וְהָיָ֗ה אִ֣ם מֵעֵינֵ֣י הָעֵדָה֮ נֶעֶשְׂתָ֣ה לִשְׁגָגָה֒ וְעָשׂ֣וּ כָל־הָעֵדָ֡ה פַּ֣ר בֶּן־בָּקָר֩ אֶחָ֨ד לְעֹלָ֜ה לְרֵ֤יחַ נִיחֹ֙חַ֙ לַֽיהוָ֔ה וּמִנְחָת֥וֹ וְנִסְכּ֖וֹ כַּמִּשְׁפָּ֑ט וּשְׂעִיר־עִזִּ֥ים אֶחָ֖ד לְחַטָּֽת׃
ay mangyayari na kung ito ay nagawa nang hindi sinasadya ng kapulungan, na nalingid sa kanilang mga mata, ang buong kapulungan ay maghahanda ng isang guyang toro bilang handog na susunugin, bilang kasiya-siyang samyo sa Walang-Hanggan, kasama ang handog nitong harina at ang handog nitong inumin ayon sa alituntunin, at ng isang lalaking kambing bilang handog para sa kasalanan.
Rashi
ואם מעיני העדה נעשתה בשגגה — This means: If it is by the eyes (the leaders) of the community that this sin has been committed in error, i.e., that they have mistakenly taught of a certain one of the rites associated with the worship of God that it is permissible to worship an idol in that manner, [then it shall be that all the congregation shall offer, etc.] (cf. Horayot 5b).
Kli Yakar
And one male goat for a sin offering. Sin offering is written without an aleph [as חטת instead of חטאת], and there is another change here because in every place where a sin offering and a burnt offering are brought, the sin offering comes before the burnt offering, but here the burnt offering comes before the sin offering. This is surely significant.
I say that since this sin refers to idolatry, as it is said, if you err and do not observe all these commandments — this refers to idolatry, for one who acknowledges it denies the entire Torah. In every transgression, a person sins both in thought and in deed, because every action is preceded by thought — for if one acts without any intention at all, this is not called unintentional [shogeg] but rather accidental [ones]. Therefore, every sinner needs to bring two atonements: the burnt offering for the thoughts of the heart, and the sin offering for the sin of action.
Although every thought precedes action, nevertheless the action is more severe than the thought. For the Holy One, blessed be He, never punishes for thought unless the thought was actualized, as it is written, Had I seen iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have heard (Psalms 66:18). Even though He also does not punish for an action when it is done without any thought or intention at all, nevertheless the action is the primary sin. Therefore, one first brings a sin offering to remove the greater sin first, and afterward a burnt offering to remove the sin of thought.
The exception is idolatry, of which it is said, in order to seize the house of Israel by their heart (Ezekiel 14:5). This is because the thought in idolatry is the primary sin, for this is a matter dependent on the belief of the heart, and all the actions such as burning incense, slaughtering, pouring libations, and bowing down are all secondary to the thought. And so at the beginning of the Sefer Mitzvot Gadol [SeMaG], [it states] “not to entertain the thought that there is another god, etc.” Therefore, it places the burnt offering before the sin offering in order to remove the greater sin first, which is the thought for which the burnt offering comes, as it is said, And what comes up upon Your spirit (Ezekiel 20:32), and afterward [to remove] the lesser [sin], which is the action.
Therefore, sin offering [חטת] is written without an aleph, because the aleph, being the first letter and its numerical value being one, indicates in every place the oneness of the First of all created things, blessed be He. And this person who sins through idolatry denies His oneness, blessed be He, and “there is no God in all his thoughts.” Therefore, the aleph is missing in חטת to indicate that the lack of the aleph constitutes his sin, for it speaks of idolatry.
And in this matter, the Lord is distinguished from all His creations, for they all [operate] in two [stages], in thought and in deed, but of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is said, But He is one, and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, He does (Job 23:13). For as soon as the Lord considers doing something, it is immediately done as His soul desired and as He thought to do it.
I say that since this sin refers to idolatry, as it is said, if you err and do not observe all these commandments — this refers to idolatry, for one who acknowledges it denies the entire Torah. In every transgression, a person sins both in thought and in deed, because every action is preceded by thought — for if one acts without any intention at all, this is not called unintentional [shogeg] but rather accidental [ones]. Therefore, every sinner needs to bring two atonements: the burnt offering for the thoughts of the heart, and the sin offering for the sin of action.
Although every thought precedes action, nevertheless the action is more severe than the thought. For the Holy One, blessed be He, never punishes for thought unless the thought was actualized, as it is written, Had I seen iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have heard (Psalms 66:18). Even though He also does not punish for an action when it is done without any thought or intention at all, nevertheless the action is the primary sin. Therefore, one first brings a sin offering to remove the greater sin first, and afterward a burnt offering to remove the sin of thought.
The exception is idolatry, of which it is said, in order to seize the house of Israel by their heart (Ezekiel 14:5). This is because the thought in idolatry is the primary sin, for this is a matter dependent on the belief of the heart, and all the actions such as burning incense, slaughtering, pouring libations, and bowing down are all secondary to the thought. And so at the beginning of the Sefer Mitzvot Gadol [SeMaG], [it states] “not to entertain the thought that there is another god, etc.” Therefore, it places the burnt offering before the sin offering in order to remove the greater sin first, which is the thought for which the burnt offering comes, as it is said, And what comes up upon Your spirit (Ezekiel 20:32), and afterward [to remove] the lesser [sin], which is the action.
Therefore, sin offering [חטת] is written without an aleph, because the aleph, being the first letter and its numerical value being one, indicates in every place the oneness of the First of all created things, blessed be He. And this person who sins through idolatry denies His oneness, blessed be He, and “there is no God in all his thoughts.” Therefore, the aleph is missing in חטת to indicate that the lack of the aleph constitutes his sin, for it speaks of idolatry.
And in this matter, the Lord is distinguished from all His creations, for they all [operate] in two [stages], in thought and in deed, but of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is said, But He is one, and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, He does (Job 23:13). For as soon as the Lord considers doing something, it is immediately done as His soul desired and as He thought to do it.
Siftei Chakhamim
And ruled that one of the forms of service. The Torah writes in Parshas Vayikra (4:13) “a matter was hidden” which implies that only one aspect was hidden, but not the entire matter. They knew that it was forbidden to worship idols, only they did not know that this [particular] form of service was a forbidden. Alternatively we learn a gezeirah shavah (scriptural comparison) between the word דבר (matter) here and דבר in the verse “if a matter is hidden from you…” (Devarim 17:8), which implies “and not the entire matter.”
Rav Hirsch
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לחטת — This lacks the א usually found in it, to indicate that it is not like other חטאות, sin-offerings; for in the case of all sin offerings mentioned in the Torah that are to be brought together with a burnt offering, the sin-offering precedes the burnt offering (i.e. is offered first), since it is said, (Leviticus 5:10) “And the second animal shall he make as a burnt offering,” whilst in this case the burnt offering precedes the sin-offering (Horayot 13a).