The second thing to say about the ‘sin-offering’ is that, in Leviticus and Numbers, this sacrifice relates specifically to sins of ignorance (when a person performed an action without knowing that it was forbidden) or to unintentional sins (they did know, but did not intend to commit the sin). It is fascinating to observe that in 7.13–20 Paul has analysed the ongoing sin of Israel in terms of just those two things: 7.15, ‘I don’t understand what I do; I don’t do what I want’; 7.19, ‘I don’t do the good thing I want to do, but I end up doing the evil thing I don’t want to do.’
