Leviticus 6:5

“Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely, etc.] In all and each of the above cases, in which he had committed a trespass and denied it, and to the denial adds a false oath, and yet after all acknowledges it: he shall even restore it in the principal; whatsoever he has embezzled, or cheated another of, or detained from the right owner, the whole of that was to be restored: and shall add the fifth part more thereto; to the principal, (see <030516> Leviticus 5:16) but Maimonides f130 says, this was an instruction to add a fifth to a fifth; and Aben Ezra takes the word to be plural, and observes, that the least of many is two, and so two fifths were to be added to the principal, but the…”

“In the day of his trespass offering - The restitution was thus to be associated with the religious act by which the offender testified his penitence. return to 'Top of Page'”

“In the day - It must not be delayed, but restitution to man must accompany repentance towards God. Wherever wrong has been done, restitution must be made, and till it is made to the utmost of our power we cannot look for forgiveness; for the keeping of what is unjustly got, avows the taking: And both together make but one continued act of unrighteousness. Leviticus 6:9”

“6:5 The instructions for the guilt offering assumed that a person’s conscience would induce voluntary reparation; when restitution was voluntary, the surcharge for loss of use to the owner was always 20 percent. Penalties were more severe in other cases (cp. Exod 22:1-15). There is a clear difference between voluntary confession and simply admitting sin after being caught.”

“restore: Lev 5:16; Exo 22:1, Exo 22:4, Exo 22:7, Exo 22:9; Num 5:7, Num 5:8; Sa1 12:3; Sa2 12:6; Pro 6:30, Pro 6:31; Isa 58:6, Isa 58:9; Luk 19:8 in the principal: The property itself, if still remaining, or its full value, to which a fifth part more was to be added, to compensate the owner for the loss he had sustained by being deprived of the use of his goods. He must also bring a trespass offering to the Lord; which was intended to show that disobedience to God is the great evil, even of those crimes which are injurious to man, and that repentance, and even restitution, though needful in order to (obtain) forgiveness, cannot atone for sin. of his trespass offering: or, of his being found…”