The Sin-Offering of the Leader

22 If a leader of Israel sins by unintentionally transgressing any of the passive commandments of God, his God, thereby incurring guilt, then—

23 if the sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring his offering, an unblemished male goat up to a year old,1 to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

24 He must lean his hand forcefully upon the goat’s head and slaughter it in the place where he slaughters ascent-offerings, i.e., on the north side of the Altar, before God, i.e., within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle. He must slaughter it with the intention that it be a sin-offering and that it undergo the procedures applying to sin-offerings; otherwise, it becomes invalidated. The same applies to all sin-offerings.2

25 The priest must ascend the ramp of the Altar, take some of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and place it on the four protrusions of the Altar used for ascent-offerings. (If, however, he applies the blood to only one of the protrusions, the sacrifice is still valid after the fact.3) He must then descend the ramp and pour the rest of its blood onto the south side4 of the base of the Altar used for ascent-offerings.

26 He must burn up all its fat on the Altar, just like the fat of the peace-offering of goats.5 Thus the priest makes atonement for the leader’s sin so that he may be forgiven. The remainder of the goat is eaten by the priests, like that of the sin-offering of an individual.6

In contrast to the special sin-offering of the high priest, which, as stated above,7 will only impress the people with the importance of seeking atonement for their sins (since the concept of atonement is the essence of the priesthood), the special sin-offering for the leader will impress the people with the necessity to guard themselves from sinning in the first place (for his function is to lead the people and govern them properly). Seeing that their leader is sufficiently cognizant of the gravity of sin to take care to atone for his inadvertent sins (and is therefore certainly sufficiently cognizant of the gravity of sin to repent for his intentional sins), the rest of the people will be inspired to similarly guard themselves from sin—and of course, if they do sin, even inadvertently, to seek atonement.8

Sin-Offerings from Individuals

Sixth Reading27Now that we have discussed the special sin-offerings for the nation’s leaders, we will now turn to the sin-offering brought by an ordinary individual. If some other person, who is one of the common people of the land, unintentionally commits a sin punishable by excision if committed intentionally, by his (or her) transgressing any of the passive commandments of God, thereby incurring guilt, then—

28 if his sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring either a goat or a sheep as a sin-offering.

If he chooses to bring a goat, then he must bring his sacrifice, an unblemished female goat, for his sin that he committed, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

29 He must lean his hand forcefully on the sin-offering’s head and slaughter the animal—with the intention that it be a sin-offering—in the place where the ascent-offering is slaughtered, i.e., on the north side of the Altar within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle.

30 The priest must ascend the ramp of the Altar, take some of animal’s blood with his finger, and place it on the four protrusions of the Altar used for ascent-offerings. If, however, he applies the blood to only one of the protrusions, the sacrifice is still valid after the fact.9 He must then descend the ramp and pour all of its remaining blood onto the south side10 of the base of the Altar.

31 He must remove all of its fat, just as the fat would be removed from the peace-offering of goats.11 The priest must then burn it up on the Altar with the intention that it please God. Thus the priest makes atonement for the individual so that he may then be forgiven.

32 If he brings a sheep for his sin-offering, he must bring an unblemished female.

33 He must lean his hand forcefully upon the sin-offering’s head and slaughter it—with the intention that it be a sin-offering—in the place where he slaughters the ascent-offering, i.e., on the north side of the Altar within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle.

34 The priest must ascend the ramp of the Altar, take some of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and place it on the four protrusions of the Altar used for ascent-offerings. If, however, he applies the blood to only one of the protrusions, the sacrifice is still valid after the fact.12 He must thendescend the ramp and pour all of its remaining blood onto the south side13 of the base of the Altar.

35 He must remove all its fat, just as the sheep’s fat is removed from the peace-offering (i.e., similar to the goat but also including the tail).14 The priest must then burn them up on the Altar, upon the fires that are there on which to burn up the sacrifices offered to God. Thus the priest makes atonement for the individual for his sin that he committed, so that he may then be forgiven.

The Variable Sin-Offering

5:1In the following four cases, a person must bring, instead of the ordinary sin-offering, a sin-offering in accordance with his or her means:

You have seen15 (and will see further16) that you must recognize and respect the power of speech, particularly with regard to the consequences of oaths, vows, pledges, dedications, and the like. There are two types of oaths that, if violated, require you to bring the variable sin-offering about to be described.

