Leviticus 4 - The Sin Offering

A priest can lead others into sin, and a whole people can be wrong without recognizing it. Leviticus 4 brings both truths into worship. After the gifts of the whole-burnt offering in Leviticus 1, the grain offering in Leviticus 2, and the peace-offering in Leviticus 3, God addresses breaches of His commandments through four cases: the anointed priest, the assembly, a ruler, and an ordinary person. Their offerings differ, but the chapter repeatedly joins acknowledgment, priestly atonement, and forgiveness. Responsibility grows serious enough to reach the sanctuary, while mercy remains personal enough to reach one unnamed soul.

The priest whose sin reaches the people (Leviticus 4:1-4)

¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin unwillingly before the Lord, in any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which he ought not to do, and shall do some of them; ³ if the anointed priest sin so as to cause the people to sin, then shall he bring for his sin, which he has sinned, an unblemished calf of the herd to the Lord for his sin. ⁴ And he shall bring the calf to the door of the tabernacle of witness before the Lord, and he shall put his hand on the head of the calf before the Lord, and shall slay the calf in the presence of the Lord.

The chapter begins with a soul who sins “unwillingly”, then immediately names the anointed priest. Consecration gives him a holy task; it does not make him incapable of wrongdoing. Verse 3 is more searching than a general statement that leaders should behave well: his sin can “cause the people to sin”. A priest’s teaching, example, and handling of holy things can train others to excuse what God forbids. His repentance therefore concerns both his own conscience and the people affected by his conduct.

The unblemished calf is brought openly before the Lord, and the priest lays his hand upon its head. The man who ordinarily mediates the people’s offerings now needs atonement himself. The act joins personal acknowledgment to the sacrifice God appoints. It cannot be reduced to paying a fee while retaining the same habits. Hebrews 5:1–3 explains why a high priest acquainted with weakness can deal gently with the ignorant and wandering. Hebrews 7:26–27 then distinguishes Christ: He offers Himself without first needing an offering for His own sins. The comparison honors Israel’s priesthood while revealing its need for the sinless Priest.

For anyone entrusted with teaching, the first examination is painfully concrete: have my excuses become somebody else’s permission to sin? Repentance includes correcting the example, not merely regretting it in private.

Language insight: “unwillingly”

The consulted CCAT-derived Septuagint has ἀκουσίως, meaning involuntarily or unwillingly, at Leviticus 4:2. At 4:13 it joins ignorance to involuntariness. These words distinguish the cases from deliberate defiance; they do not say that an unrecognized offense has no effect.¹ The distinction supports gentleness toward a person discovering a fault and firmness when that person now knows what must change.

Gems from the Fathers 💎: A conscience awake to its own weakness

Origen’s direct treatment of the anointed priest presses the need for self-knowledge: “For he who thinks he has not sinned never corrects himself.”² He then joins that recognition to mercy toward others: “In like manner, he is more easily able to pardon those who sin, whose conscience is disturbed by his own weakness.”³ A priest who acknowledges his own need can correct another person without contempt. This is a reading of fallible human priesthood. Christ remains the sinless High Priest, and compassion never requires a priest to excuse harm or conceal it.

Lesson Guide

• Key phrases: “unwillingly”; “cause the people to sin”; “before the Lord”
• Emphasize: Priestly office includes accountability before God.
• Avoid: Treating consecration as moral immunity or blaming every follower’s choice on the priest.

Blood brought before the holy veil (Leviticus 4:5-7)

⁵ And the anointed priest who has been consecrated having received of the blood of the calf, shall then bring it into the tabernacle of witness. ⁶ And the priest shall dip his finger into the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Lord, over against the holy veil. ⁷ And the priest shall put of the blood of the calf on the horns of the altar of the compound incense which is before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of witness; and all the blood of the calf shall he pour out by the foot of the altar of whole-burnt-offerings, which is by the doors of the tabernacle of witness.

The priest carries blood into the tabernacle, sprinkles it seven times before the holy veil, touches the horns of the incense altar, and pours the blood at the foot of the outer altar. The locations matter. The sin of the anointed priest is answered within the sphere of sanctuary worship, not only at the place where the animal is slain. The sevenfold sprinkling is the commanded action; the chapter does not provide seven secret meanings for seven individual drops.

