4:13 “‘If the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally 4 and the matter is not noticed by 5 the assembly, and they violate one of the Lord’s commandments, which must not be violated, 6 so they become guilty,
4:22 “‘Whenever 7 a leader, by straying unintentionally, 8 sins and violates one of the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be violated, 9 and he pleads guilty,
4:27 “‘If an ordinary individual 10 sins by straying unintentionally 11 when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, 12 and he pleads guilty
5:17 “If a person sins and violates any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated 13 (although he did not know it at the time, 14 but later realizes he is guilty), then he will bear his punishment for iniquity 15
1 tn Heb “And a person, when he sins in straying.” The English translation of “by straying” (בִּשְׁגָגָה [bishgagah] literally, “in going astray; in making an error”) varies greatly, but almost all suggest that this term refers to sins that were committed by mistake or done not knowing that the particular act was sinful (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:228-29). See, e.g., LXX “involuntarily”; Tg. Onq. “by neglect”; KJV “through ignorance”; ASV, RSV, NJPS “unwittingly”; NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “unintentionally”; NAB, NEB “inadvertently”; NCV “by accident.” However, we know from Num 15:27-31 that committing a sin “by straying” is the opposite of committing a sin “defiantly” (i.e., בְּיַד רָמָה [bÿyad ramah] “with a raised hand,” v. 30). In the latter case the person, as it were, raises his fist in presumptuous defiance against the
2 tn This is an emphatic use of the preposition מִן (min; see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 56-57, §325).
3 tn The “when” clause (כִּי, ki) breaks off here before its resolution, thus creating an open-ended introduction to the following subsections, which are introduced by “if” (אִם [’im] vv. 3, 13, 27, 32). Also, the last part of the verse reads literally, “which must not be done and does from one from them.”
4 tn Heb “strays”; KJV “sin through ignorance.” The verb “strays” here is the verbal form of the noun in the expression “by straying” (see the note on Lev 4:2 above).
5 tn Heb “is concealed from the eyes of”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “escapes the notice of.”
6 tn Heb “and they do one from all the commandments of the
7 tn This section begins with the relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר (’asher) which usually means “who” or “which,” but here means “whenever.”
8 tn See the Lev 4:2 note on “straying.”
9 tn Heb “and does one from all the commandments of the
10 tn Heb “an individual from the people of the land”; cf. NASB “anyone of the common people” (KJV, ASV both similar); NAB “a private person.”
11 tn Heb “If one person sins by straying, from the people of the land.” See Lev 4:2 for a note on “straying.”
12 tn Heb “by doing it, one from the commandments of the
13 tn Heb “and does one from all of the commandments of the
14 tn The words “at the time” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
15 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
16 tn Heb “to not do from the statutes of the detestable acts.”
17 tn Heb “and you will not.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.