Leviticus 5:15

15 1"If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the LORD, 2he shall bring to the LORD as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued[a] in silver shekels,[b] according to the 3shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering.

Leviticus 5:15 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 5:15

If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance in
the holy things of the Lord
In the payment of tithes, or offering first fruits as he ought, by withholding them, or any part of them, or through eating of sacred things he ought not:

then shall he bring for his trespass unto the Lord;
for it being a trespass in holy things, it might be properly called a trespass to or against the Lord; unless this is rather to be understood of the offering brought to the Lord for his trespass as follows:

a ram without blemish out of the flocks;
out of the sheep and not the goats, as Ben Gersom observes; and this being for sacrifice, or for a trespass in holy things though ignorantly done, an offering of more value is required than for sins of ignorance in other cases, ( Leviticus 5:6 ) a type of Christ, who for his strength may be compared to a ram, and to one without blemish, for his purity and holiness, and to a choice one, selected out of the flock, for his being chosen out from among the people:

with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the
sanctuary, for a trespass offering;
that is, either an estimation was to be taken of the damage done in the holy things, an account of which was to be brought along with the ram, and the cost paid; or else the ram brought was to be of the value of, or worth shekels of silver; and the least of many being two, as Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom observe, the sense is, that the ram brought for the trespass offering should be at least worth two shekels of silver; so Jarchi and Ben Gersom.

Leviticus 5:15 In-Context

13 Thus the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed in any one of these things, and he shall be forgiven. And the remainder shall be for the priest, as in the grain offering."
14 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
15 "If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the LORD, he shall bring to the LORD as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering.
16 He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.
17 "If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the LORD's commandments ought not to be done, though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity.

Cross References 3

  • 1. Leviticus 22:14; [Ezra 10:2]
  • 2. [Ezra 10:19]
  • 3. See Exodus 30:13

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Or flock, or its equivalent
  • [b]. A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.