Introduction to Leviticus 5
Concerning witnesses who, being adjured, refuse to tell the truth, Lev_5:1. Of those who contract defilement by touching unclean things or persons, Lev_5:2, Lev_5:3. Of those who bind themselves by vows or oaths, and do not fulfill them, Lev_5:4, Lev_5:5. The trespass-offering prescribed in such cases, a lamb or a kid, Lev_5:6; a turtle-dove or two young pigeons, Lev_5:7-10; or an ephah of fine flour with oil and frankincense, Lev_5:11-13. Other laws relative to trespasses, through ignorance in holy things, Lev_5:14-16. Of trespasses in things unknown, Lev_5:17-19.
Lev 5:1 And if a soul sins and hears the voice of swearing, and is a witness, and he has seen or known, if he does not tell it, then he shall bear his iniquity.
Swearing - Adjuration. The case appears to not be of profane swearing, and taking the name of God in vain, but instead, of false swearing, or perjury, that of one who has been put upon his oath as a witness by a magistrate, and fails to utter all he has seen and heard. See Proverbs 29:24 He who shares with a thief hates his own soul; he hears an oath and does not tell Numbers 5:21 (then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), "the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people by the LORD'S making your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell;
There follow here three special examples of sin on the part of the common Israelite, all sins of omission and rashness of a lighter kind than the cases mentioned in Lev_4:27
1) Lev_5:1, when any one had heard the voice of an oath (an oath spoken aloud) and was a witness, was in a condition to give evidence, whether he had seen what took place or had learned it. In this case, if he did not make it known, he was to bear guilt, which he had contracted by omitting to make it known.
2) The second was Lev_5:2-3, if any one had touched the carcase of an unclean beast, or cattle, or creeping thing, or the uncleanness of a man of any kind, if he had unconsciously defiled himself by touching unclean objects, and had consequently neglected the purification prescribed for such cases.
3) The third was Lev_5:4, if any one should swear in idle, empty words of the lips, - “to do good or evil,” that he would do anything whatever (Num_24:13; Isa_41:23). Rash swearing, that a man will do or not do such a thing. If he did not reflect that he might commit sin by such thoughtless swearing, and if he perceived it afterwards and discovered his sin, and had incurred guilt with regard to one of the things which he had thoughtlessly sworn.
Lev 5:2 Or if a soul touches any unclean thing, whether a dead body of an unclean beast, or a dead body of unclean cattle, or the dead body of unclean swarming things, and if it is hidden from him that he is unclean and guilty--
Hid from him - Either through forgetfulness or indifference, so that purification had been neglected. A person who, unknown to himself at the time, came in contact with any thing unclean, and either neglected the requisite ceremonies of purification or engaged in the services of religion while under the taint of ceremonial defilement. In such a case there had been a guilty negligence, and a sin-offering was required. If he do it unawares, yet that would not excuse him, because he should have been more circumspect to avoid all unclean things. Hereby God designed to awaken men to watchfulness against, and repentance for, their unknown, or unobserved sins
Lev 5:3 or if he touches the uncleanness of man, whatever uncleanness by which he is unclean, and it is hidden from him, and he knows, then he shall be guilty.
Lev 5:4 Or if a soul swears, pronouncing with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man speaks rashly with an oath, and it is hidden from him, and he knows, then he shall be guilty of one of these.
Pronouncing - Idly speaking Psalms 106:33 because they provoked his spirit so that he spoke rashly with his lips. The reference is to an oath to do something uttered in recklessness or passion and forgotten as soon as uttered. It is very likely that rash promises are here intended; for if a man vow to do an act that is evil, though it would be criminal to keep such an oath or vow, yet he is guilty because he made it, and therefore must offer the trespass-offering. If he neglect to do the good he has vowed, he is guilty, and must in both cases confess his iniquity, and bring his trespass-offering. Rashly, without consideration either of God's law, or his own power or right, as David did, 1Sa_25:22.
pronouncing with his lips; not in his heart
Lev 5:5 And it shall be when he is guilty in one of these, he shall confess that in which he has sinned.
He shall confess that he hath sinned - Even restitution was not sufficient without this confession, because a man might make restitution without being much humbled; but the confession of sin has a direct tendency to humble the soul, and hence it is so frequently required in the Holy Scriptures.
In one of these things - In one of the three forementioned cases, either by sinful silence, or by an unclean touch, or by rash swearing.
Lev 5:6 And he shall bring his trespass offering to Jehovah for his sin which he has sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a doe of the goats, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin.
Lev 5:7 And if his hand cannot reach to a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass which he has committed, two turtle-doves or two young pigeons to Jehovah-- one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.
