Leviticus 5:1

1 Whe a soule hath synned ad herde the voyce of cursyng ad is a witnesse: whether he hath sene or knowne of it yf he haue not vttered it, he shall bere his synne.

Leviticus 5:1 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 5:1

And if a soul sin
The soul is put for the person, and is particularly mentioned, as Ben Melech says, because possessed of will and desire:

and hear the voice of swearing;
or cursing, or adjuration; not of profane swearing, and taking the name of God in vain, but either of false swearing, or perjury, as when a man hears another swear to a thing which he knows is false; or else of adjuration, either the voice of a magistrate or of a neighbour adjuring another, calling upon him with an oath to bear testimony in such a case; this is what the Jews

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 call the oath of testimony or witness, and which they say ^F19 is binding in whatsoever language it is heard:

and is a witness;
is able to bear witness to the thing he is adjured about:

whether he hath seen or known of it;
what he has seen with his eyes, or knows by any means: of such a case, the Jews observe ^F20, that there may be seeing without knowing, or knowing without seeing, and in either case a man ought to bear witness:

if he do not utter it;
tell the truth, declare what he has seen or known:

then he shall bear his iniquity;
he shall be charged with sin, and be obliged to acknowledge his offence, and bring a trespass offering for it: it is said ^F21, that the witnesses are not guilty of the oath of the testimony, but in these ten cases; if they are required; if the testimony is concerning goods; if the goods are movable; if he that requires binds himself to pay for their testimony only, in case they bear witness; if they refuse after required; if they refuse in the sanhedrim; if the adjuration or oath is made there by the name of God, or his titles; if knowledge of the testimony goes before the oath; if he particularizes his witnesses in the time of the oath, or at the time of the requirement; and if the oath is in a language they understood.

F18 Misn. Sotah, c. 7. 1.
F19 Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 33. 1.
F20 T. Bab. Shebuot, fol. 33. 2. & 34. 1.
F21 Maimon. Hilchot, Shebuot, c. 9. sect. 3.

Leviticus 5:1 In-Context

1 Whe a soule hath synned ad herde the voyce of cursyng ad is a witnesse: whether he hath sene or knowne of it yf he haue not vttered it, he shall bere his synne.

2 Ether when a ma toucheth any vnclene thinge: whether it be the caryon of an vnclene beest or of vnclene catell or vnclene worme and is not warre of it, he is also vnclene and hath offended.

3 Ether when he toucheth any vnclennesse of ma (what soeuer vnclennesse it be that a man is defyled with all) and is not warre of it and afterwarde cometh to the knowlege of it, he is a trespaser.

4 Ether when a soule sweareth: so that he pronounceth with his lippes to do euell or to do good (what soeuer it be that a man pronounceth with an othe) and the thinge be out of his mynde and afterwarde cometh to the knowlege of it, than he hath offended in one of these.

5 Than when he hath synned in one of these thinges, he shall confesse that wherein that he hath synned,