Guilt Offerings

(Leviticus 5:14- 6:7)

Jehovah then told Moses, "When one of your people unintentionally commits a sin by violating anything that is held sacred by Jehovah, then, as a guilt offering, he must bring for a sacrifice a ram from the flock, one without defect, or else produce an amount of silver sufficient to purchase one.   (The value of the silver will be determined by the weights used at the Tabernacle.)   Damage to any sacred property should paid for, plus a charge of 20%.  This payment should be given to the priest, who will make atonement by means of the guilt offering of the ram, so that the transgressor will then be forgiven.

"If any of you sin unintentional by violating any of Jehovah's commandments and committing acts that have been forbidden, that person is nevertheless guilty and liable to punishment.   He must therefore bring to the priest a ram without defect (or else a quantity of silver to buy one).  Through its sacrifice the priest will make atonement for the inadvertent sin and the transgressor will be forgiven by Jehovah.  This, too, will be a guilt offering, (for that person is guilty of having sinned against Jehovah).

“You have sinned and have betrayed Jehovah if you:

“Deceive or deal falsely with your neighbor in regard to financial matters or to property he has entrusted to your possession,

“Steal from or rob your neighbor,

“Defraud or cheat your neighbor,

“Not admit that you have found lost property,

“Lie or make false claims when you have taken a solemn oath to tell the truth,

“Or commit similar wrongs in dealings with your neighbors. 

"When guilt has been established, the transgressor must return whatever was stolen, acquired by fraud, or obtained by swearing falsely.  He must restore to the owner what was entrusted to him or whatever lost property he may have found and appropriated.  In additional to a full restitution, a payment of 20% above the value of the goods must be given to the owner at the time the guilt offering is made.  This guilt offering should consist of a ram from the flock, one without defect.  The transgressor should present it to the priest or else purchase a ram of equal value.  Through its sacrifice the priest will make atonement for him, and transgressor will be forgiven by Jehovah for the sins he has committed."

Notes
1.  Here we have introduced the legal concept of punitive damages, restitution of stolen or damaged property plus 20% being required.

2. The process of atonement in Leviticus consists of establishment and acknowledgment of guilt, restitution to victims, plus punitive damages, and a sacrifice to Jehovah, with the sacrificial animal furnished by the transgressor and the Jehovan priests doing the bloody deed.  On the other hand, in Christianity, atonement demands repentance on the part of the sinner and a resolve to sin no more.  Instead of the sinner finding forgiveness from Jehovah through a sacrifice, the Christian finds forgiveness through the savior Jesus Christ when he has repented and promises to sin no more.  One gains the impression from Leviticus that sin can be paid for, that as long as a person has an endless supply of rams, he can pretty much sin as often as he likes -- rather like a foul-mouthed person feeding the swear jar.

3. Stealing is mentioned here, because it is not one the Ten Commandments.  I have concluded that the 8th Commandment, famously, but incorrectly translated as "Thou shalt not steal," actually pertains to kidnapping, abducting free men and selling them into slavery.  This makes sense.  Kidnapping is regarded by us as a capital offense, while, except for the case of horse thieving in the Old West, stealing is not.  Abduction and enslavement would have been regarded as a very serious crime by the ancient Hebrews as well, far less an offense than stealing, and worthy of being including as one of the ten worst moral transgressions.  Here the penalty for stealing is merely the restitution of stolen property, plus 20% and a ram sacrifice to Jehovah.

4.  The concept of  "finders, keepers,  losers, weepers," is not accepted here.  One is obligated to return loss property.  To keep such property is rightly regarded as tantamount to stealing.

5.  So far there is no reference to any sort of secular government among the Hebrews.  Criminal as well as moral infractions are dealt with by the priesthood.  Punishment mostly consists of the obligation to make sacrifices, which, if not empowering and enriching the priestly class, does provide it with good meals.

6.  Silver, used here to purchase the sacrificial rams, is regarded as legal tender, although money, in the sense of coinage, would not exist for many hundreds of years.  It is unclear in what form the silver is used in transactions, and whether the reference is anachronistic is moot.