Imamat 6:1-7

Trespass by Deception and False Oath

6:1 (5:20) ¹  Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ²  6:2 “When a person sins and commits a trespass ³  against the Lord by deceiving his fellow citizen ⁴  in regard to something held in trust, or a pledge, or something stolen, or by extorting something from his fellow citizen, ⁵  6:3 or has found something lost and denies it and swears falsely ⁶  concerning any one of the things that someone might do to sin ⁷  – 6:4 when it happens that he sins and he is found guilty, ⁸  then he must return whatever he had stolen, or whatever he had extorted, or the thing that he had held in trust, ⁹  or the lost thing that he had found, 6:5 or anything about which he swears falsely. ¹⁰  He must restore it in full ¹¹  and add one fifth to it; he must give it to its owner when he is found guilty. ¹²  6:6 Then he must bring his guilt offering to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, ¹³  for a guilt offering to the priest. 6:7 So the priest will make atonement ¹⁴  on his behalf before the Lord and he will be forgiven ¹⁵  for whatever he has done to become guilty.” ¹⁶ 

Imamat 7:1-7

The Guilt Offering

7:1 “‘This is the law of the guilt offering. It is most holy. 7:2 In the place where they slaughter the burnt offering they must slaughter the guilt offering, and the officiating priest ¹⁷  must splash ¹⁸  the blood against the altar’s sides. 7:3 Then the one making the offering ¹⁹  must present all its fat: the fatty tail, the fat covering the entrails, 7:4 the two kidneys and the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he must remove along with the kidneys). ²⁰  7:5 Then the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar ²¹  as a gift to the Lord. It is a guilt offering. 7:6 Any male among the priests may eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy. ²²  7:7 The law is the same for the sin offering and the guilt offering; ²³  it belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it.

[6:1]  ¹ sn Beginning with 6:1, the verse numbers through 6:30 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 6:1 ET = 5:20 HT, 6:2 ET = 5:21 HT, 6:8 ET = 6:1 HT, etc., through 6:30 ET = 6:23 HT. Beginning with 7:1 the verse numbers in the English text and Hebrew text are again the same.

[6:1]  ² sn This paragraph is Lev 6:1-7 in the English Bible but Lev 5:20-26 in the Hebrew text. The quotation introduced by v. 1 extends from Lev 6:2 (5:21 HT) through 6:7 (5:26 HT), encompassing the third main section of guilt offering regulations. Compare the notes on Lev 1:1; 4:1; and 5:14 above.

[6:2]  ³ tn Heb “trespasses a trespass” (verb and direct object from the same Hebrew root מַעַל, ma’al). See the note on 5:15.

[6:2]  ⁴ tn Or “neighbor” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NASB “companion”; TEV “a fellow-Israelite.”

[6:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “has extorted his neighbor”; ASV “oppressed”; NRSV “defrauded.”

[6:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “and swears on falsehood”; cf. CEV “deny something while under oath.”

[6:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “on one from all which the man shall do to sin in them.”

[6:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and it shall happen, when he sins and becomes guilty,” which is both resumptive of the previous (vv. 2-3) and the conclusion to the protasis (cf. “then” introducing the next clause as the apodosis). In this case, “becomes guilty” (cf. NASB, NIV) probably refers to his legal status as one who has been convicted of a crime in court; thus the translation “he is found guilty.” See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:559-61.

[6:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “that had been held in trust with him.”

[6:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “or from all which he swears on it to falsehood.”

[6:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in its head.” This refers “the full amount” in terms of the “principal,” the original item or amount obtained illegally (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:338; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 84).

[6:5]  ¹² tn Heb “to whom it is to him he shall give it in the day of his being guilty.” The present translation is based on the view that he has been found guilty through the legal process (see the note on v. 4 above; cf., e.g., TEV and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 33-34). Others translate the latter part as “in the day he offers his guilt [reparation] offering” (e.g., NIV and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 73, 84), or “in the day he realizes his guilt” (e.g., NRSV and J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:319, 338).

[6:6]  ¹³ tn The words “into silver shekels” are supplied here. See the full expression in Lev 5:15, and compare 5:18. Cf. NRSV “or its equivalent”; NLT “or the animal’s equivalent value in silver.”

[6:7]  ¹⁴ sn Regarding “make atonement” see the note on Lev 1:4.

[6:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

[6:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “on one from all which he does to become guilty in it”; NAB “whatever guilt he may have incurred.”

[7:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the officiating priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity. This priest was responsible for any actions involving direct contact with the altar (e.g., the splashing of the blood).

[7:2]  ¹⁸ tn See the note on Lev 1:5.

[7:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “then he.” This pronoun refers to the offerer, who was responsible for slaughtering the animal. Contrast v. 2 above and v. 5 below.

[7:4]  ²⁰ tn See the notes on Lev 3:3-4.

[7:5]  ²¹ tn See the note on Lev 1:9 above.

[7:6]  ²² tn Heb “holiness of holinesses [or holy of holies] it is”; NAB “most sacred”; TEV “very holy.”

[7:7]  ²³ tn Heb “like the sin offering like the guilt offering, one law to them.”