The incense altar and the altar of whole-burnt-offerings are distinct. Blood is placed on the first altar’s horns, then poured at the foot of the second. Keeping them distinct prevents the rite from becoming a vague picture of religious bloodshed. God orders the approach to His presence. Hebrews 9:11–14 carries the reader beyond animal blood to Christ’s own blood and the cleansing of conscience for service to the living God. Christian repentance seeks that inward cleansing, including the motives concealed beneath outwardly correct worship.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

In the Liturgy of St. Basil, the priest prays for his own sins and the people’s ignorance. His service to the Lord begins with acknowledged need for mercy. The order resembles the priest-and-people distinction here and in Hebrews 9:7, although Hebrews 9:7 specifically describes the annual entry of the high priest, not this chapter’s individual rite.

Grant, O Lord, that our sacrifice may be accepted before You for my own sins and for the ignorance of Your people.⁴

In Coptic Reader: Liturgies / St. Basil / Offering of the Lamb / The Prayer after Preparation.

Lesson Guide

• Key phrases: “holy veil”; “compound incense”; “foot of the altar”
• Emphasize: The ordered approach to God includes the priest’s own need for mercy.
• Avoid: Collapsing the two altars or presenting Hebrews 9:7 as an exact account of this rite.

The whole calf carried outside the camp (Leviticus 4:8-12)

⁸ And all the fat of the calf of the sin-offering shall he take off from it; the fat that covers the inwards, and all the fat that is on the inwards, ⁹ and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, that which is on the thighs, and the caul that is on the liver with the kidneys, them shall he take away, ¹⁰ as he takes it away from the calf of the sacrifice of peace-offering, so shall the priest offer it on the altar of burnt-offering. ¹¹ And they shall take the skin of the calf, and all his flesh with the head and the extremities and the belly and the dung, ¹² and they shall carry out the whole calf out of the camp into a clean place, where they pour out the ashes, and they shall consume it there on wood with fire: it shall be burnt on the ashes poured out.

The fat covering the inward parts, the kidneys, the fat associated with them, and the caul on the liver are removed as in the peace-offering. That selected portion is offered on the altar. The skin, flesh, head, extremities, belly, and dung have another destination: the whole remainder is carried outside the camp and burned in the clean place where ashes are poured. The text carefully separates altar offering from the burning of the carcass. “Outside” does not mean a filthy dumping ground; verse 12 explicitly says “a clean place”.

Hebrews 13:11–13 makes the Christian connection directly. The bodies of the animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary are burned outside the camp; Jesus suffers outside the gate to sanctify the people with His own blood. Hebrews then asks us to go to Him, bearing His reproach. It draws on the sacrificial pattern, rather than making every object in the calf’s anatomy a separate prediction. The saving reality is Christ Himself, and discipleship means remaining with Him when respectable company treats allegiance to Him as shameful.

A desire for approval can keep a person inside a comfortable circle while Christ is left outside it. To bear His reproach may mean refusing a cruel joke, standing beside someone unfairly disgraced, or admitting one’s own fault when silence would preserve status. Such actions do not earn His sacrifice; they are ways of following the One who sanctifies us.

Gems from the Fathers 💎: Christ the Priest and offering

Commenting on Hebrews 9:24–26, St. John Chrysostom brings Priest and offering together in Christ. His words illuminate the fulfillment of the sacrificial pattern; they are a New Testament bridge, not a running commentary on the calf’s parts.

He is Himself then both victim and Priest and sacrifice.⁵

Lesson Guide

• Key phrases: “all his flesh”; “out of the camp”; “a clean place”
• Emphasize: Distinguish altar fat from the carcass burned outside; Christ sanctifies by His own blood.
• Avoid: Imagining Christ as morally defiled or assigning unsourced meanings to each organ.

When the whole people discovers its sin (Leviticus 4:13-15)

¹³ And if the whole congregation of Israel trespass ignorantly, and a thing should escape the notice of the congregation, and they should do one thing forbidden of any of the commands of the Lord, which ought not to be done, and should transgress: ¹⁴ and the sin wherein they have sinned should become known to them, then shall the congregation bring an unblemished calf of the herd for a sin-offering, and they shall bring it to the doors of the tabernacle of witness. ¹⁵ And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the calf before the Lord, and they shall slay the calf before the Lord.

