Imamat 5:4-6

5:4 or when a person swears an oath, speaking thoughtlessly ¹  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 ²  – 5:5 when an individual becomes guilty with regard to one of these things ³  he must confess how he has sinned, ⁴  5:6 and he must bring his penalty for guilt ⁵  to the Lord for his sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, whether a female sheep or a female goat, for a sin offering. So the priest will make atonement ⁶  on his behalf for ⁷  his sin.

Imamat 27:9-10

Redemption of Vowed Animals

27:9 “‘If what is vowed is a kind of animal from which an offering may be presented ⁸  to the Lord, anything which he gives to the Lord from this kind of animal ⁹  will be holy. 27:10 He must not replace or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good, and if he does indeed exchange one animal for another animal, then both the original animal ¹⁰  and its substitute will be holy.

[5:4]  ¹ tn Heb “to speak thoughtlessly”; cf. NAB “rashly utters an oath.”

[5:4]  ² 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).

[5:5]  ³ tn Heb “and it shall happen when he becomes guilty to one from these,” referring to any of “these” possible transgressions in Lev 5:1-4. Tg. Onq., the original Greek translation, and the Latin Vulgate omit this clause, possibly due to homoioteleuton because of the repetition of “to one from these” from the end of v. 4 in v. 5a (cf. the note on v. 4b).

[5:5]  sn What all the transgressions in Lev 5:1-4 have in common is that the time is past for handling the original situation properly (i.e., testifying in court, following purity regulations, or fulfilling an oath), so now the person has become guilty and needs to follow corrective sacrificial procedures.

[5:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “which he sinned on it”; cf. ASV “confess that wherein he hath sinned”; NCV “must tell how he sinned.”

[5:6]  ⁵ tn In this context the word for “guilt” (אָשָׁם, ’asham) refers to the “penalty” for incurring guilt, the so-called consequential אָשָׁם (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:303; cf. the note on Lev 5:1).

[5:6]  ⁶ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

[5:6]  ⁷ tn See the note on 4:26 regarding the use of מִן (min).

[27:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “which they may present from it an offering.” The plural active verb is sometimes best rendered in the passive (GKC 460 §144.f, g). Some medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, a ms of the Targum, and the Vulgate all have the singular verb instead (cf. similarly v. 11).

[27:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “from it.” The masculine suffix “it” here is used for the feminine in the MT, but one medieval Hebrew ms, some mss of Smr, the LXX, and the Syriac have the feminine. The referent (this kind of animal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “it and its substitute.” The referent (the original animal offered) has been specified in the translation for clarity.