Numbers 5:7

7 The person is to confess the sin he has committed. He is to pay full compensation, add a fifth of its value to it, and give [it] to the individual he has wronged.^[a]

Numbers 5:7 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 5:7

Then they shall confess their sin which they have done
The form of which confession, according to Fagius, was, O Lord, I am guilty of death, I have deserved to be stoned for this sin, or to be strangled for this trespass, or to be burnt for this crime

and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and
add unto it the fifth [part] thereof;
paying the whole of whatsoever he had in any manner defrauded his neighbour of, to which he was to add a fifth part of that; that is, as Aben Ezra interprets it, it he confesses of himself, but if there are witnesses of it he must add two fifths, and some say a fifth of a fifth:

and give [it] unto [him] against whom he hath trespassed;
as a satisfaction for the injury done him.

Numbers 5:7 In-Context

5 The Lord spoke to Moses:

6 "Tell the Israelites: When a man or woman commits any sin against another, that person acts unfaithfully toward the Lord and is guilty.

7 The person is to confess the sin he has committed. He is to pay full compensation, add a fifth of its value to it, and give [it] to the individual he has wronged.

8 But if that individual has no relative to receive compensation, the compensation goes to the Lord for the priest, along with the atonement ram by which the priest will make atonement for the [guilty] person.

9 Every holy contribution the Israelites present to the priest will be his.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lv 6:1-5