“He shall bring for his trespass unto Jehovah a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering: And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done … and shall add the fifth part thereto: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him” (Leviticus 5:15,16).

There were five kinds of offerings under the Law. These are the burnt offering, meal offering, peace offering, sin offering, and trespass offering. Of these, there were three fundamental ones — the burnt offering, peace offering, and sin offering. The meal offering was of grain or flour, prepared in various ways, most often to accompany the other kinds of offerings. The trespass offering was similar to a sin offering. “As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them” (Leviticus 7:7). However, the trespass offering was distinguished somewhat from the sin offering both in the purpose for this offering, and in some particulars respecting it.

All five of these offerings were discussed in an earlier article, “The Law of the Offerings,” in the February 2011 issue of Beauties of the Truth, and we recommend reference to that article for various suggestions about how these offerings were distinguished from one another. The present article goes into more detail about the last of these, the Trespass Offering. This offering receives less attention than the others, because this kind offering was not included in any of the three chapters of Leviticus that are widely studied by brethren —

• Leviticus 8 (the consecration of the Priesthood)
• Leviticus 9 (the initial atonement of the Israelites)
• Leviticus 16 (the annual atonement of the Priests and the Israelites).

HOW TO MAKE THESE OFFERINGS

We find the instructions for offering all of these offerings of the Law recorded in Leviticus chapters 1 through 7. Artisans and craftsmen among the Israelites worked in concert with Bezaleel and Aholiab to fashion the parts of the Tabernacle, furnishings, and priestly garments (Exodus 31:2,6), This work would have taken a few months to accomplish, during the second half of the first year of the Israelites in the wilderness.

The completed work was brought to Moses for inspec­tion to see that all was done in accord with the instructions Moses received from God while at Mount Sinai. “Thus was all the work of the Tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished … And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets, and the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers’ skins ¹ … And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as Jehovah had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.”

However, they did not immediately erect the Tabernacle and commence its operations. God instructed Moses that should wait for the first day of the next new year. “And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation” (Exodus 40:1).

Instructions for setting these up then follow in verses 2­15, and verse 16 affirms that (when the time came) Moses did all as he was commanded to do. The actual narrative of this work being accomplished, then follows in verses 17 to 38 (Exodus 40). “And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up” (verse 17).

Setting up the Tabernacle and its accoutrements was completed, together with the court. However, before Moses could prepare the priests, attired and consecrated, “A cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation” (Exodus 40:34, 35). So ends the book of Exodus.

The narrative resumes in Leviticus 1:1. “And Jehovah called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying …” These instructions by God were given on that same day — the first day of the first month of the second year of the Israelites’ wilderness experience.

These directions continue for seven chapters. These were necessary directions, for many of these offerings were to be used in the ceremony of consecrating the priests. So they could not be deferred. When these seven chapters of directions were completed, then Leviticus 8:1 proceeds to the consecration of Aaron and his sons to serve as priests. “And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying …” What follows are the instructions from God to Moses how to consecrate the priesthood, and the account of Moses proceeding with those instructions. This work took seven days to complete.

---

(1) Apparently these were actually skins of an aquatic animal. See Tabernacle Shadows, page 13, and Beauties of the Truth, “Tabernacle Coverings of Sea­cows,” February 2010 issue.

The priesthood was consecrated in a period of seven days.

THE THREE FUNDAMENTALS OFFERINGS

If we consider the three fundamental offerings — the burnt offering, peace offering, and sin offering — to see how these relate to one another, we may then be better prepared to grasp the purpose of the trespass offering by comparison.

The burnt offering is the kind of offering made every day, of two lambs, one in the morning and another “between the two evenings.” This refers to the ransom, the daily sacrifice, fulfilled by Jesus being put on the cross in the morning, and expiring six hours later.

The burnt offering was to be put “in order upon the wood” (Leviticus 1:8), something stipulated uniquely for the burnt offering. The wood here represents the wood of the cross, as it does also in Genesis 22:3,6, where wood was placed on the back of Isaac to carry up the mount on which he was to be offered. This compares with John 19:17, where Jesus, “bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha.”

Peace offerings are then described in Leviticus chapter three. These represent our thanks, devotion, and consecration to God, predicated on the atonement we receive through the Ransom provided by Jesus. Peace offerings were to be burned “on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood” (Leviticus 3:5).

Sin offerings are then described in Leviticus chapter four. The purpose of a sin offering was to cleanse the offerer from unintentional sins, such as we all have through inheriting imperfection from Adam (Leviticus 4:2).

The sequence of these three fundamental offerings is given in the order of importance to a believer’s approach to God. First we recognize the Ransom given by Jesus for the condemnation upon as children of Adam. Then, if we are properly responsive, we proceed to give our thanks, appreciation, devotions, and in the case of the saints, the consecration of ourselves to God. Thereafter comes a life of being purged of our unintentional propensity for sin, through the service of our High Priest, “passed into the heavens” (Hebrews 4:14).