The second case concerns the whole congregation of Israel. A forbidden act may escape a community’s notice even when many people share responsibility. Agreement does not make an action righteous. Once the sin becomes known, the assembly brings an unblemished calf, and its elders lay their hands upon the head. Those who represent the people must take part in its acknowledgment before God.

“Ignorantly” protects a real distinction: the people have not acted with the same awareness as someone who deliberately defies a known command. Yet ignorance does not leave the breach untouched. Recognition summons a response. In family or parish life, a settled custom may eventually be shown to exclude someone unjustly or to conceal financial dishonesty. The discovery is a mercy when it produces correction. The elders’ act refuses the easy escape in which everyone admits that something was wrong but no one will name the responsibility.

Lesson Guide

• Key phrases: “whole congregation”; “escape the notice”; “become known”
• Emphasize: Shared ignorance calls for shared acknowledgment and repair.
• Avoid: Using collective responsibility to accuse innocent individuals or protect the actual wrongdoer.

The assembly’s blood brought into the sanctuary (Leviticus 4:16-18)

¹⁶ And the anointed priest shall bring in of the blood of the calf into the tabernacle of witness. ¹⁷ And the priest shall dip his finger into some of the blood of the calf, and shall sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. ¹⁸ And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of the incense of composition, which is before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of witness; and he shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of whole-burnt-offerings, which is by the door of the tabernacle of witness.

The anointed priest brings the assembly’s blood into the tabernacle, repeats the sevenfold sprinkling before the veil, touches the incense altar’s horns, and pours the blood at the outer altar. These are the same sanctuary locations used for the anointed priest. The likeness gives visible weight to the relationship between priestly leadership and the worship of the whole people. The community’s disorder belongs before God, not merely in a discussion about public reputation.

The representative offering does not make individual truthfulness unnecessary. A public apology may begin repentance, but it cannot replace the quieter work of ending the practice that caused harm. These verses place communal wrongdoing where worship is offered. They teach reverence in the very sphere where human beings are tempted to assume that religious activity will protect them from examination.

Lesson Guide

• Key phrases: “tabernacle of witness”; “veil of the sanctuary”; “all the blood”
• Emphasize: Read the repeated locations, not just the repeated victim.
• Avoid: Treating a public ceremony as sufficient while the harmful practice continues.

Forgiveness promised to the assembly (Leviticus 4:19-21)

¹⁹ And he shall take away all the fat from it, and shall offer it up on the altar. ²⁰ And he shall do to the calf as he did to the calf of the sin-offering, so shall it be done; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and the trespass shall be forgiven them. ²¹ And they shall carry forth the calf whole without the camp, and they shall burn the calf as they burnt the former calf: it is the sin-offering of the congregation.

The fat is offered, the calf is handled as the earlier sin-offering, and the priest makes atonement for the people. The text then gives the promise: “the trespass shall be forgiven them”. The carcass goes outside the camp as before. The repetition links the people’s rite to the priest’s, but forgiveness is the sentence that prevents repetition from sounding like a closed circle of failure. God provides a way of return.

A later use of the sin-offering appears in 2 Maccabees 12:43–45: Judas sends an offering to Jerusalem after forbidden objects are found among fallen soldiers. The passage joins prayer for the departed to hope in the resurrection. It is a later application of sacrificial mercy, not one of Leviticus 4’s four cases; it also refuses to treat hidden wrongdoing lightly. The Church’s prayer for the departed rests in God’s mercy, without claiming that a gift mechanically changes His judgment.

The fuller Christian hope stands in Hebrews 10:11–14. Christ’s one offering brings what repeated offerings could not accomplish by their own power. The forgiveness promised in Leviticus teaches us to take God’s provision seriously; Hebrews reveals the Priest through whom conscience and communion are restored.

Lesson Guide

• Key phrases: “make atonement”; “forgiven them”; “without the camp”
• Emphasize: Atonement leads to forgiveness, and Christian fulfillment is Christ’s one offering.
• Avoid: Presenting prayer for the departed as a payment or erasing the resurrection context in Maccabees.

The ruler must acknowledge what becomes known (Leviticus 4:22-24)

²² And if a ruler sin, and break one of all the commands of the Lord his God, doing the thing which ought not to be done, unwillingly, and shall sin and trespass, ²³ and his trespass wherein he has sinned, be known to him, - then shall he offer for his gift a kid of the goats, a male without blemish. ²⁴ And he shall lay his hand on the head of the kid, and they shall kill it in the place where they kill the victims for whole-burnt-offerings before the Lord; it is a sin-offering.

