💾 Archived View for scholasticdiversity.us.to › scriptures › jewish › t › Steinsaltz%20on%20Leviticu… captured on 2024-05-10 at 13:35:00. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
5 ‎[1] In contrast to the sin offerings mentioned above, the offerings discussed below pertain to a number of specific transgressions that do not carry a punishment of excision from the World to Come when they are performed intentionally. Additionally, whereas the regular sin offering is fixed, the offerings discussed below are known as sliding-scale offerings,
58 as their value depends on the sinner’s financial ability. Some commentaries explain that in the case of the three transgressions mentioned below, the sinner does not usually derive any benefit from the transgression. This is in contrast to the cases where one is liable to bring a fixed sin offering, in which the sin generally involves pleasure or personal benefit. 59 **If a person sins, in that he hears the voice of an oath **directed at him, **and he is a witness, who either saw **a certain occurrence **or knew **of a certain matter, **if he does not tell **whatever he knows, **he shall bear his iniquity **and receive his punishment. The case described here is where a plaintiff claims that another individual has information supporting his case. The individual refuses to testify, denying under oath that he has information about the case. Since he lied, either intentionally or unwittingly, after an oath was administered to him requiring him to testify, he must bring an offering to atone for his sin.
‎[2] **Or a person who touches any impure thing: The carcass of a non-pure beast, the carcass of a non-pure animal, or the carcass of an impure swarming animal, and it is hidden from him, **that is, he forgot that he is impure, **and he is impure, and he is guilty. **In such a case one must also bring a sin offering. Similar to most sin offerings, this sin offering is brought to atone for an unwitting transgression. The guilt referred to here is not because of the person’s ritual impurity in itself, as there is no sin involved in being ritually impure, and although it is preferable to become ritually pure, one is not required to do so. 60 The person’s guilt is because he acted in the manner of a ritually pure individual, either entering the Temple or partaking of sacrificial food, and in doing so he defiled the Temple or sacred items. 61
‎[3] **Or if he touches human impurity, in any impurity with which he will become impure, and it is hidden from him; and he knew, and he is guilty. **This law does not pertain to one who never knew that he was rendered impure, e.g., if one touched an impure object in the dark without realizing it; it applies only to one who knew that he had become impure and subsequently forgot. 62
‎[4] **Or, **lastly, a sin offering must be brought by **a person who takes an oath, to express with lips **an undertaking **to do harm **to himself by abstaining from a certain matter **or to do good **to himself by performing a certain matter, **for everything that a person shall express in an oath, and it was **subsequently **hidden from him, **as he forgot his oath. He violated his oath, **and he **subsequently **knew and he is guilty of **violating **one of these **oaths. While in the case of an oath of testimony (see verse 1) the oath was administered by another, 63 in this case one took an oath at his own initiative and subsequently forgot his oath and unwittingly violated it, either actively or by failing to perform his undertaking. This type of oath is known as an oath on an utterance. 64
‎[5] Three transgressions were mentioned so far: One who refrained from testifying on behalf of another and swore falsely that he does not know of relevant information; one who entered the Temple or partook of sacrificial food while he was ritually impure; and one who took an oath to perform or to abstain from a particular activity and violated his oath.
**It shall be when he is guilty of one of these **transgressions, **he shall confess with regard to that which he sinned. **It is not sufficient that one is aware of his guilt. He must verbally confess his sin, and only then may he bring a sin offering. 65
‎[6] Once the sinner has confessed, he takes action to achieve atonement.
**He shall bring his restitution, **his offering, 66 **to the Lord for his sin that he sinned. **Beyond the violation of specific prohibitions, there is an aspect of each of these actions that defines it as particularly improper behavior toward God. The sinner expresses his guilt by bringing **a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, as a sin offering; and the priest shall atone for him for his sin, **performing the rites of the sin offering as described above (4:27–35).
‎[7] **If his means do not suffice for **the purchase of **a lamb, he shall bring his restitution, **his offering, **for that which he sinned, two turtledoves or two young pigeons, to the Lord: One as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering. **Instead of an animal sin offering, a poor man may bring two birds, which are much cheaper, and only one of them is sacrificed as a sin offering.
