Leviticus 5:5

5 A person guilty of any of these things is to confess in what manner he sinned

Leviticus 5:5 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 5:5

And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these
things
Before expressed in the preceding verses; the Targum of Jonathan is,

``in one of the four things,''

which Ben Gersom particularly mentions in the oath of witness, or the pollution of the sanctuary, or the pollution of its holy things, or a vain oath:

that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that [thing];
not make confession of sin in general, but of that particular sin he is guilty of; and this he was to do before he brought his offering, or at least at the time of his bringing it; for without confession his offering would be of no avail; and which he made, as Ben Gersom says, by laying his hand on the head of the offering, thereby signifying and declaring his guilt, and that he deserved to die as the creature would about to be sacrificed for him; or he might make a verbal confession and acknowledgment of his offence. Fagius, from the Jewish writers, has given us the form of it, which was this;

``I beseech thee, O Lord, I have sinned, I have done wickedly, I have transgressed before thee, so and so have I done; and, lo, I repent, and am ashamed of what I have done, and I will never do the same again.''

Though perhaps this form may be of too modern a date, yet doubtless somewhat like this was pronounced; and they make confession of sin necessary to all sacrifices, and say ^F24, atonement is not made by them without repentance and confession.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 Maimon. Hilchot Teshubah, c. 1. sect. 1.

Leviticus 5:5 In-Context

3 If he touches some human uncleanness, no matter what the source of his uncleanness is, and is unaware of it, then, when he learns of it, he is guilty.

4 If someone allows to slip from his mouth an oath to do evil or to do good, and he doesn't remember that he clearly spoke this oath, then, no matter what it was about, when he learns of it, he is guilty.

5 A person guilty of any of these things is to confess in what manner he sinned

6 and bring his guilt offering to ADONAI for the sin he committed; it is to be a female from the flock, either a lamb or a goat, as a sin offering; and the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to his sin.

7 "'If he can't afford a lamb, he is to bring as his guilt offering for the sin he committed two doves or two young pigeons for ADONAI - the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.