The third case is the ruler who breaks a command “unwillingly” and whose trespass becomes known. His authority gives him no exemption. He brings a male kid without blemish, lays his hand on it, and the animal is killed at the place of whole-burnt-offerings. The offering differs from the calf required for priest and assembly, but the need to acknowledge sin before the Lord remains.

The wording refuses two convenient evasions: ignorance cannot be maintained after the wrong is known, and public office cannot replace repentance. A ruler may be tempted to protect the appearance of competence at the cost of truth. Here recognition must become action. The same discipline reaches a parent, manager, or servant who has used rank to avoid saying plainly that a decision was wrong.

Lesson Guide

• Key phrases: “a ruler”; “be known to him”; “a male without blemish”
• Emphasize: Authority remains answerable to the Lord’s commandments.
• Avoid: Making the smaller victim a statement that a ruler’s sin is harmless.

Mercy at the altar of whole-burnt-offering (Leviticus 4:25-26)

²⁵ And the priest shall put some of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger on the horns of the altar of whole-burnt-offering; and he shall pour out all its blood by the bottom of the altar of whole-burnt-offerings. ²⁶ And he shall offer up all his fat on the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace-offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.

For the ruler, blood is placed on the horns of the altar of whole-burnt-offering and poured at its base. It is not carried before the veil or to the incense altar as in the first two cases. The fat is offered as in the peace-offering, and the priest makes atonement for the ruler. “It shall be forgiven him” is as personal as his wrongdoing.

The varied rituals preserve distinctions of responsibility, while the repeated promise offers real hope. A ruler can cease defending himself because forgiveness does not depend on proving that he was never wrong. Truthful acknowledgment opens the way to the mercy God has appointed. Forgiveness also frees authority for a better purpose: serving responsibly instead of preserving an untouchable image.

Lesson Guide

• Key phrases: “horns of the altar”; “bottom”; “forgiven him”
• Emphasize: Different responsibilities do not cancel the personal promise of mercy.
• Avoid: Confusing the incense altar with the outer altar or equating forgiveness with exemption from consequences.

One of the people is seen by God (Leviticus 4:27-29)

²⁷ And if a soul of the people of the land should sin unwillingly, in doing a thing contrary to any of the commandments of the Lord, which ought not to be done, and shall transgress, ²⁸ and his sin should be known to him, wherein he has sinned, then shall he bring a kid of the goats, a female without blemish shall he bring for his sin, which he has sinned. ²⁹ And he shall lay his hand on the head of his sin-offering, and they shall slay the kid of the sin-offering in the place where they slay the victims for whole-burnt-offerings.

The fourth case concerns a soul “of the people of the land”. An ordinary person who recognizes a forbidden act brings a female kid without blemish, lays a hand on its head, and has it slain at the appointed place. The text gives this person neither a title nor public importance. His sin and his return still matter before the Lord.

Responsibility is not reserved for those whose failures make news. An uncorrected falsehood at home, a dishonest expense claim, or the casual mistreatment of a dependent person belongs within one’s own examination. Conversely, a quiet person’s repentance is not less valuable because few people notice. The same God who addresses ruler and assembly addresses this individual, giving a definite means of return.

Lesson Guide

• Key phrases: “people of the land”; “known to him”; “a female without blemish”
• Emphasize: Each person’s conscience matters before God.
• Avoid: Treating personal repentance as inferior to public religious work.

The ordinary person receives the same promise (Leviticus 4:30-31)

³⁰ And the priest shall take of its blood with his finger, and shall put it on the horns of the altar of whole-burnt-offerings; and all its blood he shall pour forth by the foot of the altar. ³¹ And he shall take away all the fat, as the fat is taken away from the sacrifice of peace-offering, and the priest shall offer it on the altar for a smell of sweet savour to the Lord; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and his sin shall be forgiven him.

Blood touches the outer altar’s horns and is poured at its foot. The fat is removed as in the peace-offering and offered for “a smell of sweet savour”. The action is solemn, but its outcome is tender and direct: “his sin shall be forgiven him”. The sequence does not demand that the sinner first become important or wealthy enough to deserve attention.

