did before also; and when the priest prays for them, the Lord will be merciful. But the calf itself he shall carry out of the camp and burn, as he did the former calf, because it is for the sin of the multitude."

In these the lawgiver changed nothing that could lie outside the said sacrifice, which is the chief priest's: for he commanded the same to be offered by the multitude of Israel and by the priest, for he said "a calf" both here and there. Likewise he commands the blood to be offered in the tabernacle of witness and the calf to be burned outside the camp; and in what has been said it is shown most plainly that the sins of the people and of the priest were the same. For why else would he offer the same sacrifice for them? And what has been changed in the sacrifice pertains rather to confirming that the sacrifice is one: for in the case of the priest he did not say "if he comes to know his sin," since the Lord was not going to be ignorant of the sin which he became incarnate to take upon himself. But of the multitude, that is, of the synagogue or the people, notice what he says: "But if the whole multitude of Israel is ignorant, and through want of skill does what is against the commandment of the Lord, and afterwards understands its sin." At first, then, they were ignorant of their sin, but afterwards they came to know it. The Lord's own words show this, for he says: "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin," as being ignorant, certainly; "but now they have no excuse for their sin," as having learned through his teaching what they did not know before. When, then, they came to know their sin, they turned to the sacrifice of the Only-begotten.

Then, in the sacrifice of the priest, we said that he himself laid his hand on the head of the calf; but here he says that the elders do this. For both truly took place in the sacrifice of Christ: the elders of the people, and the scribes, and Caiaphas the chief of the priests pressed to bring it about, and said, "It is expedient for us that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish"; and it could in no way have been accomplished had not the Lord handed himself over to suffering, so much so that he himself said to Peter: "Put your sword into its sheath; the cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?" For he was hastening to bring about the forgiveness of our sins; this is necessarily considered in what concerns the sacrifice of the synagogue, for he says: "So he shall do with this calf as he did before also; and when the priest prays for them, the Lord will be merciful." For Christ became for us a propitiation in his blood, as was written by blessed Paul to the Romans. Through him sins were so far forgiven that even those who sinned against him might be granted forgiveness; for of them he had said: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

But what did the lawgiver say at the end of the sacrifice? For the conclusion of the law itself is enough for us to make plain what is at hand: "But the calf itself he shall carry out of the camp and burn, as he did the former calf, because it is for the sin of the multitude." You see how nothing in the second sacrifice is changed beyond what is commanded in the first; and why? "Because it is for the sin," he says, "of the multitude." This, then, is plain and beyond doubt, that he understood the sin of the people and of the priest to be the same, and for this reason he ordained the same sacrifice in both cases, not dividing them even in his words; which he would not do unless the things that were then [done] had been figures

of what was then being done.

Verses 22–31. "If a ruler sins, and through ignorance does one of the many things that are forbidden by the law of the Lord, and afterwards understands his sin, he shall offer a victim to the Lord, a he-goat from the goats without blemish; and he shall lay his hand on its head. And when he has slaughtered it in the place where the burnt offerings are usually sacrificed before the Lord, because it is for sin, the priest shall dip his finger in the blood of the victim for sin, touching the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pouring out the rest at its base. But the fat he shall burn on it, as is usually done in the victims of peace offerings; and he shall pray for him and for his sin, and it shall be forgiven him. But if a soul of the people of the land sins through ignorance, so as to do any of the things that are forbidden by the law of the Lord, and transgresses, and comes to know his sin, he shall offer a she-goat without blemish; and he shall lay his hand on the head of the victim which is for sin, and he shall slaughter it in the place of burnt offering. And the priest shall take of the blood on his finger, and touching the horns of the altar he shall pour out the rest at its base. And taking away all the fat, as it is usually taken away from the victims of peace offerings, he shall burn it on the altar as an odour of sweetness to the Lord; and he shall pray for him, and it shall be forgiven him."

Just as in the freewill sacrifices he ordained differences according to the ways of life and conditions of life of those who offer, so again he commands the sacrifices for sins to be proportioned to the sins, whose greatness is set not only by the act of sin but by the person of those who sin. And very rightly, for the Lord too said to the apostles: "The servant who knows the will of his lord and does not prepare himself, nor act according to his will, will be beaten with many stripes; but he who did not know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few." And what did he add? "To whom much has been given, much will be required of him; and to whom much has been entrusted, much will be demanded of him."

