Leviticus 5:1

Additional Sin Offering Regulations

5:1 “‘When a person sins ¹  in that he hears a public curse against one who fails to testify ²  and he is a witness (he either saw or knew what had happened ³ ) and he does not make it known, ⁴  then he will bear his punishment for iniquity. ⁵ 

Leviticus 5:15

5:15 “When a person commits a trespass ⁶  and sins by straying unintentionally ⁷  from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, ⁸  then he must bring his penalty for guilt ⁹  to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, ¹⁰  for a guilt offering. ¹¹ 

Leviticus 5:17

Unknown trespass

5:17 “If a person sins and violates any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated ¹²  (although he did not know it at the time, ¹³  but later realizes he is guilty), then he will bear his punishment for iniquity ¹⁴ 

Leviticus 6:4

6:4 when it happens that he sins and he is found guilty, ¹⁵  then he must return whatever he had stolen, or whatever he had extorted, or the thing that he had held in trust, ¹⁶  or the lost thing that he had found,

Leviticus 16:16

16:16 So ¹⁷  he is to make atonement for the holy place from the impurities of the Israelites and from their transgressions with regard to all their sins, ¹⁸  and thus he is to do for the Meeting Tent which resides with them in the midst of their impurities.

Leviticus 16:21

16:21 Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, ¹⁹  and thus he is to put them ²⁰  on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready. ²¹ 

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¹ tn Heb “And a person when he sins.” Most English versions translate this as the protasis of a conditional clause: “if a person sins” (NASB, NIV).

sn The same expression occurs in Lev 4:2 where it introduces sins done “by straying unintentionally from any of the commandments of the Lord which must not be done” (see the notes there). Lev 5:1-13 is an additional section of sin offering regulations directed at violations other than those referred to by this expression in Lev 4:2 (see esp. 5:1-6), and expanding on the offering regulations for the common person in Lev 4:27-35 with concessions to the poor common person (5:7-13).

² tn The words “against one who fails to testify” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied to make sense of the remark about the “curse” (“imprecation” or “oath”; cf. ASV “adjuration”; NIV “public charge”) for the modern reader. For the interpretation of this verse reflected in the present translation see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:292-97.

³ tn The words “what had happened” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

⁴ tn Heb “and hears a voice of curse, and he is a witness or he saw or he knew, if he does not declare.”

⁵ tn Heb “and he shall bear his iniquity.” The rendering “bear the punishment (for the iniquity)” reflects the use of the word “iniquity” to refer to the punishment for iniquity (cf. NRSV, NLT “subject to punishment”). It is sometimes referred to as the consequential use of the term (cf. Lev 5:17; 7:18; 10:17; etc.).

⁶ tn Heb “trespasses a trespass” (verb and direct object from the same Hebrew root, מַעַל, ma’al); cf. NIV “commits a violation.” The word refers to some kind of overstepping of the boundary between that which is common (i.e., available for common use by common people) and that which is holy (i.e., to be used only for holy purposes because it has been consecrated to the Lord, see further below). See the note on Lev 10:10.

⁷ tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”

⁸ sn Heb “from the holy things of the Lord.” The Hebrew expression here has the same structure as Lev 4:2, “from any of the commandments of the Lord.” The latter introduces the sin offering regulations and the former the guilt offering regulations. The sin offering deals with violations of “any of the commandments,” whereas the guilt offering focuses specifically on violations of regulations regarding “holy things” (i.e., things that have been consecrated to the Lord; see the full discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:320-27).

⁹ tn Here the word for “guilt” (אָשָׁם, ’asham) refers to the “penalty” for incurring guilt, the so-called consequential use of אָשָׁם (’asham; see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:303).

¹⁰ tn Heb “in your valuation, silver of shekels, in the shekel of the sanctuary.” The translation offered here suggests that, instead of a ram, the guilt offering could be presented in the form of money (see, e.g., NRSV; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:326-27). Others still maintain the view that it refers to the value of the ram that was offered (see, e.g., NIV “of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel”; also NAB, NLT; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 72-73, 81).

sn The sanctuary shekel was about 10 grams (= ca. two fifths of an ounce; J. E. Shepherd, NIDOTTE 4:237-38).

¹¹ tn The word for “guilt offering” (sometimes translated “reparation offering”) is the same as “guilt” earlier in the verse (rendered there “[penalty for] guilt”). One can tell which is intended only by the context.

sn The primary purpose of the guilt offering was to “atone” (see the note on Lev 1:4 above) for “trespassing” on the Lord’s “holy things” (see later in this verse) or the property of others in the community (Lev 6:1-7 [5:20-26 HT]; 19:20-22; Num 5:5-10). It was closely associated with reconsecration of the Lord’s sacred things or his sacred people (see, e.g., Lev 14:12-18; Num 6:11b-12). Moreover, there was usually an associated reparation made for the trespass, including restitution of that which was violated plus one fifth of its value as a fine (Lev 5:16; 6:5 [5:24 HT]). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:557-66.

¹² tn Heb “and does one from all of the commandments of the Lord which must not be done.”

¹³ tn The words “at the time” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

¹⁴ tn Heb “and he did not know, and he shall be guilty and he shall bear his iniquity” (for the rendering “bear his punishment [for iniquity]”) see the note on Lev 5:1.) This portion of v. 17 is especially difficult. The translation offered here suggests (as in many other English versions) that the offender did not originally know that he had violated the Lord’s commandments, but then came to know it and dealt with it accordingly (cf. the corresponding sin offering section in Lev 5:1-4). Another possibility is that it refers to a situation where a person suspects that he violated something although he does not recollect it. Thus, he brings a guilt offering for his suspected violation (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:331-34, 361-63). See also R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:561-62.

¹⁵ tn Heb “and it shall happen, when he sins and becomes guilty,” which is both resumptive of the previous (vv. 2-3) and the conclusion to the protasis (cf. “then” introducing the next clause as the apodosis). In this case, “becomes guilty” (cf. NASB, NIV) probably refers to his legal status as one who has been convicted of a crime in court; thus the translation “he is found guilty.” See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:559-61.

¹⁶ tn Heb “that had been held in trust with him.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative or even inferential force here.

¹⁸ tn Heb “to all their sins.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “transgressions to all their sins.”

²⁰ tn Heb “and he shall give them.”

²¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term עִתִּי (’itti) is uncertain. It is apparently related to עֵת (’et, “time”), and could perhaps mean either that he has been properly “appointed” (i.e., designated) for the task (e.g., NIV and NRSV) or “ready” (e.g., NASB and NEB).