Leviticus 6:3

3 or have found what was lost, and denieth it, and sweareth falsely in anything of all that man doeth, sinning therein;

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Leviticus 6:3 In-Context

1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

2 If any one sin and act unfaithfully against Jehovah, and lie to his neighbour as to an entrusted thing or a deposit or [that in which] he hath robbed or wronged his neighbour,

3 or have found what was lost, and denieth it, and sweareth falsely in anything of all that man doeth, sinning therein;

4 then it shall be, if he hath sinned and transgressed, that he shall restore what he robbed or that in which he hath defrauded, or the deposit, or the lost thing which he found,

5 or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; and he shall restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto; to [him to] whom it belongeth shall he give it, on the day of his trespass-offering.