Leviticus 5:17

“And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, etc.] Respecting holy things: though he wist it not; or did not know that he had transgressed a negative command: yet he is guilty, and shall bear the iniquity; be chargeable with guilt, and is liable to punishment, and must make an atonement and satisfaction for it; (see <421248>Luke 12:48).”

“if a soul sin . . . though he wist it not, yet is he guilty--This also refers to holy things, and it differs from the preceding in being one of the doubtful cases,--that is, where conscience suspects, though the understanding be in doubt whether criminality or sin has been committed. The Jewish rabbis give, as an example, the case of a person who, knowing that "the fat of the inwards" is not to be eaten, religiously abstained from the use of it; but should a dish happen to have been at table in which he had reason to suspect some portion of that meat was intermingled, and he had, inadvertently, partaken of that unlawful viand, he was bound to bring a ram as a trespass offering [Lev 5:16].…”

“Though he wist it not - Ignorance of the Law, or even of the consequences of the act at the time that it was committed, was not to excuse him from the obligation to offer the sacrifice. return to 'Top of Page' Footnotes: Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliographical Information Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Leviticus 5". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bnb/leviticus-5.html. 1870. StudyLight.org &copy;&#160;2001-2026 Powered by Lightspeed Technology”

“The former law concerns the alienation of holy things from sacred to common use; this may concern other miscarriages about holy things, and holy duties, as may be gathered from Lev 5:19, where this is said to be a trespass against the Lord, not in a general sense, for so every sin was; but in a proper and peculiar sense. Next: Leviticus Chapter 6”

“5:17-19 This paragraph provides general principles for the guilt offering. Even if unaware of the infraction, an individual was guilty and had to provide the appropriate guilt offering. This applied to both sacred and secular property (5:14-16; 6:1-7).”

“a soul sin: This case is supposed to differ from the preceding, merely in that the person concerned was not certain whether he had or had not committed the trespass. It is therefore called by the Hebrews a doubtful trespass offering. Lev 5:1, Lev 4:2-4, Lev 4:13, Lev 4:22, Lev 4:27 though: Lev 5:15; Psa 19:12; Luk 12:48; Rom 14:23 yet is he: Lev 5:1, Lev 5:2, Lev 4:2, Lev 4:13, Lev 4:27 Leviticus 5:18”