Leviticus 5:1

1 If a soul, that is, (a) man, sinneth, and heareth the voice of an oath, and is (a) witness, that is, (is) required to bear witnessing of a thing that he knoweth, for either he saw, either is witting, if he showeth (it) not, but hideth the truth, he shall bear his sin. (If someone taketh an oath, for he is a witness, for either he saw, or heard, or knoweth something, but if he hideth the truth, and telleth it not, he sinneth, and he shall bear his sin.)

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


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 If a soul, that is, (a) man, sinneth, and heareth the voice of an oath, and is (a) witness, that is, (is) required to bear witnessing of a thing that he knoweth, for either he saw, either is witting, if he showeth (it) not, but hideth the truth, he shall bear his sin. (If someone taketh an oath, for he is a witness, for either he saw, or heard, or knoweth something, but if he hideth the truth, and telleth it not, he sinneth, and he shall bear his sin.)
2 A person that toucheth any unclean thing, or which is slain of a beast, either is dead by itself, either toucheth any other creeping beast, and forgetteth his uncleanness, he is guilty, and trespasseth. (A person who toucheth any unclean thing, such as the dead body of an unclean beast killed by another beast, or one which dieth naturally, or the body of an unclean creeping beast, that is, an unclean reptile, and forgetteth its uncleanness, he is guilty, and trespasseth.)
3 And if he toucheth anything of the uncleanness of man, by all the uncleanness by which he is wont to be defouled (Or if he toucheth anything of the uncleanness of man, by all the uncleanness by which he is wont to be defiled), and he forgetteth it, and knoweth this afterward, he shall be subject to that trespass.
4 A soul that sweareth (Anyone who maketh an oath), and bringeth forth with his lips, that he should do either evil, or well, and doeth it not, and confirmeth the same thing with an oath, either with a word, and forgetteth what he swore, or said, and afterward understandeth his trespass,
5 do he penance for his sin,
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.