Leviticus 5:2

5:2 Or when there is ¹  a person who touches anything ceremonially ²  unclean, whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal, or the carcass of an unclean domesticated animal, or the carcass of an unclean creeping thing, even if he did not realize it, ³  but he himself has become unclean and is guilty; ⁴ 

Leviticus 5:4

5:4 or when a person swears an oath, speaking thoughtlessly ⁵  with his lips, whether to do evil or to do good, with regard to anything which the individual might speak thoughtlessly in an oath, even if he did not realize it, but he himself has later come to know it and is guilty with regard to one of these oaths ⁶  –

Leviticus 5:18

5:18 and must bring a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, ⁷  for a guilt offering to the priest. So the priest will make atonement ⁸  on his behalf for his error which he committed ⁹  (although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven. ¹⁰ 

Leviticus 19:20

Lying with a Slave Woman

19:20 “‘When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, ¹¹  although she is a slave woman designated for another man and she has not yet been ransomed, or freedom has not been granted to her, there will be an obligation to pay compensation. ¹²  They must not be put to death, because she was not free.

Leviticus 22:4

22:4 No man ¹³  from the descendants of Aaron who is diseased or has a discharge ¹⁴  may eat the holy offerings until he becomes clean. The one ¹⁵  who touches anything made unclean by contact with a dead person, ¹⁶  or a man who has a seminal emission, ¹⁷ 

[5:2]  ¹ tc The insertion of the words “when there is” is a reflection of the few Hebrew mss, Smr, and LXX that have כִּי (ki, “when, if”; cf. vv. 3 and esp. 4) rather than the MT’s אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “who”). Many English versions render this as a conditional clause (“if”).

[5:2]  ² tn The word “ceremonially” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the uncleanness involved is ritual or ceremonial in nature.

[5:2]  ³ tn Heb “and it is hidden from him,” meaning that the person who contracted the ceremonial uncleanness was not aware at the time what had happened, but later found out that he had become ceremonially unclean. This same phrase occurs again in both vv. 3 and 4.

[5:2]  ⁴ sn Lev 5:2-3 are parallel laws of uncleanness (contracted from animals and people, respectively), and both seem to assume that the contraction of uncleanness was originally unknown to the person (vv. 2 and 3) but became known to him or her at a later time (v. 3; i.e., “has come to know” in v. 3 is to be assumed for v. 2 as well). Uncleanness itself did not make a person “guilty” unless he or she failed to handle it according to the normal purification regulations (see, e.g., “wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening,” Lev 15:5 NIV; cf. Lev 11:39-40; 15:5-12, 16-24; Num 19, etc.). The problem here in Lev 5:2-3 is that, because the person had not been aware of his or her uncleanness, he or she had incurred guilt for not carrying out these regular procedures, and it would now be too late for that. Thus, the unclean person needs to bring a sin offering to atone for the contamination caused by his or her neglect of the purity regulations.

[5:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “to speak thoughtlessly”; cf. NAB “rashly utters an oath.”

[5:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and is guilty to one from these,” probably referring here to any of “these” things about which one might swear a thoughtless oath (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 45), with the word “oath” supplied in the translation for clarity. Another possibility is that “to one from these” is a dittography from v. 5 (cf. the note on v. 5a), and that v. 4 ends with “and is guilty” like vv. 2 and 3 (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:300).

[5:18]  ⁹ tn The statement here is condensed. See the full expression in 5:15 and the note there.

[5:18]  ¹⁰ sn Regarding “make atonement” see the note on Lev 1:4.

[5:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “on his straying which he strayed.” See the note on Lev 4:2.

[5:18]  ¹² tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV and NASB both similar).

[19:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “And a man when he lies with a woman the lying of seed.”

[19:20]  ¹⁴ sn That is, the woman had previously been assigned for marriage to another man but the marriage deal had not yet been consummated. In the meantime, the woman has lost her virginity and has, therefore, lost part of her value to the master in the sale to the man for whom she had been designated. Compensation was, therefore, required (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 130-31).

[22:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Man man.” The reduplication is a way of saying “any man” (cf. Lev 15:2; 17:3, etc.), but with a negative command it means “No man” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 147).

[22:4]  ¹⁸ sn The diseases and discharges mentioned here are those described in Lev 13-15.

[22:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “And the one.”

[22:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in all unclean of a person/soul”; for the Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) meaning “a [dead] person,” see the note on Lev 19:28.

[22:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “or a man who goes out from him a lying of seed.”