Leviticus 22:14

22:14 “‘If a man eats a holy offering by mistake, ¹  he must add one fifth to it and give the holy offering to the priest. ² 

Leviticus 4:2

4:2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘When a person sins by straying unintentionally ³  from any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, and violates any ⁴  one of them ⁵  –

Leviticus 4:22

For the Leader

4:22 “‘Whenever ⁶  a leader, by straying unintentionally, ⁷  sins and violates one of the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be violated, ⁸  and he pleads guilty,

Leviticus 4:27

For the Common Person

4:27 “‘If an ordinary individual ⁹  sins by straying unintentionally ¹⁰  when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, ¹¹  and he pleads guilty

Leviticus 5:15

5:15 “When a person commits a trespass ¹²  and sins by straying unintentionally ¹³  from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, ¹⁴  then he must bring his penalty for guilt ¹⁵  to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, ¹⁶  for a guilt offering. ¹⁷ 

Leviticus 5:18

5:18 and must bring a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, ¹⁸  for a guilt offering to the priest. So the priest will make atonement ¹⁹  on his behalf for his error which he committed ²⁰  (although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven. ²¹ 

[22:14]  ¹ tn Heb “And a man, if he eats a holy thing in error” (see the Lev 4:2 not on “straying,” which is the term rendered “by mistake” here).

[22:14]  ² sn When a person trespassed in regard to something sacred to the Lord, reparation was to be made for the trespass, involving restitution of that which was violated plus one fifth of its value as a fine. It is possible that the restoration of the offering and the additional one fifth of its value were made as a monetary payment (see, e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 150). See the regulations for the “guilt offering” in Lev 5:16; 6:5 [5:24 HT] and the notes there.

[4:2]  ³ 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 Lord. Thus, he “blasphemes” the Lord and has “despised” his word, for which he should be “cut off from among his people” (Num 15:30-31). One could not bring an offering for such a sin. The expression here in Lev 4:2 combines “by straying” with the preposition “from” which fits naturally with “straying” (i.e., “straying from” the Lord’s commandments). For sins committed “by straying” from the commandments (Lev 4 throughout) or other types of transgressions (Lev 5:1-6) there was indeed forgiveness available through the sin offering. See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:94-95.

[4:2]  ⁴ tn This is an emphatic use of the preposition מִן (min; see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 56-57, §325).

[4:2]  ⁵ 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.”

[4:22]  ⁵ tn This section begins with the relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר (’asher) which usually means “who” or “which,” but here means “whenever.”

[4:22]  ⁶ tn See the Lev 4:2 note on “straying.”

[4:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “and does one from all the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be done”; cf. NRSV “ought not to be done”; NIV “does what is forbidden in any of the commands.”

[4:27]  ⁷ 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.”

[4:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “If one person sins by straying, from the people of the land.” See Lev 4:2 for a note on “straying.”

[4:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “by doing it, one from the commandments of the Lord which must not be done.”

[5:15]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”

[5:15]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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.

[5:18]  ¹¹ tn The statement here is condensed. See the full expression in 5:15 and the note there.

[5:18]  ¹² sn Regarding “make atonement” see the note on Lev 1:4.

[5:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “on his straying which he strayed.” See the note on Lev 4:2.

[5:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV and NASB both similar).