1 And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.

In our last chapter we learned about the sin offering, which was to be made when an individual or the congregation had ignorantly broken one of God’s commandments, and committed an act of sin. In this next chapter we move to the category of trespass offerings, which cover lesser offenses. As we will see, one key difference between a trespass and a sin is that a sin is a willful committing of something wrong, whereas a trespass if often an act of omission.

There are many times where instead of doing something actively good or moral, we shrink from it. It is a sin of omission, not commission. We might not lie, but we refrain from telling the truth. That is still wrong, but not as wrong.

And that is exactly the situation described in the first verse. “Hear the voice of swearing” is apparently a reference to their legal system, where a witness would be called to testify of an event. And if a person is called as a witness, and he does not give a full and honest account of what he saw or heard, then today’s verse says that he is a trespasser.

Like all of our social orders, the legal system can only work with the good-faith cooperation of the people. A society needs people to be more committed to its underlying principles, than to themselves or their friends. If the people will not support an orderly society, then worse patterns of anarchy and tyranny will prevail. And so, such a man is guilty of a trespass, and needs to make atonement and receive grace.