The law of the sin offering for the anointed priest and for the people
Cyril: Paul was learned in the law and had mastered the commandment given through Moses as thoroughly as anyone. So he speaks of things so holy and so far beyond words to the Hebrew people as to men wise in such matters, who had read the law: not in long accounts, but rather in passing, as a reminder of what they already knew. But if you agree, I will bring forward the law on this point as well, since you have chosen to learn what is profitable and are very thirsty for an exact and finely worked explanation of these insights. It is written, then, in Leviticus:
‘And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the sons of Israel: If a person sins unintentionally before the Lord against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things that ought not to be done, and does any one of them; if the anointed high priest sins so as to make the people sin, he shall bring for the sin he has committed a calf from the herd, without blemish, to the Lord as a sin offering. And he shall bring the calf to the door of the tent of witness before the Lord, and he shall slaughter the calf before the Lord. And the anointed priest, whose hands have been consecrated, shall take some of the blood of the calf and bring it into the tent of witness. And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the holy veil. And the priest shall put some of the blood of the calf on the horns of the altar of the compounded incense, which is before the Lord, which is in the tent of witness; and all the blood of the calf he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offerings, which is by the doors of the tent of witness. And all the fat of the calf of the sin offering he shall remove from it: the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, which is on the thighs, and the lobe on the liver together with the kidneys, he shall remove it, just as it is removed from the calf sacrificed as a peace offering; and the priest shall offer it up on the altar of burnt offering. As for the skin of the calf and all its flesh, with the head, the extremities, the belly and the dung, they shall carry the whole calf out of the camp to a clean place, where they pour out the ashes, and they shall burn it on wood with fire; it shall be burned on the place where the ashes are poured out’ (Leviticus 4:1–12).
This is what the law commanded to be done if any fault committed in ignorance should be charged against the one who holds first place in the priesthood. It says too that for the sins of ignorance of the people a sacrifice must be performed: a calf is brought and slaughtered in the same way at the doors of the tent of witness before the Lord, the elders of the congregation lay their hands on it, its blood is brought into the Holy of Holies, and, in a word, everything is done with it in the likeness of the sacrifice for Aaron (Leviticus 4:13–21). But that Christ is the cleansing of priests and people alike (for in him we have been justified, wiping away the stain that comes from sin)…
Greek
