Numbers 7:82
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
Original Language Analysis
Historical Context
Sin offerings were mandated for unintentional sins and ritual impurity (Leviticus 4-5). The specific animal varied by the offerer's status—a bull for priests, a goat for common people. The tribal princes uniformly brought goats, demonstrating equality before God's law despite their high position.
Questions for Reflection
- Why must even joyful dedication include a sin offering, and what does this teach about human nature in God's presence?
- How does the mandatory nature of the sin offering challenge modern notions that confession and repentance are optional spiritual practices?
- What does the goat's role as sin-bearer reveal about substitutionary atonement as the only means of approaching a holy God?
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Analysis & Commentary
One kid of the goats for a sin offering (שְׂעִיר־עִזִּים אֶחָד לְחַטָּאת, se'ir-izim echad lechatat)—The goat for the sin offering (chatat) addresses moral defilement and unintentional transgression. Even in celebration (the dedication), sin must be covered. This teaches that all human approach to God, no matter how joyful or consecrated, requires atonement. The blood applied to the altar's horns (Leviticus 4:25, 30) sanctifies the place of worship itself.
The goat prefigures Christ as sin-bearer (Isaiah 53:6, 2 Corinthians 5:21). On the Day of Atonement, two goats were required—one slain, one sent away (Leviticus 16)—picturing both Christ's death and the removal of sins 'as far as the east is from the west' (Psalm 103:12). Naphtali's single goat here emphasizes ongoing, daily atonement, anticipating Christ's once-for-all sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10).