Sin Offering - in The Hebrew Bible

In The Hebrew Bible

The sacrificial animal for sin offerings depended on the status of the sinner offering the sacrifice;

1. for a high priest or an entire community, the sacrifice was to be of a young bullock;
2. for a king or a prince the offering had to be a young male goat; for other individuals the offering had to be either a young female goat, or a female lamb;
3. for poor individuals unable to afford these, a turtle dove sufficed.

Like all types of sacrifices offered on the altar, the animal had to be completely unblemished.

Apart from such general offerings for an unintended sin, the offering was also made on the following:

• on Day of Atonement - one bull as the high priest's offering, and a young male goat on behalf of the community
• on the appointment of a priest - a calf as the priest's offering, and a small young goat on behalf of the community
• on the termination of a Nazirite's vow - a year old ewe as the Nazirite's offering
• after recovery from skin disease - a ewe as the former leper's offering
• shortly after childbirth - a dove as the woman's offering
• after temporary marital separation due to menstruation or recovery from abnormal bodily discharges the offering in both cases being a dove or young pigeon.