Imamat 5:15

5:15 “When a person commits a trespass ¹  and sins by straying unintentionally ²  from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, ³  then he must bring his penalty for guilt ⁴  to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, ⁵  for a guilt offering. ⁶ 

Imamat 5:18

5:18 and must bring a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, ⁷  for a guilt offering to the priest. So the priest will make atonement ⁸  on his behalf for his error which he committed ⁹  (although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven. ¹⁰ 

Imamat 14:13

14:13 He must then slaughter ¹¹  the male lamb in the place where ¹²  the sin offering ¹³  and the burnt offering ¹⁴  are slaughtered, ¹⁵  in the sanctuary, because, like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; ¹⁶  it is most holy.

Imamat 14:21

The Eighth Day Atonement Rituals for the Poor Person

14:21 “If the person is poor and does not have sufficient means, ¹⁷  he must take one male lamb as a guilt offering for a wave offering to make atonement for himself, one-tenth of an ephah of choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil, ¹⁸ 

[5:15]  ¹ tn Heb “trespasses a trespass” (verb and direct object from the same Hebrew root, מַעַל, ma’al); cf. NIV “commits a violation.” The word refers to some kind of overstepping of the boundary between that which is common (i.e., available for common use by common people) and that which is holy (i.e., to be used only for holy purposes because it has been consecrated to the Lord, see further below). See the note on Lev 10:10.

[5:15]  ² tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”

[5:15]  ³ sn Heb “from the holy things of the Lord.” The Hebrew expression here has the same structure as Lev 4:2, “from any of the commandments of the Lord.” The latter introduces the sin offering regulations and the former the guilt offering regulations. The sin offering deals with violations of “any of the commandments,” whereas the guilt offering focuses specifically on violations of regulations regarding “holy things” (i.e., things that have been consecrated to the Lord; see the full discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:320-27).

[5:15]  ⁴ tn Here the word for “guilt” (אָשָׁם, ’asham) refers to the “penalty” for incurring guilt, the so-called consequential use of אָשָׁם (’asham; see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:303).

[5:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “in your valuation, silver of shekels, in the shekel of the sanctuary.” The translation offered here suggests that, instead of a ram, the guilt offering could be presented in the form of money (see, e.g., NRSV; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:326-27). Others still maintain the view that it refers to the value of the ram that was offered (see, e.g., NIV “of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel”; also NAB, NLT; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 72-73, 81).

[5:15]  sn The sanctuary shekel was about 10 grams (= ca. two fifths of an ounce; J. E. Shepherd, NIDOTTE 4:237-38).

[5:15]  ⁶ tn The word for “guilt offering” (sometimes translated “reparation offering”) is the same as “guilt” earlier in the verse (rendered there “[penalty for] guilt”). One can tell which is intended only by the context.

[5:15]  sn The primary purpose of the guilt offering was to “atone” (see the note on Lev 1:4 above) for “trespassing” on the Lord’s “holy things” (see later in this verse) or the property of others in the community (Lev 6:1-7 [5:20-26 HT]; 19:20-22; Num 5:5-10). It was closely associated with reconsecration of the Lord’s sacred things or his sacred people (see, e.g., Lev 14:12-18; Num 6:11b-12). Moreover, there was usually an associated reparation made for the trespass, including restitution of that which was violated plus one fifth of its value as a fine (Lev 5:16; 6:5 [5:24 HT]). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:557-66.

[5:18]  ⁷ tn The statement here is condensed. See the full expression in 5:15 and the note there.

[5:18]  ⁸ sn Regarding “make atonement” see the note on Lev 1:4.

[5:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “on his straying which he strayed.” See the note on Lev 4:2.

[5:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV and NASB both similar).

[14:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And he shall slaughter.”

[14:13]  ¹² tn Heb “in the place which.”

[14:13]  ¹³ sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.”

[14:13]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on Lev 1:3 regarding the “burnt offering.”

[14:13]  ¹⁵ tn Since the priest himself presents this offering as a wave offering (v. 12), it would seem that the offering is already in his hands and he would, therefore, be the one who slaughtered the male lamb in this instance rather than the offerer. Smr and LXX make the second verb “to slaughter” plural rather than singular, which suggests that it is to be taken as an impersonal passive (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:852).

[14:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the guilt offering, it [is] to the Lord.” Regarding the “guilt offering,” see the note on Lev 5:15.

[14:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and his hand does not reach”; NAB, NRSV “and cannot afford so much (afford these NIV).”

[14:21]  ¹⁸ tn See the notes on v. 10 above.