Leviticus 6:1-7
When dishonesty harms another person, God requires restitution and a guilt offering to restore both justice and covenant fellowship.
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “If anyone sins, and commits a trespass against Yahweh, and deals falsely with his neighbor in a matter of deposit, or of bargain, or of robbery, or has oppressed his neighbor,
3 or has found that which was lost, and lied about it, and swearing to a lie—in any of these things that a man sins in his actions—
4 then it shall be, if he has sinned, and is guilty, he shall restore that which he took by robbery, or the thing which he has gotten by oppression, or the deposit which was committed to him, or the lost thing which he found,
5 or any thing about which he has sworn falsely: he shall restore it in full, and shall add a fifth part more to it. He shall return it to him to whom it belongs in the day of his being found guilty.
6 He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest.
7 The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh, and he will be forgiven concerning whatever he does to become guilty.”
When dishonesty harms another person, God requires restitution and a guilt offering to restore both justice and covenant fellowship.
This passage extends the guilt offering legislation to cases of deception and fraud committed against a neighbor that simultaneously constitute an offense against the LORD. It establishes that covenant breaches involving theft, dishonesty, or withheld property require both restitution and a guilt offering so that relational and covenant integrity are restored.
Leviticus 6:1-7 is the direct continuation of Leviticus 5:14-19. Leviticus 5:14-19 introduced the guilt offering in relation to the LORD's holy things and uncertain guilt. Leviticus 6:1-7 now applies the guilt offering to wrongs committed against a neighbor, including deception, theft, extortion, withholding found property, false denial, and false oath. The passage expands the logic of the guilt offering from sacred-property violation to neighbor-property violation, while still framing the sin as unfaithfulness against the LORD.
Leviticus 6:1-7 belongs to Israel's wilderness tabernacle instruction and continues the guilt/reparation offering laws. Israel is the LORD's redeemed covenant people. Their community life, property dealings, speech, and worship are governed by the LORD's holiness and justice. The guilty person restores the wronged property plus an added fifth to its owner, then brings a ram without defect and of proper value to the priest as a guilt offering. The priest makes atonement before the LORD, and the sinner is forgiven. The instruction concerns Israelites who wrong neighbors through deception, theft, extortion, withholding found property, false denial, or false oath, and priests who mediate atonement. Property could be entrusted to another person for safekeeping, borrowed, deposited, found, stolen, or withheld. Oath-taking could be used to settle disputes. The law addresses the sin of exploiting trust and then protecting oneself through falsehood. This passage completes the guilt offering material begun in Leviticus 5:14-19 and prepares the move into priestly offering regulations in Leviticus 6:8 and following.
Restitution and Priestly Stewardship of the Offerings
The holy LORD requires His people to repair wrongs honestly and His priests to steward the altar and offerings faithfully.