{ΚΥΡ.} Νομομαθὴς ὢν ὁ Παῦλος καὶ ἠκριβωκὼς ὅτι μάλιστά γε τὴν διὰ Μωσέως ἐντολήν, ὡς σοφοῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα τοῖς Ἑβραίων λαοῖς, καὶ ἀνεγνωκόσι τὸν νόμον, περὶ τῶν οὕτω σεπτῶν τε καὶ ἀποῤῥήτων ἄγαν, οὐκ ἐν πλάτει διηγημάτων, ἐν παραδρομῇ δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ ἀναμνήσει τῶν ἤδη προεγνωσμένων, τὰ τοιάδε προσλαλεῖ. Παροίσω δὲ, εἰ δοκεῖ, καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ τῷδε νόμον χρηστομαθεῖν ᾑρημένῳ, καὶ τὸ ἀκριβὲς δὴ λίαν καὶ ἀπεξεσμένον εἰς διασάφησιν τῶν θεωρημάτων εὖ μάλα δεδιψηκότι. Γέγραπται τοίνυν ἐν τῷ Λευιτικῷ· «Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωσῆν λέγων· Λάλησον πρὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραήλ· Ψυχὴ, ἐὰν ἁμάρτῃ ἐναντίον Κυρίου ἀκουσίως ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν προσταγμάτων Κυρίου, ὧν οὐ δεῖ ποιεῖν, καὶ ποιήσῃ ἕν τι ἀπ' αὐτῶν, ἐὰν μὲν ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς ὁ κεχρισμένος ἁμάρτῃ, τοῦ τὸν λαὸν ἁμαρτεῖν, προσάξει περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ, ἧς ἥμαρτε, μόσχον ἐκ βοῶν ἄμωμον τῷ Κυρίῳ περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καὶ προσάξει τὸν μόσχον παρὰ τὴν θύραν τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἔναντι Κυρίου, καὶ σφάξει τὸν μόσχον ἐνώπιον Κυρίου. Καὶ λαβὼν ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ χριστὸς ὁ τετελειωμένος τὰς χεῖρας ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ μόσχου, εἰσοίσει αὐτὸ εἰς τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ βάψει ὁ ἱερεὺς τὸν δάκτυλον εἰς τὸ αἷμα, καὶ προσρανεῖ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος ἑπτάκις ἔναντι Κυρίου, κατὰ τὸ καταπέτασμα τὸ ἅγιον. Καὶ ἐπιθήσει ὁ ἱερεὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ μόσχου ἐπὶ τὰ κέρατα τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ θυμιάματος τῆς συνθέσεως τοῦ ἐναντίον Κυρίου, ὃ ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ πᾶν τὸ αἷμα τοῦ μόσχου ἐκχεεῖ παρὰ τὴν βάσιν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τῶν ὁλοκαυτωμάτων, ὃς ἐστὶ παρὰ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ πᾶν τὸ στέαρ τοῦ μόσχου τοῦ τῆς ἁμαρτίας περιελεῖ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, τὸ στέαρ τὸ κατακαλύπτον τὰ ἐνδόσθια, καὶ πᾶν τὸ στέαρ τὸ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐνδοσθίων, καὶ τοὺς δύο νεφροὺς, καὶ τὸ στέαρ τὸ ἐπ' αὐτῶν, ὅ ἐστιν ἐπὶ τῶν μηρίων, καὶ τὸν λοβὸν τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἥπατος σὺν τοῖς νεφροῖς περιελεῖ αὐτὸ, ὃν τρόπον ἀφαιρεῖται αὐτὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ μόσχου τοῦ τῆς θυσίας τοῦ σωτηρίου, καὶ ἀνοίσει ὁ ἱερεὺς ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον τῆς καρπώσεως καὶ τὸ δέρμα τοῦ μόσχου, καὶ πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ τὴν σάρκα σὺν τῇ κεφαλῇ καὶ τοῖς ἀκρωτηρίοις, καὶ τῇ κοιλίᾳ, καὶ τῇ κόπρῳ· καὶ ἐξοίσουσιν ὅλον τὸν μόσχον ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς εἰς τόπον καθαρὸν, οὗ ἐκχεοῦσι τὴν σποδιάν. Καὶ κατακαύσουσιν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ ξύλων ἐν πυρί· ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκχύσεως τῆς σποδιᾶς καυθήσεται.» Ταυτὶ μὲν ὁ νόμος γενέσθαι προστέταχεν, εἰ τῶν ἐξ ἀγνοίας πταισμάτων καταγράφοιτό τι τοῦ προὔχοντος ἐν ἱερωσύνῃ. Χρῆναι δέ φησι καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν τοῦ λαοῦ ἀγνοημάτων ἐπιτελεῖσθαι θυσίαν μόσχου προσκομιζομένου σφαζομένου τε οὕτως παρὰ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἔναντι Κυρίου, καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τῆς Συναγωγῆς ἐπιθέντων αὐτῷ τὰς χεῖρας, εἰσφερομένου τε τοῦ αἵματος εἰς τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων, καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς εἰπεῖν πάντων ἐπιτελουμένων ἐπ' αὐτῷ καθ' ὁμοιότητα τῆς θυσίας ὑπὲρ Ἀαρών. Ἀλλ' ὅτι μὲν δὴ καὶ ἱερέων καὶ λαοῦ κάθαρσις ὁ Χριστὸς, δεδικαιώμεθα γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ τὸν ἐκ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀπο