Leviticus 5:3

3 Or [if] he touches human uncleanness^[a]-any uncleanness by which one can become defiled-without being aware of it, but [later] recognizes [it], he is guilty.

Leviticus 5:3 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 5:3

Or if he touch the uncleanness of man
The dead body of a man, or the bone of a dead body, or a grave, or any profluvious or menstruous person:

whatsoever uncleanness [it be] that a man shall be defiled withal:
not morally, but ceremonially:

and it be hid from him;
he is not sensible that he has touched any thing ceremonially unclean:

when he knoweth [of it], then he shall be guilty:
acknowledge his guilt, and offer a sacrifice for it, as after directed.

Leviticus 5:3 In-Context

1 "When someone sins [in any of these ways]: [If] he has seen, heard, or known about something he has witnessed, and did not respond to a public call to testify, he is guilty.

2 Or [if] someone touches anything unclean-a carcass of an unclean wild animal, or unclean livestock, or an unclean swarming creature -without being aware of it, he is unclean and guilty.

3 Or [if] he touches human uncleanness-any uncleanness by which one can become defiled-without being aware of it, but [later] recognizes [it], he is guilty.

4 Or [if] someone swears rashly to do what is good or evil-concerning anything a person may speak rashly in an oath-without being aware of it, but [later] recognizes it, he incurs guilt in such an instance.

5 If someone incurs guilt in one of these cases, he is to confess he has committed that sin.

Footnotes

• [a] Lv 12:2; 15:2,19; 18:19