The first oath regards giving testimony. In general, you should not refrain from testifying in a court case if you have any testimony to offer; in fact, if a litigant asks you to testify on his behalf and you deny having any testimony to offer, the litigant is allowed to make you swear to that effect. If a person sins by having heard a litigant summon him to testify on his behalf by administering to him an oath containing an explicit or implicit curse—and the person is indeed a witness to the incident in question by virtue of having seen it or having otherwise known what happened—if he denies under oath having witnessed the incident and therefore does not testify, he will bear the punitive consequences of his transgression unless he expiates it by offering up this sacrifice. It does not matter, in this case, whether the person swears intentionally or unintentionally.17

The second type of oath whose violation requires you to bring a variable sin-offering will be discussed presently.18

2 Or, it will be explained later that animal carcasses (other than carcasses of permitted animals that were properly ritually slaughtered) impart ritual defilement. Thus, if a person touches the carcass of any spiritually defiled animal, whether it be the carcass of a spiritually defiled wild animal,19 the carcass of a spiritually defiled domestic animal,20 or the carcass of a spiritually defiled crawling animal,21 but he forgot that he had become ritually defiled in this way, and during the period in which he did not know that he was ritually defiled he ate consecrated food or entered the precincts of the Tabernacle (which is punishable by excision if done intentionally22),and he later realizes that he was defiled when he did so, he thereby incurs guilt.

3 Or, it will be explained later that a person contracts ritual defilement through touching a corpse,23 through touching a person who had a seminal or uterine discharge,24 through touching a menstruant,25 through touching a woman after childbirth,26 or through eating carrion of a permitted fowl that was not slaughtered properly (even without otherwise touching it).27 Thus, if someoneeither (a) touches a corpse (either directly or indirectly, i.e., by touching someone who has touched a corpse and has not yet been purified of this defilement), this being the basic form of ritual defilement imparted by a human, or (b) contracts some other form of ritual defilement by touching someone who had a seminal or uterine discharge, a menstruant, or a woman after childbirth, or even (c) touches a man who is defiled on account of having conducted marital relations with a menstruant (and who has not yet been purified of his defilement) and thereby defiles him,28 or (d) eats carrion of a fowl that would have been permitted for consumption had it been properly slaughtered, and in any of these cases, he was originally aware that he had become ritually defiled in this way, but at some later point forgot about it, and during the period in which he did not know that he was ritually defiled he ate consecrated food or entered the Tabernacle precincts, and he later realizes that he was defiled when he did so—he has thereby incurred guilt.

The cases of eating consecrated food or entering the Tabernacle precincts while in a state of ritual defilement are just specific instances of the type of transgression that normally obligates a person to bring a regular sin-offering, namely, inadvertently transgressing a passive commandment punishable by excision if performed intentionally.29 The difference is that the individual is obligated to bring a variable sin-offering only if he knew originally that he had become defiled, forgot about it, and committed the sin before he remembered. Means of atonement for committing this sin under other circumstances will be discussed later.30

4 Or there is the following case, that of violating an “oath of expression”:

If a person swears, pronouncing with his lips his intention to harm himself or to do good to either himself or others in the future; or if he deliberately swears falsely regarding whether any particularevent in the past concerning which a man may make an assertion in an oath actually took place; and, after swearing concerning his intention,the details of the oath escape him, and because of this memory lapse he violates his oath; or, when he deliberately swore falsely concerning something that occurred in the past, he did not realize that doing so would obligate him to offer up this sacrifice,31 and he is later informed that (in the case of intention for the future) he violated the oath or (in the case of swearing falsely about a past event) that what he did obligates him to bring this sacrifice, he thereby incurs guilt in one of these ways.

