Numbers 5:8
in Numbers 5But if the man has no relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the LORD and must be given to the priest along with the ram of atonement, by which the atonement is made for him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But if the man have no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for guilt which is made unto Jehovah shall be the priest’s; besides the ram of the atonement, whereby atonement shall be made for him.
KJV
But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the Lord, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him.
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This verse in Numbers 5
Commentary
7 notes on this verseIf the man have no kinsman - The Jews think that this law respects the stranger and the sojourner only, because every Israelite is in a state of affinity to all the rest; but there might be a stranger in the camp who has no relative in any of the tribes of Israel.
This site's exposition
But if the man have no kinsman
Kinsman occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and the word behind it is the redeemer's word. It stands behind Boaz at Ruth 3:12 and behind the avenger of blood at Numbers 35:12, so one term covers the man who buys back a relative's land and the man who pursues a relative's killer. The case in view is a wronged man with nobody left to be paid, and the debt is transferred rather than cancelled, unto the Lord, even to the priest. Adam Clarke passes on the Jewish reading that this covers a stranger in the camp, since an Israelite has kin somewhere among the tribes.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
To the priest - Whom God appointed as his deputy to receive his dues, and take them to his own use, that so he might more cheerfully and entirely devote himself to the ministration of holy things. This is an additional explication to that law, Lev. vi, 2, and for the sake thereof it seems here to be repeated.
But if a man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass to,....
Note, Some work of piety or charity is a piece of necessary justice to be done by those who are conscience to themselves that they have done wrong, but know not how otherwise to make restitution; what is not our property will never be our profit.
Satisfaction must be made for the offence done to God, whose law is broken, as well as for the loss sustained by our neighbour; restitution in this case is not sufficient without faith and repentance. Yet the sacrifices would not be accepted till full amends were made to the party wronged, not only the principal, but a fifth part added to it,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The difference between the law recorded in that passage and this is that the one was enacted against flagrant and determined thieves, the other against those whose necessities might have urged them into fraud, and whose consciences were distressed by their sin.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אֵ֨ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| לָאִ֜ישׁ | laish | [belongs] to the person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| גֹּאֵ֗ל | goel | a kinsman-redeemer | H1350 → | 104 times |
| לְהָשִׁ֤יב | lehashiv | to repay | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| הָאָשָׁם֙ | haasham | the compensation | H817 → | 46 times |
| אֵלָ֔יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָאָשָׁ֛ם | haasham | the compensation | H817 → | 46 times |
| הַמּוּשָׁ֥ב | hamushav | which is repaid | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| לַיהוָ֖ה | layahweh | [belongs] to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לַכֹּהֵ֑ן | lakohen | for the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| מִלְּבַ֗ד | milevad | <from> <to> besides | H905 → | 200 times |
| אֵ֚יל | ʾeil | [the] ram of | H352 → | 187 times |
| הַכִּפֻּרִ֔ים | hakipurim | <the> atonement<s> | H3725 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יְכַפֶּר־ | yekhaper- | he will make atonement | H3722 → | 102 times |
| בּ֖וֹ | bo | by <the> it | ||
| עָלָֽיו׃ | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
אֵ֨יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
לָאִ֜ישׁ[belongs] to the person
laishH376 →1663 times
גֹּאֵ֗לa kinsman-redeemer
goelH1350 →104 times
לְהָשִׁ֤יבto repay
lehashivH7725 →1056 times
הָאָשָׁם֙the compensation
haashamH817 →46 times
אֵלָ֔יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
הָאָשָׁ֛םthe compensation
haashamH817 →46 times
הַמּוּשָׁ֥בwhich is repaid
hamushavH7725 →1056 times
לַיהוָ֖ה[belongs] to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
לַכֹּהֵ֑ןfor the priest
lakohenH3548 →750 times
מִלְּבַ֗ד<from> <to> besides
milevadH905 →200 times
אֵ֚יל[the] ram of
ʾeilH352 →187 times
הַכִּפֻּרִ֔ים<the> atonement<s>
hakipurimH3725 →
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יְכַפֶּר־he will make atonement
yekhaper-H3722 →102 times
בּ֖וֹby <the> it
bo
עָלָֽיו׃on him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
3 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 7:7The guilt offering is like the sin offering; the same law applies to both. It belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it.
it leads to
- Leviticus 6:25–26
“Tell Aaron and his sons that this is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, the sin offering shall be slaughtered before the LORD; it is…
- 1 Corinthians 9:13
Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings?
- Leviticus 14:13
Then he is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most…
- Leviticus 6:25–26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.