Leviticus 5:1

“And if a soul sin, etc.] The soul is put for the person, and is particularly mentioned, as Ben Melech says, because possessed of will and desire: and hear the voice of swearing; or cursing, or adjuration; not of profane swearing, and taking the name of God in vain, but either of false swearing, or perjury, as when a man hears another swear to a thing which he knows is false; or else of adjuration, either the voice of a magistrate or of a neighbour adjuring another, calling upon him with an oath to bear testimony in such a case; this is what the Jews f112 call the oath of testimony or witness, and which they say f113 is binding in whatsoever language it is heard: and is a witness; is able to…”

“TRESPASS OFFERINGS FOR CONCEALING KNOWLEDGE. (Lev 5:1) if a soul . . . hear the voice of swearing--or, according to some, "the words of adjuration." A proclamation was issued calling any one who could give information, to come before the court and bear testimony to the guilt of a criminal; and the manner in which witnesses were interrogated in the Jewish courts of justice was not by swearing them directly, but adjuring them by reading the words of an oath: "the voice of swearing." The offense, then, for the expiation of which this law provides, was that of a person who neglected or avoided the opportunity of lodging the information which it was in his power to communicate.”

“Special occasions are mentioned on which sin-offerings are to be made with a particular confession of the offence for which atonement is sought Leviticus 5:5. Leviticus 5:1 Swearing - Adjuration. The case appears to be that of one who has been put upon his oath as a witness by a magistrate, and fails to utter all he has seen and heard (compare the marginal references. and Proverbs 29:24; Numbers 5:21). Leviticus 5:2-3 Hid from him - Either through forgetfulness or indifference, so that purification had been neglected. In such a case there had been a guilty negligence, and a sin-offering was required. On the essential connection between impurity and the sin-offering, see Leviticus 12:1.…”

“And hear - And for that is, as that particle is often used. For this declares in particular what the sin was. Or, namely, that of cursing, or blasphemy, or execration, as the word commonly signifies, and that either against one's neighbour, or against God. This may seem to be principally intended here, because the crime spoken of is of so high a nature, that he who heard it, was obliged to reveal it, and prosecute the guilty. He hath seen - Been present when it was said. Or known - By sufficient information from others. His iniquity - That is, the punishment of it; so that word is oft used, as Gen 19:15, Num 18:1. Leviticus 5:2”

“5:1-6 These verses list examples of sins covered by the sin offering (4:2). When a person realized he or she had committed an offense, the next step was to make it right by admitting guilt and bringing a sin offering. 5:1 The first infraction was the failure to testify when called as a witness before a court. Failure to testify was not a passive act because it actively aided the criminal. • you will be punished (literally you become guilty or you realize your guilt): Anticipating God’s punishment for the sin, the guilty party offered the sacrifice to remove the guilt and escape the punishment.”

“a soul: Lev 5:15, Lev 5:17, Lev 4:2; Eze 18:4, Eze 18:20 hear: Exo 22:11; Jdg 17:2; Kg1 8:31, Kg1 22:16; Ch2 18:15; Pro 29:24, Pro 30:9; Mat 26:63 the voice of swearing: Kol alah, rather, "the voice of adjuration," φωνην ορκισμου, as the LXX render; for this does not relate to the duty of informing against a common swearer, but to the case of a person who, being adjured by the civil magistrate to answer upon oath, refuses to declare what he knows upon the subject - such an one shall bear his iniquity - shall be considered as guilty in the sight of God of the transgression which he has endeavoured to conceal, and must expect to be punished for hiding the iniquity with which he was acquainted.…”

“There follow here three special examples of sin on the part of the common Israelite, all sins of omission and rashness of a lighter kind than the cases mentioned in Lev 4:27.; in which, therefore, if the person for whom expiation was to be made was in needy circumstances, instead of a goat or ewe-sheep, a pair of doves could be received as a sacrificial gift, or, in cases of still greater poverty, the tenth of an ephah of fine flour. The following were the cases. The first ( Lev 5:1), when any one had heard the voice of an oath (an oath spoken aloud) and was a witness, i.e., was in a condition to give evidence, whether he had seen what took place or had learned it, that is to say, had come…”