5 When someone incurs guilt in any one of these cases, he must confess the sin that he committed

6 and bring to God an animal sacrifice in acknowledgment of his guilt in orderto atone for his sin that he committed, this animal being a female from the flock—either a sheep or a goat—which he must then designate as a sin-offering. The priest must then make atonement for his sin by offering up this animal in accordance with all the procedures previously detailed with regard to a sin-offering offered up by an individual.32

7 If he cannot afford a sheep, he must bring, in acknowledgment of his guilt for having sinned, two turtledoves or two young pigeons, of either gender and of the proper age,33 before God, i.e., to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, one for a sin-offering and one for an ascent-offering.

8 He must bring them to the priest, who must first offer up the fowl that is designated as the sin-offering. He must nip off its head by cutting through the nape of its neck below the back of its head with his fingernail, as is done with an ascent-offering of fowl,34 but in this case he must not sever the head completely, by cuttingboth the trachea and the esophagus; rather, he must cut only one or the other.

9Holding the fowl near the Altar, he must sprinkle some of the blood of the sin-offering on the wall of the Altar by raising and lowering the fowl as its blood spurts onto the Altar.35 The remainder of the blood must then be pressed out onto the base of the Altar, as is done with ascent-offerings of fowl.36 The priest must nip the fowl’s head off and sprinkle and press out its blood with the intention that it be considered a sin-offering.

10 He must then offer up the second fowl as an ascent-offering, in accordance with the ordinance described for ascent-offerings of fowl.37 Thus the priest must make atonement for him, for his sin that he had committed, and he will then be forgiven. In this case, atonement consists of two stages: the sin-offering effects pardon and the ascent-offering is a gift to God to reinstate the forgiven sinner in His favor.38

Seventh Reading 11 But if he cannot even afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he must bring as his sacrifice for his sin one-tenth of an ephah [2.5 liters or 2.6 quarts] of fine wheat flour for a sin-offering. The same procedures followed for preparing and offering up an unbaked grain-offering39 should be followed with this flour, except that he must not pour any oil over it, nor may he place any frankincense on it, for it is a sin-offering, and it is not appropriate for a sin-offering to be so embellished.

12 He must then bring it to the priest, becausefrom this point on, the sacrificial procedures are to be performed by them. The priest must bring the grain-offering to the Altar; after having done this, the priest must scoop out a precise fistful as its memorial portion and burn it up on the Altar, upon the fires that are there on which to burn up the sacrifices offered up to God. Scooping out the memorial portion and burning it up must be performed with the intention that it be considered a sin-offering.

13 Thus the priest will make atonement for his sin that he committed—whether it was through violating an oath regarding testimony, eating consecrated food or entering the Tabernacle in a state of defilement, or violating an oath of expression—through any one of these sacrificial rites, and he will be forgiven, provided that his sacrifice is in accordance with his means.

In the case of a lay sinner’s grain-offering, the remainder of the flour will belong to the priest, just like theremainder of the voluntary grain-offering, and the priests must bake the flour in any way they please and must eat it in the Tabernacle precincts. If, however, the sinner is himself a priest, then his grain-offering must be burned up in its entirety, just like a priest’s voluntary grain-offering.40

If, when the person sinned, he set aside money to purchase a goat, but before buying it he became poor, he may purchase and offer up two fowl in place of the goat; if he could only afford to set aside money for two fowl, but before buying them he became even poorer, he may purchase and offer up grain in their stead. Conversely, if, when he sinned, he could only afford to set aside money to purchase flour, but before buying it he became rich enough to afford two fowl, or even richer, so that he could afford a goat, he should offer them up instead of the grain; if he could only afford to set aside money to purchase two fowl, but before buying them he became rich enough to afford a goat, he should purchase and offer up a goat instead of the fowl.

The remainder of the laws concerning sin-offerings will be given later.’ ”41

Guilt-Offerings for Misappropriation

14 God spoke to Moses, saying,

15 “If a person acts unfaithfully to God, sinning by unintentionally making personal use of any one of the sacrificial portions that are sacred exclusively to God—i.e., any part of an ascent-offering (other than the hides) or any part of a grain-offering, peace-offering, sin-offering, or guilt-offering that is supposed to be or has been burned up on the Altar, all these being termed sacrifices of “superior holiness”—he must bring as his guilt-offering to God an unblemished ram from the flock—i.e., a male sheep more than thirteen months but less than two years old42—worth at least two silver shekels of the “sacred shekel” (i.e., the shekel I have designated for use in all holy purposes, which is worth 20 gerah43) for a guilt-offering.