Provision is here made for the poor of God's people, and the pacifying of their consciences under the sense of guilt. The expense of the sin-offering was brought lower than that of any other offering, to teach us that no man's poverty shall ever be a bar in the way of his pardon. Thus the poor are evangelized; and no man shall say that he had not wherewithal to bear the charges of a journey to heaven. If he brought fine flour, a handful of it was to be offered, but without either oil or frankincense (Lev_5:11), not only because this would make it too costly for the poor, for whose comfort this sacrifice was appointed, but because it was a sin-offering, and therefore, to show the loathsomeness of the sin for which it was offered, it must not be made grateful either to the taste by oil or to the smell by frankincense.
Lev 5:8 And he shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer for the sin offering first, and shall wring off its head from its neck, but shall not divide it.
Lev 5:9 And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be drained at the bottom of the altar. It is a sin offering.
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Lev 5:11 But if he is not able to bring two turtle-doves, 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 on it, neither shall he put frankincense on it. For it is a sin offering.
If he brought fine flour, a handful of it was to be offered, but without either oil or frankincense not only because this would make it too costly for the poor, for whose comfort this sacrifice was appointed, but because it was a sin-offering, and therefore, to show the loathsomeness of the sin for which it was offered, it must not be made grateful either to the taste by oil or to the smell by frankincense.
tenth part of an ephah. - “the tenth deal;” probably less than half a gallon, about three quarts. The ephah contained a little more than seven gallons and a half. This is called an omer, Exo_16:36 and is as much as a man can eat in one day.
But if he be not able to bring two - Which is supposing a man to be in the poorest circumstances he can well be; and such is the grace and goodness of God, that he has provided for the atonement and forgiveness of the poorest, as well as of the rich:
He shall put no oil, neither frankincense - for it is a sin offering, and therefore must not be honored or must have everything removed from it that is beautiful and amiable.
Lev 5:12 And he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his full handful of it, a memorial of it, and burn it on the altar, on the fire offering to Jehovah. It is a sin offering.
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The trespass-offerings as they are described in this section and in Lev_7:1-7, are clearly distinguished from the ordinary sin-offerings in these particulars:
(1) They were offered on account of offences which involved an injury to some person (it might be the Lord Himself) in respect to property. See Lev_5:16; Lev_6:4-5.
(2) they were always accompanied by a pecuniary fine equal to the value of the injury done, with the addition of one-fifth. Compare Num_5:5-8.
(3) the treatment of the blood was more simple. Compare Lev_4:5.
(4) the victim was a ram, instead of a female sheep or goat.
(5) there was no such graduation of offerings to suit the rank or circumstances of the worshipper as is set forth in Lev_4:3, Lev_4:32, etc.
Lev 5:15 If a soul commits a trespass and sins through ignorance in the holy things of Jehovah, then he shall bring for his trespass to Jehovah a ram without blemish out of the flock, together with an amount set by you, by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering.
Commit a trespass - Rather, here and in Lev_6:2, perpetrate a wrong. The word is different from that rendered trespass elsewhere in these chapters.
In the holy things of the Lord - This law seems to relate particularly to sacrilege, and defrauds in spiritual matters; such as the neglect to consecrate or redeem the firstborn, the withholding of the first-fruits, tithes, and such like; and, according to the rabbins, making any secular gain of Divine things, keeping back any part of the price of things dedicated to God, or withholding what man had vowed to pay. Compare Num_5:6-8.
With thy estimation - The wrong done or the defraud committed should be estimated at the number of shekels it was worth, or for which it would sell. These the defrauder was to pay down, to which he was to add a fifth part more, and bring a ram without blemish for a sin-offering besides.
Sins through ignorance - For if a man did it knowingly, he was to be cut off, Numbers 15:29-30 And you shall have one law for him who acts through ignorance; for him that is native among the sons of
Lev 5:16 And he shall make it good in which he has sinned, in the holy thing, and he shall add the fifth part of it, and give it to the priest. And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.
Lev 5:17 And if a soul sins, and he has done that which ought not to be done, any one from all the commands of Jehovah, and does not know, and he is guilty and bears his iniquity;
And does not know - Ignorance of the Law, or even of the consequences of the act at the time that it was committed, was not to excuse him from the obligation to offer the sacrifice. Yet he is guilty, and shall bear the iniquity; be chargeable with guilt, and is liable to punishment, and must make an atonement and satisfaction for it; see Luke
if a soul sin --This also refers to holy things, and it differs from the preceding in being one of the doubtful cases,--that is, where conscience suspects, though the understanding be in doubt whether criminality or sin has been committed. The Jewish rabbis give, as an example, the case of a person who, knowing that "the fat of the inwards" is not to be eaten, religiously abstained from the use of it; but should a dish happen to have been at table in which he had reason to suspect some portion of that meat was intermingled, and he had, inadvertently, partaken of that unlawful viand, he was bound to bring a ram as a trespass offering. These provisions were all designed to impress the conscience with the sense of responsibility to God and keep alive on the hearts of the people a salutary fear of doing any secret wrong.
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