Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 5:14-16

14 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

15 If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the Lord; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the Lord a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering:

16 And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.

We already spent most of this chapter talking about various minor infractions a person might be guilty of, such as failing to bear testimony in a trial, or touching a carcass, or making a promise and not following through on it. And for all of those, a small offering was proscribed to make things right again.

So why, now, are we hearing about trespass offerings requiring a different sacrifice, one that is more substantial? Most scholars conclude that what we are reading now is actually a new section of law, one that is still related to the trespass offerings already covered but is a special or more egregious case.

And there the similarities end. Different commentaries give considerably different interpretations as to what the exact offense being described is.

Some have focused on the phrase: “in the holy things of the Lord,” which comes from the single Hebrew word: קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh), which means a sacred place or thing. Some have therefore assumed that this is describing an offense against something sacred, such as failure to pay tithes and offerings, or misuse by a priest of those funds. It could also be describing when a person who was already in a compromised state (from any of the acts described at the start of this chapter) entered the tabernacle without recognizing that they were “trespassing” on the sacred space of the Lord.

Still others have focused more on the phrase: “the harm that he hath done,” and supposed that this must mean when an Israelite caused property damages to his fellow man. This interpretation gains more credibility in chapter 6, whose first verses more explicitly describe that situation.

At the end of the day, I am not sure exactly which situation that is being described. In fact, it is entirely possible that verse 15 is giving one example of offense, which is related to the misuse or trespass of sacred things, and verse 16 is giving another, which is related to the harming of a neighbor’s property. In any case, it is clear that this amounts to a special situation, one that requires a different method of purification. I will look over this new purification method tomorrow and update our sacrifice table accordingly, being specific on what parts are clear, and generic on what remains ambiguous.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Higher trespass offeringRam, moneyFor special trespass cases
Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 5:2-3

2 Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty.

3 Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.

Yesterday’s verse talked about an omission of doing good, where the perpetrator knew he wasn’t behaving as he ought. Today’s verses are different in that the person does something and “it be hidden from him.” Also, they describe situations that are not always a choice: such as stumbling over a carcass or having a nighttime emission.

Later chapters (11-15) will explain that these and other situations make a person temporarily unable to enter the tabernacle. It is not that the person has sinned, just that they are in a common state where they need to wait a day before entering the holy place of the Lord, and in certain cases bring a small offering.

Therefore, the situations described in this verse are not an indictment of the individual so much as an acknowledgement of the crudity of this world. Take, for example, how it obviously isn’t a wrong thing to defecate, but also, we would be mortified to do so in front of others. Just by living this mortal life, we will all have moments awkwardness. We do not need to feel ashamed for them, but neither should we deny that they are, in fact, awkward. And when we come to the house of the Lord, we should make the effort to come as the best that we can be.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 5:1

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.