Leviticus 6:3

3 sive rem perditam invenerit et infitians insuper peierarit et quodlibet aliud ex pluribus fecerit in quibus peccare solent homines

Leviticus 6:3 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 6:3

Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it,
&c.] Who having found anything lost, at once concludes it his own, and converts it to his own use, never inquiring after the proprietor of it, or taking any method to get knowledge of him, and restore it to him; but so far from that, being suspected of finding it, and charged with it denies it: Maimonides F11 gives a reason why a lost thing should be restored, not only because so to do is a virtue in itself praiseworthy, but because it has a reciprocal utility; for if you do not restore another's lost things, neither will your own be restored to you:

and sweareth falsely;
which is to be understood, not of the last case only, but of all the rest, or of anyone of them, as it follows:

in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein;
by unfaithfulness in a trust, cheating, defrauding, lying, and false swearing.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 40.

Leviticus 6:3 In-Context

1 locutus est Dominus ad Mosen dicens
2 anima quae peccaverit et contempto Domino negaverit depositum proximo suo quod fidei eius creditum fuerat vel vi aliquid extorserit aut calumniam fecerit
3 sive rem perditam invenerit et infitians insuper peierarit et quodlibet aliud ex pluribus fecerit in quibus peccare solent homines
4 convicta delicti reddet
5 omnia quae per fraudem voluit obtinere integra et quintam insuper partem domino cui damnum intulerat
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.