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Leviticus 5

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Cases Requiring a Sin Offering 1–6

1
And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity. ​
2
Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty. ​
3
Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.
4
Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these. ​
5
And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing: ​
6
And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.

Graduated Offerings for the Poor 7–13

7
And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. ​
8
And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder:
9
And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering.
10
And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.
11
But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering. ​
12
Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: it is a sin offering.
13
And the priest shall make an atonement for him as touching his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the priest's, as a meat offering.

The Trespass Offering 14–19

14
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ​
15
If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering: ​
16
And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him. ​
17
And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. ​
18
And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him.
19
It is a trespass offering: he hath certainly trespassed against the LORD.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Leviticus 5

Verse 1

the voice of swearing — Alah is an oath that carries a curse, here a public adjuration summoning witnesses. One who saw or knew and ‘do not utter it’ (nagad, to declare) ‘shall bear his iniquity’. The high priest laid the same kind of oath on Christ: ‘I adjure thee by the living God’ (Matt 26:63).

Verse 2

a carcase of an unclean beast — Beast, cattle and creeping thing (sherets, the swarming kind, Lev 11:29) are the unclean creatures of Lev 11, whose carcase ‘shall be unclean until the even’ (Lev 11:24). ‘Hidden’ is alam, concealed from his knowledge; the uncleanness stands, and the guilt follows when he learns of it.

Verse 4

pronouncing with his lips — Bata, to speak rashly. It occurs in only three verses: here, Ps 106:33 (‘he spake unadvisedly with his lips’) and Prov 12:18. The oath, ‘to do evil, or to do good’, is spoken without thought, forgotten, and brings guilt ‘when he knoweth of it’.

Verse 5

he shall confess — Yadah, to acknowledge. The same verb is used when Aaron confesses ‘all the iniquities of the children of Israel’ over the live goat (Lev 16:21), and in Lev 26:40. Confession comes before the offering of v.6: ‘whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy’ (Prov 28:13).

Verse 7

two turtledoves, or two young pigeons — For one ‘not able’ (literally, whose hand does not reach enough) to bring a lamb, one bird is the sin offering and one the burnt offering. Mary brought ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons’ after the birth of Christ (Luke 2:24), as Lev 12:8 allows the poor.

Verse 11

no oil… neither… frankincense — This is the last step down: a tenth of an ephah of fine flour (soleth), and it is still ‘a sin offering’. The grain offering of Lev 2:1 has ‘oil… and frankincense’; here both are withheld. It is the exception to ‘almost all things are by the law purged with blood’ (Heb 9:22).

Verse 14

the LORD spake unto Moses — A new address begins. Vv.1–13 set out the sin offering for named failings; from v.15 comes the trespass offering (asham) for wrong done in the LORD’s holy things. The same opening formula introduces the trespass against a neighbour in Lev 6:1–7.

Verse 15

a trespass… in the holy things — Ma’al is a breach of faith, here committed ‘through ignorance’ (shegagah, an inadvertence). The offering is a ram without blemish, valued ‘by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary’, the standard of Ex 30:13.

Verse 16

add the fifth part thereto — Restitution comes first, with a fifth added and given to the priest; the same rule meets one who eats ‘of the holy thing unwittingly’ (Lev 22:14) and the false oath of Lev 6:5. Then the priest ‘make an atonement’ (kaphar, to cover) with the ram, ‘and it shall be forgiven him’ (salach).

Verse 17

though he wist it not — The case is a commandment broken unknowingly, as in Lev 4:2 (‘sin through ignorance’), and still ‘yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity’, as in v.1. The prayer of David has the same reach: ‘Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults’ (Ps 19:12).