16In addition, he must pay the monetary value of the sacred item with which he sinned by making personal use of it, plus a fine of 25% of its value, which now becomes one-fifth of the total payment,44 by giving it to the priest. The priest must then make atonement for him through the ram of the guilt-offering, and he will be forgiven. The procedures for offering up a guilt-offering will be detailed later.45

Suspensive Guilt-Offerings

17We will now discuss the various types of guilt-offerings. If a person realizes that he might have sinned by transgressing one of the passive commandments of God that are punishable by excision if committed intentionally, but he does not know for sure, he is nonetheless considered guilty of an offense, and he will bear the punitive consequences of his transgression unless he expiates it by offering up the following sacrifice.

18 He must bring an unblemished ram from the flock—i.e., a male sheep more than thirteen months but less than two years old46—with the value prescribed above,47 as a guilt-offering, to the priest. The priest will then make atonement for his unintentional sin that he might have committed but does not know for sure, by performing the rites that will be detailed later,48 and he will thereby be forgiven. However, if he later discovers that he indeed sinned unintentionally, he must then bring the regular sin-offering of an individual,49 similar to how, as will be explained later,50 a decapitated calf atones for an unsolved murder until the murderer is found, in which case the murderer must be executed. In both cases, provisional atonement is provided until it becomes possible to ascertain certain guilt, in which case the preferred method of atonement can be employed.

If atonement is required for sins about which one only suspects that he might have committed, then someone who sins intentionally will certainly be punished.

19Besides this guilt-offering and the one that will be presently discussed, there are three other cases when a guilt-offering is required: (a) when someone violates a betrothed bondwoman,51 (b) when a Nazirite becomes ritually defiled,52 and (c) when someone is cured of the condition known as tzara’at,53 which will be described later.54 In the first of these three case, the offering required is a guilt-offering like the one described here, in that the animal sacrificed is a ram and must be worth at least two sacred shekels. With regard to the other two cases, however, although in each the person required to bring the guilt-offering has indeed incurred guilt before God, he is required only to bring a lamb, not a ram, and it is not required to be of any minimum value.”

Guilt-Offerings for Dishonesty

20 God spoke to Moses, saying,

21 “If a person sins,55 acting unfaithfully to God by falsely denying the claim of his fellow that (a) the latter gave him an article as a deposit on a loan; or that(b) the latter had given money into his hand, either in a business partnership or as a loan; or that(c) an object taken from the latter by robbery was in fact taken by him; or that(d) he, as an employer, withheld wages from his fellow;

22 or that(e) he found a lost article and denied having found it—and moreover, he swore falsely regarding any one of all these five cases whereby a man may sin in this way, hoping thereby to repudiate a monetary claim, then—

23 when heacknowledges that he has sinned, admits that he is guilty, and wishes to make amends, he must first return the article that he had robbed, the funds—i.e., the loan, the partnership money, or the wages—that he had withheld, the article that had been deposited with him, the article that he had found,

Maftir 24 or anything else regarding which he had sworn falsely. If he withheld money, he must pay for it first by restoring the value of its principal and then adding a fine equal to 25% of the principal, which now becomes one-fifth of the grand total. If he only repays the principal, then swears falsely that he also paid this fine, and later repents and wishes to make amends, he must pay the fine he previously avoided plus 25% of the fine, which now becomes one-fifth of the new total. If he then denies paying this new fifth, swears, and repents, and so on, he must keep adding its fifths to it until the amount of the fifth shrinks to less than the value of a perutah [25 mg or less than 0.01 oz of silver]. He must give the money—the principal and the fine—to its rightful owner (i.e., not to his child or agent)56 on the day he repents of his guilt.

25 He must then bring his guilt-offering to God: an unblemished ram from the flock with the specified value, as above, for a guilt-offering, to the priest.

26 The priest will make atonement for him before God by performing the rites that will be detailed later,57 and he will thereby be forgiven for any one of all cases whereby one may commit a sin, incurring guilt through it. Additional details of the laws of guilt-offerings for dishonesty will be given further on,58 as will the remainder of the laws regarding guilt-offerings in general.”59