TWO WORDS FOR “TRESPASS”

The following comments refer to the word “trespass” as it appears in the King James version of the Bible. These comments refer to the word as it appears in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers (it does not appear in Deuteronomy). There are two Hebrew words used in these cases —

(1) Asham, Strong’s number 817, “from 816; guilt; by implication a fault” (and its companion Ashmah, number 819, the feminine form of 817).

(2) Maal, Strong’s number 4604, “from 4608; treachery, i.e. sin.” The word 4608 to which maal is related means “an elevation … acclivity or platform … a rise or (figuratively) priority.” In other words, this refers to an offense of higher magnitude than Asham. Maal, for example, is used in Joshua 7:1, 22:20, for the sin of Achan, and in Joshua 22:16, 31, where it was feared (though incorrectly) some Israelites had raised an altar as a substitute for the altar in the Tabernacle.

In Leviticus, “trespass” appears 32 times. Most of these are from asham. However, in three of these cases the stronger word maal is used, namely in Leviticus 5:15, 6:2, and 26:40. The last one refers to a collective sin of Israel as a whole, for which national punishment would be visited. The first two are of more interest to us in this study. They refer to a sin or trespass of an individual that is considered more substantial than in other cases.

Both of these are distinct from the normal words used for “sin” in the Old Testament, Strong’s 2398, chata, “to miss,” and its companions, 2401 chattah, and 2403 chattaah or chattath, “an offence.” Language is flexible, of course, and this generic word for sin, chata, can be used even for egregious sins. But in comparison, evidently asham normally indicates a higher guilt, and maal an even higher level of culpability.

THE SIN OFFERING

The trespass offering was an additional offering for specific infractions as they would arise, that are apparently over and above the need for a normal sin offering. Regulations respecting a normal sin offering are found in Leviticus 4, which opens with an expression denoting a new section. “And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Speaking unto the children of Israel, saying … “ The regulations given in chapter four show that the animal brought for a sin offering depended on the status of the offender. For a priest, or the congregation, a bullock is specified, the blood is used for sprinkling within the tabernacle, the fat and vital organs are burned on the altar, and the body is burned outside the camp. In these cases evidently the offending priest represents a member of the Church class, and an offending congregation represents a gathering of the Lord’s people during the Gospel age. In other words, in both cases this pertains to the Church during the Gospel Age. Thus the use of the blood within the tabernacle (where the church is represented during the Gospel Age). In this case the one who “accepts” the offering is God above, thus the burning (rather than eating) of the entire sacrifice — it is sent up in smoke, as to God.

A Trespass Offering called for a ram (an adult male sheep).

Subsequently two other cases are covered, namely for a ruler (Leviticus 4:22 and forward), and for a common person (verse 27 and forward). These perhaps represent the Ancient Worthies who will be rulers or princes in the Kingdom, and any of the world of mankind, “the common people” (verse 27). In these cases the animal is a male kid of the goats, or a female kid of the goats, respectively. The blood is used in the court (where the world will be in the Kingdom), the fat and vital organs are burned expressing that this offering is to God, but the meat of the animal is eaten by the priests, expressing that the Church will receive this sacrifice as representatives of God, during the Millennium.

We review this briefly as a predicate for comparing this to the Trespass Offerings in the next chapter. However, we mention in passing that later, in Leviticus 16, which describes the annual Day of Atonement, we gather some things about that day from comparing the instructions given about sin offerings in Leviticus 4. For example, compare Leviticus 16:25 with the fuller stipulations of Leviticus 4:9, 26.

Before proceeding, here are two tangent observations from Leviticus 4:35. The common version says, “And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD [Jehovah]: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.”

(a) By referring to the “fat thereof,” evidently this implies also the kidneys and the liver that were surmounted with fat (compare this with verses 8 and 9). Apparently the same is implied in Leviticus 4:26. (b) The stipulation that these were burned “according to the offerings made by fire” (King James) is rendered in the NIV as “on top of the offerings made to the LORD by fire.”

The NASB version is similar, “on the offerings by fire to the LORD.” If this means that the fat and kidneys and liver were placed on top of burnt offering, then it repeats the instructions about those same portions of the peace offering in Leviticus 3:4,5, where those precious parts are burned “upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood, that is on the fire.” The meaning of this would be that all ultimately depends upon the ransom that Jesus gave “on the tree,” the wood (1 Peter 2:24).

THE TRESPASS OFFERING

The Trespass Offering is discussed in Leviticus chapter five. However, there are two parts of this chapter, and they reflect the difference in the Hebrew words underlying the English word “trespass” in our common versions. The word “trespass” introduced in Leviticus 5:15 is the stronger word, maal, 4604, mentioned above. It is repeated in Leviticus 6:2. In both of those cases the burdens required for the offender, for being made right again, are more substantial than for the cases referred to in Leviticus 5:1­13.

Additionally, to distinguish those more severe cases, notice how Leviticus 4:14 introduces them. “And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying …” This reminds us how Leviticus 4:1 began, when introducing the regulations respecting sin offerings, which also began a distinct section. No such sharp distinction appears, however, at Leviticus 5:1.