Understand that this one is he whom the lawgiver called a ruler; hinting at him also in the book of Exodus, he said: "You shall not revile the gods, and you shall not curse the ruler of your people." And David too, designating the priests and the scribes and the Pharisees and the elders of the people, says: "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ." Yet only Herod the king and Pilate the governor were present; but, as we said, he called the priests and scribes and Pharisees kings and rulers because of the knowledge and the eminence which they seemed to have for the interpretation of the law. If such a one, then, sins, he shall offer a he-goat. But if someone of the people (he means an unlearned or common man, not one who has been set apart by lot to meditate on the law, for such a one too would surely be called a ruler) [sins], he is commanded to offer a she-goat for the lesser sin, just as the other a he-goat: this one a female, that one a male. For both need repentance, the one a greater, who brings a male, and the other a lesser, who brings a female; for though they are of one kind, what is less is placed in the female, since the male is thought to be the head of each kind.

Just as, then, the offering of the she-goat marks a sacrifice for sin, so the he-goat and the she-goat (the one of feminine gender, the other of masculine) express the force of the sacrifice. For the lawgiver did not intend this in vain, but because …. The Seventy render it thus in Greek, saying that a χίμαρος and a χίμαιρα must be offered, which the Latins, translating from the same edition, rendered "a male kid from the goats" and "a female she-goat from the kids." And χίμαρος and χίμαιρα are young goats that are χειμερινοί, that is, born about the time of winter; for since goats give birth twice a year, some young are born in the winter season and some in the summer. This being so, by winter he teaches the sorrow of repentance: for repentance brings forth children in sorrow and weeping, yet its children are not rejected from the sacrifice. Hence I think he commanded the penitent to offer kids, that is, χίμαροι, as men tossed by waves, and as those who, struggling against the shifting waves of the sins that rise against them, will in every way be saved by mercy. For if they persevere in repentance and do not despair, like men in a storm who abandon the rudder of the ship of the soul, they will be delivered; but if they despair, like certain helmsmen or fearful sailors, they perish at once. For the Lord too said: "Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath," calling winter the time of repentance, and understanding the Sabbath as rest of soul and cessation from evil: for the Sabbath was given for rest and leisure from evils, but the nation of the Jews used it in the opposite way. It is grievous for anyone to be tempted or to suffer persecution at a time when repentance is necessary, and much more grievous at a time when he rests from all works; hence he put last, as the greater, the one who suffers persecution on the Sabbath.

Since, then, we have learned the meaning of the he-goat, or the she-goat, or the kid, and the manner of the difference of the sacrifices, let us now see what is done in both sacrifices; for these things are common, since the end and general effect of repentance is the forgiveness of sins, which the lawgiver set out plainly, saying: "But if a soul of the people of the land sins through ignorance, so as to do any of the things that are forbidden by the law of the Lord." He does not say "what," because whoever has transgressed in any point transgresses the whole law, as blessed James says: "Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point is made guilty of all." And what was said, "through ignorance," or, as the Seventy have it, "unwillingly," shows the yoke of the devil's slavery bearing down on sinners, which those who incline to evil have put on themselves, as Isaiah says: "Woe to those who draw sins like a long rope, and iniquity like the rope of a heifer's yoke," by which some are dragged captive and unwilling. But if they return to a sound mind, they are at once released from this rope or yoke. How or when this happens the lawgiver shows: namely, when the one who sinned comes to know his sin; for he cannot repent otherwise than by knowing his sin. Then let the ruler offer a he-goat, or χίμαρος, and the one of the crowd a she-goat, or χίμαιρα; and both without blemish, for repentance must be without blemish.

