NOTES for Lev 4:1-35
Besides the sacrifice of peace, Yahwism also had special purification sacrifices. They were called by different names (usually in the Synodal translation they are called a "sin offering" or a "guilt offering"), but the meaning of every such sacrifice was one: to cleanse a person, to deliver him from the impurity that had become the consequence of a sin committed. In Yahwism, sin in general was viewed not only and not so much as something immoral, but as defilement, as something that defiles a person and deprives him of the possibility of communion with God.
Breaking a commandment was terrible not because a person violated some norm, even one given by God, but because by doing so he cut himself off from God and put a wall between God and himself, a wall that was not so easy to break down afterward. The purification sacrifice was meant to break down the wall the person had built. Unlike the sacrifice of peace, the purification sacrifice presupposed a penitential prayer and confession of the sin committed, a public confession in the presence of all who had gathered around the altar during the purification sacrifice.
At the same time, the penitent did not participate in the sacrificial meal; all those present could participate in it except him. The penitent was only sprinkled with the sacrificial blood. This is understandable: full sanctification of a person who had not been cleansed, and therefore had not been delivered from the consequences of the sin committed, was considered impossible. Repentance and sprinkling with blood delivered a person from sin and its consequences.
True, this was only if the sin was unintentional, if the person committed it, for example, out of weakness or ignorance. If the sin was intentional and conscious, then it was impossible to be cleansed from its consequences; they remained with the person, sometimes until death itself, poisoning his life and hindering communion with God. This is understandable: the issue is how much the person's will approves or does not approve the sinful action he commits. Before the coming of Christ, the world was different; sin in it was much stronger than it is today, and resisting it was much harder, while getting rid of it completely was impossible, especially when from the very beginning a person wanted sin and strove for it.