Leviticus Blog

Chapter Five: Fraud, uncleanliness and other minor offenses

It's hard out here for a sheep.

In chapter four, we learned the basic rule of atonement: You break a commandment, you must atone for it. It usually involves sacrificing a sheep, unless everyone in the community breaks a commandment, in which case you sacrifice a bull.  Kill a man? Sacrifice a sheep. Steal from your neighbor? Sacrifice a sheep.

But what if you break a commandment without knowing it? What if you commit a crime not covered under the commandments, like defrauding a neighbor or touching a pig?

It turns out there are extra crimes which also require a sacrifice for full atonement. Five of these crimes and their punishments are explained in epic detail in chapter 5 of Leviticus:

Crime #1: You become unclean – by touching an unclean animal, the carcass of an unclean animal, or any human uncleanliness.
Atonement: Bring a female sheep to a priest to sacrifice on your behalf. If you can’t afford a sheep, bring two turtledoves or pigeons. If you can’t afford those birds, bring some flour.

Crime #2: You utter an oath – no matter what kind of oath.
Atonement: Bring a female sheep to a priest to sacrifice on your behalf. If you can’t afford a sheep, bring two turtledoves or pigeons. If you can’t afford those birds, bring some flour.

For reference, the sacrificial conversion table for these crimes is:

One Sheep = Two turtledoves or pigeons, but only if you can’t afford the sheep = Some flour, but only if you can’t afford the birds.

Crime #3: You “commit a trespass and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the LORD”
Atonement: Bring a Ram to a priest to sacrifice on your behalf. You can also pay the priest the current market value of a Ram plus one-fifth.

Crime #4: You break a commandment but do not realize that you broke the commandment.
Atonemet: Once you’ve realized you’ve broken the commandment, bring a Ram, “or its equivalent,” to a priest to sacrifice on your behalf.

I’ve developed this diagram to help you remember your ram sacrifice equivalence:

One Ram = The market value of one ram plus 1/5th

Crime #5: You defraud a neighbor, rob from a neighbor, found something and lied about it or deceived a neighbor “in a matter of deposit or pledge”
Atonement: You must pay back whatever was defrauded or robbed plus 1/5th its value. Then, you must sacrifice a Ram or bring “its equivalent” to the priest.

“Now wait a minute,” you might be asking. “Isn’t stealing already covered by the eighth commandment and therefore forgiven with a regular old sheep sacrifice? Why is there a separate atonement for robbery and fraud? Did the rules change, or is this just a clarification?”  You are wise, young grasshopper, but you do not understand because one cannot understand the mind of the LORD!