1. Leviticus 4:2 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is significant about the word “sin”?

Leviticus 4:2 (ESV)

2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them,

There are two words that are introduced in the book of Leviticus for the first time, namely “sin” (ḥṭ’) and “unintentional” (šgg). The word “sin” occurs 595 times in the Old Testament; Leviticus alone contains 116 of these references. The highest concentration of the term in Scripture is found in Leviticus 4:1 – 6:30, which includes the term 53 times.