“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.
Parallel translations
- WEB “If anyone commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly, in the holy things of Yahweh; then he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, a ram without defect from the flock, according to your estimation in silver by shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering.
- KJV If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering:
- NKJV “If a person commits a trespass, and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of the Lord, then he shall bring to the Lord as his trespass offering a ram without blemish from the flocks, with your valuation in shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, as a trespass offering.
- NASB “If a person acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against the Lord’s holy things, then he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your assessment in silver by shekels, in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary, as a guilt offering.
- NLT “If one of you commits a sin by unintentionally defiling the Lord’s sacred property, you must bring a guilt offering to the Lord. The offering must be your own ram with no defects, or you may buy one of equal value with silver, as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel.
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
Unintentional offenses against holy things require a ram and a valued trespass offering. Even unknowing wrongs against God's holiness demand atonement.
Overview
The guilt offering addresses trespass in 'the holy things,' such as withholding due offerings or tithes, even when done in ignorance. A ram of assessed value was required, reflecting the seriousness of robbing God of what is His. This sharpens our sense that we owe God everything and fall short, a debt finally satisfied by Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Exod 30:13Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.
- Ezra 10:19They pledged to send their wives away, and for their guilt they presented a ram from the flock as a guilt offering.
- Lev 4:2“Tell the Israelites to do as follows with one who sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s commandments and does what is forbidden by them:
- Lev 7:6Every male among the priests may eat of it. It must be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy.
- Deut 15:19–20You must set apart to the LORD your God every firstborn male produced by your herds and flocks. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor are you to shear the firstborn of your flock.
- Lev 6:6Then he must bring to the priest his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock.
- Lev 27:9–33If he vows an animal that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any such animal given to the LORD shall be holy.
- Lev 22:1–16Then the LORD said to Moses,
- Lev 7:1“Now this is the law of the guilt offering, which is most holy:
- Lev 26:17–18And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- Num 18:9–32A portion of the most holy offerings reserved from the fire will be yours. From all the offerings they render to Me as most holy offerings, whether grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons.
- Lev 5:1–2“If someone sins by failing to testify when he hears a public charge about something he has witnessed, whether he has seen it or learned of it, he shall bear the iniquity.
- Lev 26:23–27And if in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but continue to walk in hostility toward Me,
- Lev 5:18He is to bring to the priest an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock as a guilt offering. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the wrong he has committed in ignorance, and he will be forgiven.
- Lev 10:17–18“Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the congregation by making atonement for them before the LORD.
- Lev 24:5–9You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf,
- Deut 12:26But you are to take your holy things and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD will choose.
- Deut 12:5–12Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
- Lev 26:2–8You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.
- Num 5:8But if the man has no relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the LORD and must be given to the priest along with the ram of atonement, by which the atonement is made for him.
- Lev 5:16Regarding any holy thing he has harmed, he must make restitution by adding a fifth of its value to it and giving it to the priest, who will make atonement on his behalf with the ram as a guilt offering, and he will be forgiven.
- Lev 26:12–13I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.
- Deut 26:1–15When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and settle in it,
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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 5:15 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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