The NIV study bible observes this difference by adding no subhead at the outset of chapter five, thus joining the sense of the first part of chapter five, to the sin offerings of Leviticus chapter four. But it does add a new subhead at Leviticus 5:14, “The Guilt Offering.” It then proceeds to chapter six also without a new subhead, linking the last of chapter five to the first of chapter six — but adds another subhead before Leviticus 6:8, “The Burnt Offering.”

LEVITICUS CHAPTER FIVE

This chapter begins with examples of specific infractions for which a guilt offering, or trespass offering, should be rendered. (1) Perhaps one hears a transgression, but does not speak of it. (2) If a person touches something unclean.(3) If a person thoughtlessly swears or takes an oath to do evil, and later comes to his senses. “When he shall be guilty in one of these things … he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing.” The word “sinned” is 2398, chata, the general word for sin, “to miss,” noted above.

In this case “he shall bring his trespass offering” (verse 6). The word “trespass” here is 817, asham, guilt or fault, the weaker of the two words for “trespass.” The animal he is to bring is “a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin” (verse 6).

The word for “sin offering” here as in Leviticus 4:24, 29, is from the normal word for “sin offering,” namely 2403, chattaah or chattath. There is no separate word for “offering,” it is just the one word for sin, in the Hebrew. This use of a single term, rather than two terms, also explains 2 Corinthians 5:21, where Paul says God made Jesus “to be sin for us, who knew no sin.” It does not really mean that Jesus was made “sin.” It means that he was made a “sin offering” for us, as we would express it in English.

(The same is true about the expression “burnt offer­ ing,” it is really just “burnt,” there is no separate word for “offering.” There is a word for “offering” when the term is used by itself, as for example in Leviticus 3:2, “he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering.” Here the word is qurban, Strong’s number 7133, “something brought near the altar, i.e., a sacrificial present.”)

In other words, for an infraction of the three kinds listed above, the offender is to deal with this in the same way as stipulated earlier in chapter four for a normal sin. He is to bring a female kid of the goats, or a young female lamb, for an offering. So far, therefore, there is nothing more onerous about this offence than normal.

In fact, if the person is poor, there follows a provision requiring even less of him. “If he be not able to bring a lamb [or a female kid of the goats], then he shall bring for his trespass [817, asham], which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.”

This is a kind provision for the repentant offender of small means. It suggests that God appreciate and will accept the humblest efforts toward repentance, if it is sincere, as evidenced by at least something the sinner can bring forward as evidence of sincerity. In fulfillment, this might be an apology, carefulness to avoid the fault in the future, or going on meekly to express our regret.

This option for two clean birds is instructive to us in another way also. One of them was offered for a sin offering, the other for a burnt offering. Recall that in Leviticus 4:26, some part of a normal sin offering was to be burned on the altar to God, namely the fat and the associated cleansing organs. In the case of a bird for a sin offering, a relatively small amount, the blood of one was used at the altar (Leviticus 5:9), and the other bird was burnt on the altar. To burn an offering is to cause it to ascend in smoke to God, showing that whatever priests may be involved, this offering ultimately is received by God. Further, a burnt offering was normally to be directly on the wood (Leviticus 1:8, 3:5), reminding us that the cross of Christ underlies our approach to God and our acceptance by Him.

An even more generous proposal follows in verse 11. “If he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering.” As normal for most sin

offerings, this flour was to be used, or appropriated, by the priest, but again some part of it was to be burned in order to ascend to God. “The priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burnt it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD.”

MORE CONCERNING TRESPASSES

Thus ends the consideration of the normal case of sin, repentance, and offering. What follows in verses 14 and forward considers a more severe case, and the requirements for the offender are proportionately greater. In fact, as referred to earlier, the preceding might be considered properly part of the sin offerings of chapter four, and what follows a “Trespass” offering requiring something additional.

There are two sub categories here. (1) A transgression “in the holy things of the LORD” through “ignorance” (Leviticus 5:15), and (2) a lie or false commitment against a neighbor, in which case “ignorance” is not an underlying factor. The first is in Leviticus 5:4­19, the latter in Leviticus 6:1­7. In both of these cases the word for “trespass” is the stronger word, maal, 4604 (Leviticus 5:15, 6:2).

In these cases a full ram was required — an adult male sheep. There was no provision for any lesser amount. Additionally, restitution was to be made in accord with the priest’s estimate of the offense in the first case, or the actual loss to one’s neighbor in the second case. In both cases an additional 20% was added to the value as a penalty on the offender, and a benefit to the priest or the neighbor.

In the first case, verse 17 says of the offender, “though he wist [knew] it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.” If we offend against our Heavenly Father’s wish, will, or instructions, our recognition of it should be a full measure of rectification. We may even add some restrictions upon our old flesh, to remind our old human selves of the matter, to help us not fall in that way again.

If we offend our neighbor, either spiritual brother or sister or even our earthly associates, we should make amends where feasible, and be generous in doing so. Often, of course, people see things differently, as we should be generous in our appraisal of offenses that come our way. But we should be more careful of offenses that proceed from us. Even considering how we might make up any loss or ill effects accruing to others.

“If ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye … not sons. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet … [and] be healed” (Hebrews 12:8­12).

— Br. David Rice

 

---

Download PDF