Leviticus 5:5

5 "'When anyone is guilty of any of these things, he must tell how 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.

---

FOOTNOTES:

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

Leviticus 5:5 In-Context

3 "'Someone might touch human uncleanness -- anything that makes someone unclean -- and not know it. But when he learns about it, he will be guilty.

4 "'Or someone might make a promise before the Lord without thinking. It might be a promise to do something bad or something good; it might be about anything. Even if he forgets about it, when he remembers, he will be guilty.

5 "'When anyone is guilty of any of these things, he must tell how he sinned.

6 He must bring an offering to the Lord as a penalty for sin; it must be a female lamb or goat from the flock. The priest will perform the acts to remove that person's sin so he will belong to the Lord.

7 "'But if the person cannot afford a lamb, he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the Lord as the penalty for his sin. One bird must be for a sin offering, and the other must be for a whole burnt offering.