Following the four examples given in the previous verses (1-4), the text now moves to an account of the ceremony required. Some languages may require some special transitional device to indicate this shift from the examples to the ritual. Most English versions simply begin a new paragraph with “When…” or “Whenever….” But New Jerusalem Bible sets off the entire first four verses by means of special indentation.

The ceremony itself consists of three parts:
1. a solemn public confession of the sin committed (verse 5);
2. the offering of the victim (verse 6a; a more detailed description of the ritual is given in 4.27-35);
3. the ritual gesture of forgiveness (verse 6b; see 4.20).

He shall confess: the sacrifice is valid only when there is a sincere confession. This involved a public acknowledgment of wrongdoing before the entire community. In some languages it will be necessary to add the word “publicly” in order to make the meaning of the verb clear. Otherwise a private confession might be envisioned. In some languages this idea will have to be rendered by an expression such as “admit in the eyes of (other) people that he did wrong” or “accept before others that he sinned.”

The sin which he has committed (in verse 6): literally “the sin he sinned” as in 4.3. This expression is not the same as the one translated very similarly in verse 5, but the meaning is the same. Both may easily be left implicit in a number of languages, but it should be made clear that the reference is to one of the unintentional sins mentioned previously.

From the flock: see 1.2.

His guilt offering … for a sin offering …: the mention of the guilt offering in this verse causes a great deal of confusion. The word used here is the same as the technical term for the guilt or repayment offering discussed in verses 14-16, but in this case it is not to be taken in its technical sense. Rather it is used to mean “as his penalty” (see Good News Translation, New English Bible, New International Version, and New Jerusalem Bible).

And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin: see 4.20.

At the end of this verse, one Hebrew text called the Samaritan Pentateuch adds the words “and he shall be forgiven,” as in 4.20, 26, 31, and 35, as well as in verses 11, 13, 16, and 19 of this chapter. These words are added here by New English Bible, but very few other versions seem to find this addition necessary. It may be, however, that the Good News Translation rendering “for the man’s sin” is not strong enough.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .