Leviticuschapter 5
19 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th to 13th century BC · The Law
Key verse
Then the LORD said to Moses,
It stands in Trespass against the holy things, verses 14 to 19.
The chapter
Chapter summary
The trespass offering continues the sin-offering law. A witness who refuses to testify; one who touches an unclean thing or a dead body; one who swears rashly. Each brings a trespass offering, with a graduated scale of victims down to two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and for the very poor a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour (without oil or frankincense, as befits a sin offering). Restitution for sanctuary trespass adds a fifth and pays in a ram without blemish. The chapter's care is pastoral: no Israelite, rich or poor, is beyond the reach of atonement.
Context
Law · Moses · Leviticus overview
The world of this chapter
- Who
- Israelites at every income, including those who could reach neither a lamb nor a pair of birds
- Where
- The tabernacle courtyard at Sinai, the altar's lower side where a bird's blood was put, and the ordinary settings of an oath and a dead animal touched by accident
- When
- Israel encamped at Sinai, the cases of guilt and the guilt offering. c. 1445 BC on the traditional dating, in the first month of the second year after the Exodus. This site's published dossier carries a second position, that the priestly material was compiled later, with its holders named
Historical context
The chapter continues the speech of 4:1 and then opens a new one at verse 14, so it holds two of the thirty-three speeches of the book.
Four cases come first. A witness under oath keeps back what he saw at verse 1, and a person touches something unclean at verse 2. A touch of human uncleanness follows at verse 3, and a rash oath at verse 4. All four share one condition, that the thing was hidden and then came to be known.
A first hearer would have noticed what verse 5 asks that the chapters before it never did. The man is to confess the sin aloud before he brings anything. Leviticus 16:21 later puts that same act in the high priest's mouth over the living goat.
The remedy is then priced three times, a female from the flock at verse 6, two birds at verse 7, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour at verse 11. The flour keeps the name sin offering while carrying no blood at all, and no oil or frankincense goes on it.
Verse 15 turns to property. A trespass in the holy things costs a ram valued in shekels of the sanctuary, and verse 16 adds the harm back with a fifth part on top, paid to the priest. Numbers 5:7 carries the same rule over to a wrong done to a neighbour.
The last case at verses 17 to 19 is a man who suspects he has done wrong and cannot say what. No fifth part is named there, since a harm nobody can measure has no sum attached to it.
Significance
This chapter said that poverty changes the animal and leaves the forgiveness standing. The same sentence closes the lamb, the birds and the flour.
It also put a price on honesty. A man who came forward on his own repaid the principal and a fifth more, where Exodus 22:9 set double payment on a thief the judges condemned.
Where the chapter sits
Leviticus 5 falls in The five offerings (chapters 1–7). Burnt, grain, peace, sin, trespass, the sacrificial vocabulary of Israel's worship.
After it: Consecration of the priesthood, chapters 8–10.
The whole shape of Leviticus→The structure of this chapter
People1
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Four hidden sins that must be confessed
The chapter opens with four cases and the first one is a silence. A man put under oath as a witness who keeps back what he saw shall bear his iniquity, and that phrase occurs here for the first time in Scripture before returning at verse 17 to close the chapter. Verse 2 turns from what a man withholds to what he touches, and the word unclean occurs here for the first time in Scripture, six chapters ahead of the laws that define it.
Leviticus 5:1
“Special occasions are mentioned on which sin-offerings are to be made with a particular confession of the offence for which atonement is sought Lev 5:5. Lev 5:1 Swearing - Adjuration. The case appears to be that of one who has been put upon his oath as a witness by a magistrate, and fails to utter all he has seen and heard (compare the marginal references. and Pro 29:24; Num 5:21). Lev 5:2-3 Hid from him - Either through forgetfulness or indifference, so that purification had been neglected.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Leviticus 5:1
“And hear - And for that is, as that particle is often used. For this declares in particular what the sin was. Or, namely, that of cursing, or blasphemy, or execration, as the word commonly signifies, and that either against one's neighbour, or against God.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 5:2
“Any unclean thing - Either the dead body of a clean animal, or the living or dead carcass of any unclean creature. All such persons were to wash their clothes and themselves in clean water, and were considered as unclean till the evening, Lev 11:24-31. But if this had been neglected, they were obliged to bring a trespass-offering. What this meant, see in the notes on Leviticus 7 (note).”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
All four cases share one condition. The thing was out of sight, which verses 2, 3 and 4 each state, once as hidden from him and twice as hid from him, and twice the text reads when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty. Verse 5 asks for something chapters 1 to 4 never asked for, that the man confess the sin aloud, and the word confess occurs here for the first time in Scripture. Leviticus 16:21 puts that same word in the high priest's mouth over the living goat.
