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Leviticus 5 Bible study: When he knows of it

Leviticus 5 names wrongs a person might not see: keeping quiet as a witness, touching something unclean, a careless oath. When he knows, he must first "confess that in which he has sinned" (5:5). Then he brings what he can afford: a lamb, two birds, or a tenth of an ephah of flour. For the poorest too, the priest makes atonement, "and he will be forgiven" (5:13).

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“It shall be, when he is guilty of one of these, he shall confess that in which he has sinned;”
Leviticus 5:5 · World English Bible

Try it · Did you catch it?

“In Leviticus 5:6, the female lamb or goat is called both a trespass offering and a sin offering.”

Is that in Leviticus 5, or not? Make your call.

What's really going on

Wrongs you might not see

In the text

Leviticus 4 dealt with anyone who "sins unintentionally" (Leviticus 4:2). Chapter 5 opens with particular cases. A witness hears "a public adjuration to testify", and "if he doesn’t report it, then he shall bear his iniquity" (5:1). Someone touches "the carcass of an unclean animal" (5:2) or "the uncleanness of man" (5:3). Someone "swears rashly with his lips to do evil or to do good" (5:4). Three times the chapter says "it is hidden from him" (5:2, 5:3, 5:4). Then comes the turn: "when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty" (5:3), and the same words, with "will", in 5:4.

Where it leads to Jesus

An offering for sin

Interpretation

Leviticus 5:15leads toLuke 22:37

The ram of 5:15 is an asham, which the WEB calls a "trespass offering" (5:15). Isaiah uses the same Hebrew word of the LORD's servant: "When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring" (Isaiah 53:10). Before his arrest, Jesus quoted that chapter of Isaiah about himself: "For I tell you that this which is written must still be fulfilled in me: ‘He was counted with transgressors.’" (Luke 22:37), words from Isaiah 53:12. Acts also applies Isaiah 53 to Jesus, quoting 53:7-8 (Acts 8:32-35). No New Testament verse quotes Isaiah 53:10 itself, so reading the servant's asham together with the asham of Leviticus 5 is an interpretation.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Leviticus 5

That was a taste

The rest of Leviticus 5 is waiting in Favor

  • First, he says it
  • What you can afford
  • Paid back, plus a fifth
  • Confession, from here on
  • Careless words
  • 10 questions as you read
  • 11 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

אָשָׁםashamsay a-SHAM

Brown-Driver-Briggs gives "offence, guilt", "compensation (or satisfaction for injury)" and "trespass-offering". Strong's: "guilt; by implication, a fault; also a sin-offering", and it comes from the verb for being guilty (Strong's: "from 816"). In this chapter the WEB gives it as "trespass offering" seven times (5:6, 5:7, twice in 5:15, 5:16, 5:18, 5:19). Before Leviticus, the Hebrew Bible uses it once, when Abimelech says to Isaac, "you would have brought guilt on us!" (Genesis 26:10). Leviticus uses it 27 times, more than any other book. Isaiah uses it of the LORD's servant: "When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring" (Isaiah 53:10).

For your group

Leviticus 5 Bible study questions

  1. 1The first wrong in the chapter is keeping quiet: a witness who "doesn’t report it" (5:1). Where is it hardest for you to speak up for what's true?
  2. 2He was to "confess that in which he has sinned" (5:5), naming the wrong itself. Why is naming a wrong out loud harder than feeling bad about it?
  3. 3The one who wronged the holy things paid it back and added a fifth (5:16). When you've wronged someone, what would making it right, and a little more, look like?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Leviticus 5 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home