The sweet savour belongs to God’s acceptance of the appointed offering. Christian hope reaches its fullness in the spotless self-offering of Christ. We do not need to imagine that the Savior Himself became sinful in order to believe that He truly bore our sins.

Gems from the Fathers 💎: The spotless self-offering

St. Cyril of Alexandria explains Christ’s self-sanctification as His voluntary presentation of Himself as a spotless sacrifice. He is commenting on John 6:51 and drawing in John 17:19, so his words serve here as a Christological parallel. The whole sentence is Cyril’s explanation, not a verbatim saying of Jesus.

He here says, I sanctify Myself, for, I offer Myself and present Myself as a spotless Sacrifice for an odour of a sweet smell.⁶

Lesson Guide

• Key phrases: “sweet savour”; “make atonement”; “his sin shall be forgiven”
• Emphasize: The ordinary sinner receives the promise through God’s provision.
• Avoid: Quoting Cyril’s interpretive expansion as if every word were spoken by Jesus.

A lamb, and the chapter’s repeated assurance (Leviticus 4:32-35)

³² And if he should offer a lamb for his sin-offering, he shall offer it a female without blemish. ³³ And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin-offering, and they shall kill it in the place where they kill the victims for whole-burnt-offerings. ³⁴ And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and shall put it on the horns of the altar of whole-burnt-offerings, and he shall pour out all its blood by the bottom of the altar of whole-burnt-offering. ³⁵ And he shall take away all his fat, as the fat of the lamb of the sacrifice of peace-offering is taken away, and the priest shall put it on the altar for a whole-burnt-offering to the Lord; and the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.

A female lamb without blemish may be brought instead of the female kid. Hand, slaughter, blood at the outer altar, and removal of fat remain. The final verse’s “for a whole-burnt-offering” describes the altar presentation in this rite; it does not add a second animal to the person’s sin-offering. Once again the priest makes atonement, and forgiveness is promised.

The four cases can now be seen together: anointed priest, whole congregation, ruler, and one of the people. The first two use a calf and carry blood into the sanctuary; the last two use a goat or lamb and apply blood to the outer altar. All stand under the commandments of the Lord. All need His appointed mercy. “Unwillingly” marks the character of these offenses, not the absence of a wound. Numbers 15:27–31 separately distinguishes inadvertent sin from high-handed defiance. The distinction asks for honest examination, without teaching despair to someone who has sinned knowingly and now repents.

Lesson Guide

• Key phrases: “a lamb”; “female without blemish”; “it shall be forgiven him”
• Emphasize: Keep the ritual differences and the shared promise together.
• Avoid: Treating ignorance as innocence or deliberate sin as beyond every possibility of repentance.

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

Begin with the circle of people who learn from your example. A parent, servant, or colleague may have made impatience, mockery, or dishonesty appear ordinary to someone else. Name the fault before Christ, bring it to confession, and correct the example with the same people when this can be done responsibly. A brief truthful apology is better than a speech proving how many pressures made the wrong understandable.

When a shared habit is exposed as unjust, resist the comfort of saying that everyone did it. Ask what you can now change: a misleading account, a practice that excludes someone, or a silence that protects a respected wrongdoer. The assembly’s elders come before God together; communal repentance can include plain acknowledgment and a concrete correction without turning into indiscriminate accusation.

Finally, consider the shame you will accept to remain with Christ. Hebrews calls us outside the camp to Him. That call may take the form of refusing to join contempt, standing beside someone who has been rejected, or admitting what would be easier to conceal. His blood sanctifies; our task is to follow without hiding behind approval.

Before your next prayer, sit quietly with the person whose trust your example has weakened in mind. Place the excuse you have repeated before the Lord without polishing it. Ask for courage to speak the truth and gentleness to repair what you can. Then rise with one act of correction decided, trusting the Priest who offers Himself for us.

Teaching Notes

The priest whose sin reaches the people (Leviticus 4:1-4)

• Ask: How can a leader’s wrongdoing teach others to excuse sin?
• Watch for: Do not invite public speculation about a particular priest; keep discussion on accountable conduct and proper reporting of harm.

Blood brought before the holy veil (Leviticus 4:5-7)

• Ask: Which two altars appear, and what happens at each?
• Watch for: Check that participants can trace the blood from the veil and incense altar to the outer altar base before moving to a Christian comparison.

