If anyone eats a sacred offering in error, he must add a fifth to its value and give the sacred offering to the priest.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘If a man eats something holy unwittingly, then he shall add the fifth part of its value to it, and shall give the holy thing to the priest.
- KJV And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing.
- NKJV ‘And if a man eats the holy offering unintentionally, then he shall restore a holy offering to the priest, and add one-fifth to it.
- NASB If, however, someone eats a holy food unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy food to the priest.
- NLT “Any such person who eats the sacred offerings without realizing it must pay the priest for the amount eaten, plus an additional 20 percent.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Anyone who eats a holy offering unintentionally must restore it plus a fifth and give it to the priest.
Overview
Even unwitting misuse of holy things required restitution with an added fifth, showing that the holiness of God's portions was not excused by ignorance. The added portion taught that sin against the sacred costs more than mere replacement. This points forward to Christ, whose full restitution for our guilt restores what we could never repay (Colossians 2:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Lev 27:13If, however, the owner decides to redeem the animal, he must add a fifth to its value.
- Lev 27:15But if he who consecrated his house redeems it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it will belong to him.
- Lev 5:15–19“If someone acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s holy things, he must bring his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram from the flock, of proper value in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel; it is a guilt offering.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 22:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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