‎[8] **He shall bring them to the priest, and **the priest **shall offer that **bird **which is **intended **for the sin offering first. He shall pinch off its head adjacent to its nape **with his thumbnail, cutting the back of its neck below the cranium, 67 **but **the priest **shall not separate **the head from the body. The Mishna cites a dispute among the Sages with regard to whether the offering is fit in a case where the priest separated the head from the body. 68
‎[9] **He shall sprinkle from the blood of the sin offering, **from the cut in the bird’s neck, **on the wall of the altar; and the remainder of the blood shall be squeezed at the base of the altar **by pressing the bird against the wall of the altar or by squeezing the bird’s neck with his hand, 69 so that the remainder of the blood flows down to the base of the altar. **It is a sin offering. **
‎[10] In
contrast to the animal sin offering, there are no sacrificial portions burned on the altar from the bird sin offering. The sinner is therefore required to bring a burnt offering as well: **And the second **bird **he shall prepare as a burnt offering, in accordance with the procedure **stated above (1:14–17). The priest pinches off the bird’s head, severing it from the body, squeezes out the blood on the wall of the altar, and burns the bird on the altar in its entirety, after removing its crop. **And the priest shall atone for him **with the two bird offerings **for his sin that he sinned, and it shall be forgiven for him. **
‎[11] **If **he is so poor that **his means do not suffice **even **for two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he shall bring his offering for that which he sinned, one-tenth of an ephah of high-quality flour as a sin offering. **However, **he shall not place oil on it, nor shall he place frankincense on it, as it is a sin offering. **Whereas the gift meal offering is mixed with oil and brought together with frankincense, it is fitting for the meal offering of a sinner to be plain and modest. 70
‎[12] **He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful from it, his full handful **, 71 **its memorial portion, and **he shall **burn it on the altar, on the fire offerings of the Lord; it is a sin offering. **
‎[13] **The priest shall atone for his sin that he sinned for one of these, and it shall be forgiven for him; and it, **the remainder of the meal offering of the sinner that is not burned, **shall be for the priest like the meal offering, **and he is commanded to eat it.
‎[14] **The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: **
‎[15] **A person who commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly with regard to the sacred items of the Lord, he shall bring his restitution, **his offering, **to the Lord. **If one unwittingly derives personal benefit from consecrated property that belongs to the Temple treasury, or eats sacred food, and subsequently discovers that he derived benefit from these sacred items, he is required to make restitution. He shall bring **an **
‎[16] In addition to bringing a guilt offering,
**that which he sinned **by taking or benefiting **from the sacred **property **he shall pay, and one-fifth of it he shall add to it **as a penalty, **and he shall give it to the priest; the priest shall atone for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and it shall be forgiven for him. **This offering is known as a guilt offering brought for misuse of consecrated property. 74
‎[17] The Torah discusses a second type of guilt offering:
**And if a person sins and performs one of all the commandments of the Lord that shall not be performed, and he did not know **whether or not he committed a sin, **and he is guilty, and he shall bear his iniquity, **and receive his punishment. 75
‎[18] **He shall bring an unblemished ram from the flock, according to the valuation **of at least two silver shekels (see verse 15), **as a guilt offering to the priest. The priest shall atone for him for the unwitting sin that he performed unwittingly, and he did not know ** at the time that he presented the offering whether or not he had committed a sin, **and it shall be forgiven for him. **
‎[19] **It is a guilt offering. **Lest one think that he need not be overly concerned about uncertain transgression, the verse emphasizes that **he is guilty to the Lord **. 76
‎[20] **The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: **
‎[21] The Torah introduces the third type of guilt offering:
**A person who sins and commits a trespass against the Lord, and lies to his counterpart with regard to a deposit, **by using the other person’s deposit for his own benefit and subsequently denying his actions; **or with regard to **money received as **a loan, **and he does not return the money; **or with regard to **open **robbery **that he denies having perpetrated; **or **he **exploited his counterpart, **e.g., by refusing to pay the wages due to him. 77
‎[22] **Or **the trespass occurs when one **finds a lost item, and **when the owner demands its return, the finder **lies in its regard, **claiming that he does not have it. **And **moreover, the sinner **takes a false oath about one of all that a person does to sin with regard to these. **In each of these cases the sinner has taken another’s property, denied doing so, and taken a false oath to that effect.
‎[23] **It shall be when he sins and is guilty, he shall restore **to its owner **the robbed item that he robbed, or the proceeds of the exploitation that he exploited, or the deposit that was deposited with him, or the lost item that he found, **whether it was money or other items.
‎[24] **Or **in **any **similar case concerning an **item with regard to which he has taken a false oath, he shall repay its principal, **the value of whatever he stole or withheld, **and one-fifth of it he shall add to it **as a penalty. **To him to whom it belongs, he shall give it, **the total sum, **on the day **on which he recognizes the fact **of his guilt, **regrets his deed, and confesses. 78
‎[25] After he returns the money,
79 **his restitution, **his offering, **he shall bring to the Lord **, **an unblemished ram from the flock, according to the valuation **of at least two silver shekels (see verse 15), **as a guilt offering, to the priest. **This offering is known as the guilt offering for robbery. 80
‎[26] **The priest shall atone for him before the Lord, **performing the rites of the guilt offering as described below (7:1–5). **And it shall be forgiven for him, for one of all that he may perform to incur guilt. **
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-steinsaltz-tanakh/products/steinsaltz-tanakh
License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center