Leviticus 5:1-13

When any of you sin in that you have heard a public adjuration to testify and—though able to testify as one who has seen or learned of the matter—does not speak up, you are subject to punishment.¹

Or when any of you touch any unclean thing—whether the carcass of an unclean beast or the carcass of unclean livestock or the carcass of an unclean swarming thing—and are unaware of it, you have become unclean, and are guilty.²

Or when you touch human uncleanness—any uncleanness by which one can become unclean—and are unaware of it, when you come to know it, you shall be guilty.³

Or when any of you utter aloud a rash oath⁴ for a bad or a good purpose, whatever people utter in an oath,⁵ and are unaware of it, when you come to know it, you shall in any of these be guilty.⁶

When you realize your guilt in any of these,⁷ you shall confess the sin that you have committed.⁸ And you shall bring to the Lord, as your penalty⁹ for the sin that you have committed, a female from the flock, a sheep or a goat, as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement on your behalf for your sin.¹⁰

But if you cannot afford a sheep, you shall bring to the Lord, as your penalty for the sin that you have committed, two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.¹¹ You shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer first the one for the sin offering, wringing its head at the nape without severing it. He shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering.¹² And the second he shall offer for a burnt offering according to the regulation. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf for the sin that you have committed, and you shall be forgiven.

But if you cannot afford two turtledoves or two pigeons, you shall bring as your offering for the sin that you have committed one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour for a sin offering;¹³ you shall not put oil on it or lay frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. You shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall scoop up a handful of it as its memorial portion, and turn this into smoke on the altar, with the offerings by fire to the Lord; it is a sin offering. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf¹⁴ for whichever of these sins you have committed, and you shall be forgiven. Like the grain offering, the rest shall be for the priest.¹⁵

1 This makes sense still today – in order to maintain law and justice in a society, every citizen must be willing to testify as to what they have seen. This says “subject to punishment”, not “unclean”, like the next two verses.

2 On one hand, the designation between “clean” and “unclean” animals seems arbitrary. On the other hand, avoiding the touching of carcasses seems mostly a good thing. In the New Testament, the idea of unclean animals is challenged.

3 If by “human uncleanness”, this means the various emissions of a human body, then once again a practical wisdom in the verse can be seen. However, the great potential for abuse (in making humans in various oppressive circumstances 'unclean' to society in addition to their other woes) looms large. Once again, Jesus's actions in the New Testament (touching of lepers and the bleeding woman) defy this categorization.

4 My Study Bible interprets this as “a vow that is not carried out”.

5 Quite broad!

6 The taking of vows is extremely serious here. Today, this importance has for the most part withered, perhaps not for the better.

7 Why are these four sins combined in one account? They seem like such a motley, unrelated grouping.

8 The first step, even before sacrifice, is to acknowledge your error and confess it.

9 To sacrifice is to pay a penalty.

10 Repentance by itself is not enough – you must also pay the penalty and get intercession from the priest in the form of sacrifice.

11 The concept that the penalty to be paid is in line with the sinner's ability to pay is a clear issue of justice here. Some modern legal systems incorporate this principle, though not the American one.

12 The actions to be taken with the bird sacrifice are described in clear detail, which has a secondary benefit of making it clear that this is no “lesser” sacrifice.

13 An even less costly option is provided for the truly destitute who cannot even afford the birds.

14 Once again emphasizing that the priest's actions are necessary to atone for sin, but also that the sin is truly forgiven.

15 The priests do gain a benefit from this sacrifice.


Take-home: Some specific sins are described, along with the process for atoning for them. A progression of atonement is clear: first one must realize the sin, then one must confess the sin, then one must pay the penalty of a sacrifice for the sin, and then the priest will make atonement on one's behalf via the sacrifice. A principle of economic justice is included – those who are poor or very poor can make correspondingly more affordable sacrifices and still gain the same atonement.