Numbers 15:28
in Numbers 15And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the person who erred by sinning unintentionally; and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the priest shall make atonement for the soul that erreth, when he sinneth unwittingly, before Jehovah, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.
KJV
And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.
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This verse in Numbers 15
Commentary
5 notes on this verseObserve, (1.) Sins committed ignorantly need to have atonement made for them; for, though ignorance will in a degree excuse, it will not justify those that might have known their Lord's will and did it not. David prayed to be cleansed from his secret faults, that is, those sins which he himself was not aware of, the errors he did not understand, Ps. xix.
This site's exposition
if one person sins unintentionally
on Numbers 15:27-31
One person's error is met with a year-old female goat, but the one who sins defiantly receives no offering. The Hebrew is a high hand, the phrase used of Israel's leaving Egypt at Numbers 33:3.
This site's exposition
the person who erred by sinning unintentionally
Matthew Henry observes that sins committed in ignorance still need atonement. Ignorance softens the guilt of those who might have known the Lord's will, and the guilt still has to be covered. David prays in Psalm 19:12 to be cleansed from hidden faults he could not see.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the priest shall make atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly,.... By offering his sin offering for him: when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord; to whom it is known to be such, before whom all things are naked, open, and well known: to make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him; upon that atonement made by sacrifice; so the forgiveness of the sins of all the Lord's people proceeds upon an atonement made by the blood and sacrifice of Christ: full atonement of sin and free forgiveness are not contrary to each other.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
if any soul sin through ignorance--not only in common with the general body of the people, but his personal sins were to be expiated in the same manner.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכִפֶּ֣ר | vekhiper | and he will make atonement | H3722 → | 102 times |
| הַכֹּהֵ֗ן | hakohen | the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַנֶּ֧פֶשׁ | hanefesh | the person | H5315 → | 754 times |
| הַשֹּׁגֶ֛גֶת | hashogeget | who has gone astray | H7683 → | |
| בְּחֶטְאָ֥ה | bechetah | by sin | H2398 → | 238 times |
| בִשְׁגָגָ֖ה | vishgagah | by inadvertence | H7684 → | 19 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְכַפֵּ֥ר | lekhaper | to make atonement | H3722 → | 102 times |
| עָלָ֖יו | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְנִסְלַ֥ח | venislach | and it will be forgiven | H5545 → | 46 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | to <the> him |
וְכִפֶּ֣רand he will make atonement
vekhiperH3722 →102 times
הַכֹּהֵ֗ןthe priest
hakohenH3548 →750 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַנֶּ֧פֶשׁthe person
hanefeshH5315 →754 times
הַשֹּׁגֶ֛גֶתwho has gone astray
hashogegetH7683 →
בְּחֶטְאָ֥הby sin
bechetahH2398 →238 times
בִשְׁגָגָ֖הby inadvertence
vishgagahH7684 →19 times
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְכַפֵּ֥רto make atonement
lekhaperH3722 →102 times
עָלָ֖יוon him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
וְנִסְלַ֥חand it will be forgiven
venislachH5545 →46 times
לֽוֹ׃to <the> him
lo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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 4:35And he shall remove all the fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the peace offerings, and he shall burn it on the altar along with the offerings made by…
it leads to
- Leviticus 4:26
He must burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the peace offerings; thus the priest will make atonement for that man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 4:30–31
Then the priest is to take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the…
- Leviticus 4:20
He shall offer this bull just as he did the bull for the sin offering; in this way the priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 6:7
In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt.”
- Leviticus 14:18
The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.
- Leviticus 4:26
Where this verse is studied
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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.