And what is its blemish? Namely, if the penitent sympathizes with the sin, or is a friend of the thing for which he does penance; for he must withdraw from that sin completely and with a most earnest purpose. Then he shall lay his hand on the head of the victim, himself making his sin known and offering his confession. But according to the Seventy he does not himself slay it; others do. For he needs the help of others too in prayer, so that his repentance may be received. Hence he did not altogether command the priests to slay it either; for he says: "They shall slay it in the place in which the burnt offerings are slain," but he did not add who are to slay it. For in the sacrifice of repentance it is permitted to use each other's help, as James testifies, saying: "Pray for one another, that you may be saved." But much more let us use the help of the righteous; for he himself adds: "The constant prayer of a righteous man avails much."

And where shall they slay it? According to the Seventy, "in the sight of the Lord." The lawgiver explains why, for he says: "It is of sin." For we must confess our sin in the sight of the Lord; that is why David too said: "I made my sin known to you, and I did not hide my injustices. I said: I will declare my injustice against myself to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my heart." For this reason the lawgiver here added: "And the priest shall take and put the blood of the sin with his finger on the horns of the altar of burnt offering," which Jerome rendered in a similar sense: "And the priest shall take of the blood with his finger, touching the horns of the altar." He called "blood of the sin" the blood that is offered for sins. Its first fruits Christ the priest will offer on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, namely on his cross. For if the altar of burnt offering is the Lord's body, its horns will without doubt be the cross, of which Habakkuk said: "Horns are in his hands." He will necessarily offer on his cross the first fruits of his blood, which is offered for sin, because the work and effect of the cross is the perfect forgiveness of our sins.

And in saying, "He shall pour out the rest of the blood at its base," he assigns all repentance to the gospel preaching, which we said is the base of the altar. And rightly he assigns all repentance to the apostolic preaching, because its whole intention is this, that every man, repenting, may be saved by correcting himself. That is why the Lord in the Gospel also put forward as his first word of teaching: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven will draw near." For he also said that he had come for this, saying: "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

After this what does the priest do? "And taking away all the fat, as it is usually taken away from the victims of peace offerings": so that all the desire of the penitent may look upward, that is, aim at heaven; for then his repentance can be reckoned to the one who offers it as in the sacrifice of peace offerings. And what the end of the things said is, he added: "And the priest shall pray for him, and it shall be forgiven him." For we are not able to forgive sins to ourselves, but Christ accomplishes propitiation for us. Hence, too, by his word priests have been ordained in the church, as those who take up his office, to whom he said in the person of the apostles: "Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; and whose you retain, they are retained." And again: "Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed also in heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound also in heaven."

Verses 32–35. "But if he offers from the flock a victim for sin, namely a ewe without blemish, he shall lay his hand on its head and slaughter it in the place where the victims of burnt offerings are usually slain; and the priest shall take of its blood with his finger, and touching the horns of the altar of burnt offering he shall pour out the rest at its base; taking away also all the fat, as the fat of the ram that is sacrificed for peace offerings is usually taken away, … on the altar as an incense to the Lord; and he shall pray for him and for his sin, and it shall be forgiven him."

Here too the lawgiver, consistent with himself, joined also the ewe to the offering of the she-goat, or χίμαιρα, which we said is offered by those who are of the people and are not occupied in meditating on the law: because among the people, and among idols, there may be some who are simple, for whom the sacrifice of the sheep is fitting, as is shown both in the burnt offerings and in the sacrifices of the victim of peace offerings. The lawgiver, then, wishing plainly to establish that not only the ruler, that is, the one of loftier knowledge, nor only the common man, but also one among the common people who is simple, if he should happen to sin, owes repentance for the redemption of his sins, introduced the sacrifice of the ewe. And he commanded not a ram but a ewe, that is, a female and not a male, to be offered, because he assigned the sacrifice of females to the common people; plainly charging those who receive the law that whoever has been allotted rule and is loftier than others in knowledge should not show simplicity alone, since he must also be wise as a serpent, as the Lord says. But one who is not such, that is, who does not abound in knowledge and therefore lives among the people, even though he is simple, if it happens that he sins, his sin will not be pardoned unless he has washed it away by the offering of repentance. This being so, the rest needs no explanation: for since it is a sacrifice for sin, he gave the command here about the she-goat and the ewe together. Hence, as we press on to what follows, there is no need to linger long on what is at hand.