Leviticus 6:5

5 or all that concerning which he sweareth falsely, he hath even repaid it in its principal, and its fifth he is adding to it; to him whose it [is] he giveth it in the day of his guilt-offering.

Leviticus 6:5 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 6:5

Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely
In all and each of the above cases, in which he had committed a trespass and denied it, and to the denial adds a false oath, and yet after all acknowledges it:

he shall even restore it in the principal;
whatsoever he has embezzled, or cheated another of, or detained from the right owner, the whole of that was to be restored:

and shall add the fifth part more thereto;
to the principal, see ( Leviticus 5:16 ) but Maimonides ^F12 says, this was an instruction to add a fifth to a fifth; and Aben Ezra takes the word to be plural, and observes, that the least of many is two, and so two fifths were to be added to the principal, but the first sense seems best:

[and] give it unto him to whom appertaineth;
as, to his neighbour, who had deposited anything in his hands; or his partner, he had any ways wronged; or whomsoever he had defrauded in any respect; or the proprietor of lost goods; Ben Gersom observes, it was not to be given to his son, nor to his messenger: in the case of taking anything away by violence, though but the value of a farthing, it is said, that he shall be obliged to bring it after him (from whom he has taken it) even unto Media (should he be there); he shall not give it to his son, nor to his messenger, but he may give it to the messenger of the sanhedrim; and if he dies, he must return it to his heirs ^F13:

in the day of his trespass [offering];
when he brings that, but restoration must first be made: the Targum of Jonathan renders it, in the day he repents of his sin: and so Aben Ezra interprets it,

``in the day he returns from his trespass;''

when he owns and confesses it, is sorry for it, and determines to do so no more. Maimonides observes ^F14, that one that takes away anything by violence (which is one of the cases supposed) is not fined so much as a thief; he only restores the principal; for the fifth part is for his false oath; the reasons of which are, because robbery is not so frequently, and is more easily committed, and is more open, and against which persons may guard and make resistance, and the robber is more known than a thief who steals secretly; see ( Exodus 22:1 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 In Misn. Trumot, c. 6. sect. 1.
F13 Misnah Bava Kama, c. 9. sect. 6.
F14 Ut supra, (^F12) c. 41.

Leviticus 6:5 In-Context

3 or hath found a lost thing, and hath lied concerning it, and hath sworn to a falsehood, concerning one of all [these] which man doth, sinning in them:

4 `Then it hath been, when he sinneth, and hath been guilty, that he hath returned the plunder which he hath taken violently away, or the thing which he hath got by oppression, or the deposit which hath been deposited with him, or the lost thing which he hath found;

5 or all that concerning which he sweareth falsely, he hath even repaid it in its principal, and its fifth he is adding to it; to him whose it [is] he giveth it in the day of his guilt-offering.

6 `And his guilt-offering he bringeth in to Jehovah, a ram, a perfect one, out of the flock, at thy estimation, for a guilt-offering, unto the priest,

7 and the priest hath made atonement for him before Jehovah, and it hath been forgiven him, concerning one thing of all that he doth, by being guilty therein.'