Leviticus 5:3
“Or if he touch the uncleanness of man,.... The dead body of a man, or the bone of a dead body, or a grave, or any profluvious or menstruous person: whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal: not morally, but ceremonially: and it be hid from him; he is not sensible that he has touched any thing ceremonially unclean: when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty: acknowledge his guilt, and offer a sacrifice for it, as after directed.”
Leviticus 5:4
“To do evil, or to do good - It is very likely that rash promises are here intended; for if a man vow to do an act that is evil, though it would be criminal to keep such an oath or vow, yet he is guilty because he made it, and therefore must offer the trespass-offering. If he neglect to do the good he has vowed, he is guilty, and must in both cases confess his iniquity, and bring his trespass-offering.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Leviticus 5:5
“He shall confess that he hath sinned - Even restitution was not sufficient without this confession, because a man might make restitution without being much humbled; but the confession of sin has a direct tendency to humble the soul, and hence it is so frequently required in the Holy Scriptures, as without humiliation there can be no salvation.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Leviticus 5:5
“He shall confess - Before the Lord in the place of public worship. And this confession is not to be restrained to the present case, but by a parity of reason, and comparing of other scriptures, to be extended to other sacrifices for sin, to which this was a constant companion.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
The phrase trespass offering occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and the same verse calls the animal a sin offering, so two names rest on one beast. Commentators have worked at the distinction ever since, and Leviticus draws no line between them in words. A female from the flock is the cheapest animal on the scale of chapter 4, where a bullock answers for the priest and a female kid or lamb for a common man.
Leviticus 5:6
“This place speaks of him that being so unclean did come into the tabernacle, as may be gathered by comparing this place with Num. xix, 13, which if any man did, knowing himself to be unclean, which was the case there, he was to be cut off for it; and if he did it ignorantly, which is the case here, he was upon discovery of it to offer this sacrifice.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Two birds, or a handful of flour
Poverty changes the offering and leaves the atonement standing. The same clause runs again at Leviticus 12:8 for a woman after childbirth, and Luke 2:24 records Mary bringing the pair of birds, so the family of Jesus came to the temple under the provision written for those who could not reach a lamb. Both birds are still required, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering, and verse 8 has the priest wring off the head without dividing the bird asunder.
Leviticus 5:7
“For a sin-offering - Which was for that particular sin, and therefore offered first: before the burnt- offering, which was for sins in general; to teach us not to rest in general confessions and repentance, but distinctly and particularly, as far as we can, to search out, and confess, and loath, and leave our particular sins, without which God will not accept our other religious services.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 5:8
“But shall not divide it - See Clarke’s note on Lev 1:16.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The blood goes on the side of the altar and the rest is wrung out at the bottom, lower than the horns where chapter 4 put the blood of a bullock. John Gill quotes the Mishnah, the rabbinic law code compiled around AD 200, which places this blood beneath the scarlet thread that marked the middle of the altar's height. The sin offering is handled before the burnt offering in verse 10, and the verse ends with it shall be forgiven him, a sentence the chapter says four times, at verses 10, 13, 16 and 18.
Leviticus 5:9
“And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar,.... Or "wall" (c) it is asked (d),"what is the wall at which the rest of the blood is wrung out? this is the lower wall, namely, the half of the height of the altar below, under the thread (of scarlet that goes round the middle of the altar) that the rest of the blood may be squeezed at the bottom of the altar, and because of this the sin offering of the fowl is below,''that is, the sprinkling of its blood.”
Leviticus 5:10
“He shall offer the second for a burnt-offering - The pigeon for the burnt-offering was wholly consumed, it was the Lord’s property; that for the sin-offering was the priest’s property, and was to be eaten by him after its blood had been partly sprinkled on the side of the altar, and the rest poured out at the bottom of the altar. See also Lev 6:26.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Leviticus 5:10
“According to the manner - Or order appointed by God. The priest shall make an atonement - Either declaratively, he shall pronounce him to be pardoned; or typically, with respect to Christ.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Below the birds the text goes down to flour, and the offering keeps the name sin offering while carrying no blood at all. No oil and no frankincense go on it, so the two things that make the meat offering of chapter 2 a glad gift are taken out of this one. Hebrews 9:22 says that almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and the word almost is doing work here, since this is the offering the rule steps around. Leviticus gives no reason for the exception, and the priest still burns the handful on an altar that carries blood already.
Leviticus 5:11
“Tenth part of an ephah - About three quarts. The ephah contained a little more than seven gallons and a half.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Leviticus 5:13
“As a meal offering - As it was in the meal-offering, where all, except one handful, fell to the share of the priests. And this is the rather mentioned here, because in the foregoing sacrifices, chap. iv, 3, &c. chap. iv, 13, &c. the priest had no part reserved for him.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Trespass against the holy things
A new speech begins here, one of the thirty-three in this book that open with the LORD speaking to Moses, and it turns from things done in ignorance to property. A trespass in the holy things costs a ram valued in shekels of the sanctuary, and verse 16 adds the harm back with a fifth part on top, paid to the priest. Sacrifice and repayment run together, so a man who has taken what belonged to the altar settles it with money as well as with an animal. Numbers 5:7 carries the same rule over to wrongs done to a neighbour, with the principal and the fifth part paid to the man wronged.
Leviticus 5:14
“And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Out of the tabernacle of the congregation, Lev 1:1 he continued to speak to him: saying, as follows.”
Leviticus 5:15
“Commit a trespass - Rather, here and in Lev 6:2, perpetrate a wrong. The word is different from that rendered trespass elsewhere in these chapters. Through ignorance - Through inadvertence. See Lev 4:2 note. In the holy things of the Lord - The reference is to a failure in the payment of firstfruits, tithes or fees of any kind connected with the public service of religion by which the sanctuary suffered loss; compare Num 5:6-8. Shekel of the sanctuary - See Exo 38:24 note.”
1 more voice on this verse
Leviticus 5:15
“In the holy things - In things consecrated to God, and to holy uses; such as tithes and first-fruits, or any things due, or devoted to God, which possibly a man might either with-hold, or employ to some common use. A ram - A more chargeable sacrifice than the former, as the sin of sacrilege was greater.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
ConnectionsIsaiah 53:10
Leviticus 5:16
“Shall make amends - Make restitution for the wrong he had done according to what is laid down in the preceding verse.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The last case is a man who suspects he has done wrong and cannot say what. He wist it not, a phrase that occurs only here and in verse 18 across the whole of Scripture, and the verse holds him guilty and returns to the words that opened the chapter, that he shall bear his iniquity. The ram is required as before and no fifth part is named, since a harm nobody can measure has no sum attached to it. Verse 19 closes with a bare naming, that it is a trespass offering and he hath certainly trespassed against the LORD.
Leviticus 5:17
“The former law concerns the alienation of holy things from sacred to common use; this may concern other miscarriages about holy things, and holy duties, as may be gathered from ver. 19, where this is said to be a trespass against the Lord, not in a general sense, for so every sin was; but in a proper and peculiar sense.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 5:19
“He hath certainly trespassed - And because he hath sinned, therefore he must bring a sacrifice. On no other ground shall he be accepted by the Lord. Reader, how dost thou stand in the sight of thy Maker? On the subject of this chapter it may be proper to make the following reflections.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; Andrew Bonar, A Commentary on Leviticus; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.