Leviticus 5:15-18

5:15 “When a person commits a trespass ¹  and sins by straying unintentionally ²  from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, ³  then he must bring his penalty for guilt ⁴  to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, ⁵  for a guilt offering. ⁶  5:16 And whatever holy thing he violated ⁷  he must restore and must add one fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest will make atonement ⁸  on his behalf with the guilt offering ram and he will be forgiven.” ⁹ 

Unknown trespass

5:17 “If a person sins and violates any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated ¹⁰  (although he did not know it at the time, ¹¹  but later realizes he is guilty), then he will bear his punishment for iniquity ¹²  5:18 and must bring a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, ¹³  for a guilt offering to the priest. So the priest will make atonement ¹⁴  on his behalf for his error which he committed ¹⁵  (although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ 

Leviticus 7:7

7:7 The law is the same for the sin offering and the guilt offering; ¹⁷  it belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it.

Numbers 5:8-10

5:8 But if the individual has no close relative ¹⁸  to whom reparation can be made for the wrong, the reparation for the wrong must be paid to the Lord ¹⁹  for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement by which atonement is made for him. 5:9 Every offering ²⁰  of all the Israelites’ holy things that they bring to the priest will be his. 5:10 Every man’s holy things ²¹  will be his; whatever any man gives the priest will be his.’”

Numbers 18:8-9

The Portion of the Priests

18:8 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion ²²  and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance. 18:9 Of all the most holy offerings reserved ²³  from the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs, whether from every grain offering or from every purification offering or from every reparation offering which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for your sons.

Hosea 4:8

4:8 They feed on the sin offerings of my people;

their appetites long for their iniquity!

[5:15]  ¹ 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.

[5:15]  ² tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”

[5:15]  ³ 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).

[5:15]  ⁴ 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).

[5:15]  ⁵ 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).

[5:15]  ⁶ 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.

[5:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “and which he sinned from the holy thing.”

[5:16]  ⁸ sn Regarding “make atonement” see the note on Lev 1:4.

[5:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

[5:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and does one from all of the commandments of the Lord which must not be done.”

[5:17]  ¹¹ tn The words “at the time” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[5:17]  ¹² 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.

[5:18]  ¹³ tn The statement here is condensed. See the full expression in 5:15 and the note there.

[5:18]  ¹⁴ sn Regarding “make atonement” see the note on Lev 1:4.

[5:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “on his straying which he strayed.” See the note on Lev 4:2.

[5:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV and NASB both similar).

[7:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “like the sin offering like the guilt offering, one law to them.”

[5:8]  ¹⁸ sn For more information on the word, see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of גאל,” VTSup 1 (1953): 67-77.

[5:8]  ¹⁹ tc The editors of BHS prefer to follow the Greek, Syriac, and Latin and not read “for the Lord” here, but read a form of the verb “to be” instead. But the text makes more sense as it stands: The payment is to be made to the Lord for the benefit of the priests.

[5:9]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew word תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah) seems to be a general word for any offering that goes to the priests (see J. Milgrom, Studies in Cultic Theology and Terminology [SJLA 36], 159-72).

[5:10]  ²¹ sn The “holy gifts” are described with the root of קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh) to convey that they were separate. Such things had been taken out of the ordinary and normal activities of life.

[18:8]  ²² tn This is an uncommon root. It may be connected to the word “anoint” as here (see RSV). But it may also be seen as an intended parallel to “perpetual due” (see Gen 47:22; Exod 29:28; Lev 6:11 [HT]).

[18:9]  ²³ tn Heb “from the fire.” It probably refers to those parts that were not burned.