The whole calf carried outside the camp (Leviticus 4:8-12)

• Ask: Why does Hebrews turn the place of burning into a call to follow Christ?
• Watch for: Following Christ outside the gate must not become advice to remain in an unsafe setting; distinguish bearing reproach for Him from enabling abuse.

When the whole people discovers its sin (Leviticus 4:13-15)

• Ask: What changes when an accepted practice is recognized as wrong?
• Watch for: A group may confess generally while nobody names the accepted practice that must change. Ask for a concrete example without exposing private cases.

The assembly’s blood brought into the sanctuary (Leviticus 4:16-18)

• Ask: Why is this rite closer to the priest’s case than to the ruler’s later case?
• Watch for: When repeated ritual details are skipped aloud, listeners may miss that the congregation needs the same sanctuary cleansing as its priest.

Forgiveness promised to the assembly (Leviticus 4:19-21)

• Ask: What promise is repeated alongside the repeated actions?
• Watch for: Discussion of the departed can eclipse the explicit promise to the living assembly in verse 20. Return to that promise before widening the connection.

The ruler must acknowledge what becomes known (Leviticus 4:22-24)

• Ask: What would repentance cost a ruler who fears losing face?
• Watch for: Keep a ruler’s acknowledgment of a known fault distinct from a forced public confession extracted by those who control him.

Mercy at the altar of whole-burnt-offering (Leviticus 4:25-26)

• Ask: How does the blood’s destination differ from the first two cases?
• Watch for: Listeners may miss that verse 26 promises forgiveness to the ruler himself, not only benefit to the community he serves.

One of the people is seen by God (Leviticus 4:27-29)

• Ask: How does the fourth case protect an ordinary person from both evasion and insignificance?
• Watch for: Do not require participants to identify their own hidden faults aloud; conscience can be examined truthfully without public disclosure.

The ordinary person receives the same promise (Leviticus 4:30-31)

• Ask: How does Cyril keep Christ’s sin-bearing joined to His spotless holiness?
• Watch for: The fragrance and forgiveness in verse 31 can be overlooked in a discussion centered on blood; allow the concluding assurance to be heard.

A lamb, and the chapter’s repeated assurance (Leviticus 4:32-35)

• Ask: What remains constant across all four cases, and what changes?
• Watch for: An extended comparison of victims can bury the final promise of forgiveness. Close the discussion with verse 35, not a ranking of offerings.

Sources

Embedded Scripture is from Brenton’s English Septuagint (LXX). Chapter and verse headings follow NKJV numbering; the printed Brenton text has the same chapter boundaries here.

Leviticus 4 has no appointed reading in the updated lectionary sources consulted for this study; the worship connections above are prayer connections, not an appointment of this chapter. The consulted lectionary data is version 1.3.1. Coptic Reader is cited with each actual service menu path.

Coptic Reader also gives Isaiah 53:7–12 at Special / Pascha / Friday / 6th Hour. This is a Passion reading, not an appointment of Leviticus 4 or Hebrews 13:11–13.

Chrysostom and Cyril are quoted in their named New Testament contexts as supporting parallels. Origen comments directly on the anointed priest in Homily 2.3.

Footnotes

1. Leviticus 4, CCAT-derived Septuagint display, verses 2 and 13. ↩

2. Origen, Homilies on Leviticus, Homily 2.3(1); English based on G. W. Barkley’s translation, Fathers of the Church 83, as given in the ldysinger.com text. The page credits pp. 39–51 but gives no individual page marker for this passage. ↩

3. Origen, Homilies on Leviticus, Homily 2.3(1); English based on G. W. Barkley’s translation, Fathers of the Church 83, as given in the ldysinger.com text. The page credits pp. 39–51 but gives no individual page marker for this passage. ↩

4. Liturgy of St. Basil, The Prayer after Preparation, also repeated during selection/wiping of the Lamb. Coptic Reader; Liturgies / St. Basil / Offering of the Lamb. ↩

5. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews, Homily XVII, §3, p. 447; T. Keble translation, revised by Frederic Gardiner, NPNF 14; New Advent text. Primary text. ↩

6. St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, Book IV, chapter II, on John 6:51, p. 410; P. E. Pusey translation, LFC 43, 1874. Primary text. ↩