The
Lord spoke
to Moses, saying: “Speak to the Israelites: When a man or a woman
wrongs another, breaking faith with the Lord,
that person incurs guilt and shall confess the sin that has been
committed.1
The person shall make full restitution for the wrong, adding
one-fifth to it, and giving it to the one who was wronged.2
If the injured party has no next-of-kin to whom restitution may be
made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the Lord
for the priest,3
in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for
the guilty party. Among all the sacred donations of the Israelites,
every gift that they bring to the priest shall be his. The sacred
donations of all are their own; whatever anyone gives to the priest
shall be his.”4
1 No means of discovering the wrong is detailed other than confession.
1 No means of discovering the wrong is detailed other than confession.
2
The wrong is assumed to be financial.
3
Strangely, the priest gets benefit. It does not say why the
aggrieved party does not – perhaps it was they who were killed?
But if so, wouldn't execution be the next step?
4
Three times in a row it is emphasized that gifts go to the priest.
Take-home: Restitution is commanded for instances of some unspecified “wronging” of another.
No comments:
Post a Comment