The elders of the community are to lay their hands on the bull's head before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord. The elders who represent the community perform the hand-laying on behalf of the whole assembly: the representative act of the elders identifies the entire community with the sin offering animal. The community sin cannot be addressed by individuals in isolation — the representative leaders perform the identification act on behalf of all. The representative principle that governs the community sin offering anticipates the representative principle of the atonement: one representative acting on behalf of many, identified by the laying on of hands.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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