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Leviticus 5

1“If a person sins by hearing a summons under oath to testify and, although they are a witness who has seen or knows something, they do not report it, they will bear their guilt. 2Or if a person touches anything unclean—the carcass of an unclean wild animal, the carcass of an unclean domestic animal, or the carcass of an unclean swarming creature—even though it escapes their notice, they are unclean and incur guilt. 3Or if they touch human uncleanness, whatever uncleanness makes a person unclean, and it escapes their notice, but afterward they become aware of it, they incur guilt. 4Or if a person rashly swears with their lips to do harm or good, whatever a person might rashly swear, and it escapes their notice, but afterward they become aware of it, they incur guilt in one of these matters. 5When a person incurs guilt in one of these matters, they must confess the sin they committed. 6They must bring to Yahweh, as the penalty for the sin they committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, as a purification offering. The priest will make atonement for them for their sin.

7“If they cannot afford an animal from the flock, they must bring to Yahweh as the penalty for the sin they committed two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering. 8They must bring them to the priest, who must present the one for the purification offering first. He must wring its head at the back of its neck without severing it. 9He must sprinkle some of the blood of the purification offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood must be drained at the base of the altar. It is a purification offering. 10He must prepare the second as a burnt offering according to the prescribed procedure. The priest will make atonement for that person for the sin they committed, and they will be forgiven.

11“If they cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, they must bring as their offering for the sin they committed a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a purification offering. They must not put oil on it or add frankincense to it, because it is a purification offering. 12They must bring it to the priest. The priest must scoop out a full handful of it as its memorial portion and burn it as an offering on the altar, on Yahweh’s offerings by fire. It is a purification offering. 13The priest will make atonement for that person for the sin they committed in any of these matters, and they will be forgiven. The remainder will belong to the priest, as with the grain offering.”

14Yahweh spoke to Moses: 15“If a person acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally regarding Yahweh’s holy things, they must bring to Yahweh as their penalty a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation in silver shekels by the sanctuary shekel, as a reparation offering. 16They must make restitution for their offense against the holy things, adding a fifth of its value, and give it to the priest. The priest will make atonement for them with the ram of the reparation offering, and they will be forgiven.

17“If a person sins by doing any of the things Yahweh has commanded must not be done, even without knowing it, they incur guilt and will bear their guilt. 18They must bring to the priest a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation, as a reparation offering. The priest will make atonement for them for the error they committed without knowing it, and they will be forgiven. 19It is a reparation offering; they have certainly incurred guilt against Yahweh.”

Translation notes 10

5:1 — Summons under oath. The expression literally involves hearing “a voice of an oath” or “a curse.” In this legal setting it concerns a public call to provide evidence, backed by an oath or curse. The witness is accountable for withholding what they have seen or know.

5:1 — Bear their guilt. This can include bearing the consequences of wrongdoing. It is an assertion of liability, rather than a description of feeling guilty. The expression also occurs in 5:17 and 7:18.

5:2–4 — Escapes their notice. These cases distinguish uncleanness, awareness, and incurred guilt. Being ritually unclean is not itself equivalent to a moral character judgment. The text does not spell out every intervening circumstance, such as entering the sanctuary while unclean.

5:4 — Harm or good. The paired words encompass the range of rashly promised actions. The phrase does not authorize carrying out a harmful oath.

5:6–7 — Penalty. Hebrew asham can name guilt or liability, the penalty due, or the particular sacrifice traditionally called a “guilt offering.” Here the required animal is explicitly a purification offering; the word should not make it a different kind of offering. From 5:15, “reparation offering” names the distinct ram offering.

5:8 — Without severing it. The bird’s head must not be detached. “Wring” represents a Hebrew verb for dispatching the bird at its neck; the precise manual procedure is not described in full.

5:7–13 — Less costly offerings. The law makes successive allowances for people unable to afford the larger offerings. A tenth of an ephah is roughly two quarts of dry volume, though ancient measures are not precisely recoverable. Unlike an ordinary grain offering, this flour has neither oil nor frankincense.

5:15 — Your valuation. The Hebrew addresses a singular “you” without naming a new assessor. The reading takes the silver amount as the ram’s assessed value. An alternative understands the silver as payment that can replace the ram. The wording is disputed, and no minimum number of shekels is stated.

5:15–16 — Reparation offering. Traditionally “guilt offering,” this offering concerns liability and making amends, rather than merely an emotion. In this case repayment plus an additional fifth accompanies the ram. The same offering also appears in cases where this passage does not prescribe restitution.

5:17–19 — Without knowing. The person remains liable despite lack of knowledge. Some understand the case as an offense discovered later; others understand suspected wrongdoing that has not been established with certainty. The Hebrew does not explicitly say that the person later discovered what they had done.