Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 5:7
And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, 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.
7. The similarity between this alternative offering for a poor man and that of Lev 1:14-17 is obvious.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 7. If he be not able to bring a lamb] See the conclusion of Clarke’s note on “Le 1:16“.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
If he be not able, through poverty, as Lev 4:11. And this exception was allowed also in other sin-offerings.
Two young pigeons, of which see Lev 1:14.
One for a sin-offering, which was for that particular sin, and therefore is offered first before the burnt-offering, which was for sins in general to teach us not to rest in general confessions and repentances for sin, as hypocrites commonly do, but distinctly and particularly, as far as we can, to search out, and confess, and loathe, and leave our particular sins, without which God will not accept our other religious services. Note that the burnt-offering was for the expiation of sin as well as the sin-offering, Lev 1:4, only that was for sin in general, and this for particular sins.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And if he be not able to bring a lamb,…. He is not possessed of a lamb, nor able to purchase one:
then he shall bring for his trespass which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the Lord; either the one or the other; these were common, and in great plenty in the land of Israel, as Maimonides y observes, which was the reason of their being ordered, since to be had cheap. The turtledoves were larger, as the Targum of Jonathan calls them, being older, and the pigeons lesser, being young; or the one were grown, and not little, and the other little, and not grown, as the Jewish writers z observe; and either of them were proper emblems of Christ in his purity, innocence, and meekness, by whom an atonement is made both for the rich and poor:
one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; one of the turtle doves or pigeons, whichsoever were brought, was offered up as a sin offering, and the other that remained was offered up as a burnt offering; so that the poor man had two sorts of offerings out of what he brought, when the rich had but one; and may denote the completeness of his sacrifice, and the full atonement made by it.
y Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 46. z Maimon & Bartenora in Misn. Cholin, c. 1. sect. 5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
7 And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, 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. 8 And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder: 9 And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering. 10 And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him. 11 But 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. 12 Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: it is a sin offering. 13 And the priest shall make an atonement for him as touching his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the priest’s, as a meat offering.
Provision is here made for the poor of God’s people, and the pacifying of their consciences under the sense of guilt. Those that were not able to bring a lamb might bring for a sin-offering a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons; nay, if any were so extremely poor that they were not able to procure these so often as they would have occasion, they might bring a pottle of fine flour, and this should be accepted. Thus the expense of the sin-offering was brought lower than that of any other offering, to teach us that no man’s poverty shall ever be a bar in the way of his pardon. The poorest of all may have atonement made for them, if it be not their own fault. Thus the poor are evangelized; and no man shall say that he had not wherewithal to bear the charges of a journey to heaven. Now,
I. If the sinner brought two doves, one was to be offered for a sin-offering and the other for a burnt-offering, v. 7. Observe, 1. Before he offered the burnt-offering, which was for the honour and praise of God, he must offer the sin-offering, to make atonement. We must first see to it that our peace be made with God, and then we may expect that our services for his glory will be accepted. The sin-offering must make way for the burnt-offering. 2. After the sin-offering, which made atonement, came the burnt-offering, as an acknowledgment of the great mercy of God in appointing and accepting the atonement.
II. If he brought fine flour, a handful of it was to be offered, but without either oil or frankincense (v. 11), not only because this would make it too costly for the poor, for whose comfort this sacrifice was appointed, but because it was a sin-offering, and therefore, to show the loathsomeness of the sin for which it was offered, it must not be made grateful either to the taste by oil or to the smell by frankincense. The unsavouriness of the offering was to intimate that the sinner must never relish his sin again as he had done. God by these sacrifices did speak, 1. Comfort to those that had offended, that they might not despair, nor pine away in their iniquity; but, peace being thus made for them with God, they might have peace in him. 2. Caution likewise not to offend any more, remembering what an expensive troublesome thing it was to make atonement.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 7-10:
The Sin Offering was mandatory, not voluntary, and was required of all who were guilty. As a concession to poverty, two provisions were instituted.
The first of these two provisions was: If unable to offer an animal as sacrifice, he might bring two turtledoves, or two pigeons. One bird was for the Sin Offering, the other for the Whole Burnt offering. The priest would wring off the head of the bird of the Sin Offering, sprinkle part of its blood on the side of the altar, and the rest at the base of the altar. The second bird was offered as a Burnt Offering, in the manner described in Chapter One.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(7) And if he be not able to bring.The only exception to this general rule was poverty. The poor man who was unable to bring a sheep or she-goat, might bring two turtle-doves, as these were plentiful and cheap in Palestine. (See Lev. 1:14.) We have seen in the preceding verse that in the case of the trespass offering, as in that of the sin offering, the fat parts, or the choicest portion, had to be consumed on the altar, being the bread of Jehovah, and that the residue was the perquisite of the priests. As the fat parts of the dove, or the portion for the altar, could not be separated from the bird, and as the burning of it wholly would destroy the character of the trespass offering, and make it into a whole burnt offering, two doves were brought. One represented the portion for the Lord, and hence was burnt on the altar, whilst the flesh of the other became the perquisite of the officiating priest.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Not able to bring a lamb For the adjustment of the Divine requirements to human ability, see Lev 1:14, note.
One for a sin offering This brings the sinner into reconciliation with God.
The other for a burnt offering This typifies the complete consecration of the reconciled sinner, soul, body, and spirit, unto Him who hath redeemed him with his precious blood. The sin sacrifice symbolically brings the penitent offerer into the state of justification, and the whole burnt sacrifice, in like manner, initiates him into entire sanctification.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Alternative Guilt Offering of Birds ( Lev 5:7-10 ).
Lev 5:7
‘And if his means suffice not for a lamb, then he shall bring his guilt offering for that in which he has sinned, two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, to Yahweh, one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering.’
For this type of offering there is the alternative, as with the burnt offering, of offering birds, two turtle-doves or two young pigeons ‘if his means suffice not for a lamb’. In this case one bird will be offered as a sin offering, and the other as a whole burnt offering in the way described in Leviticus 1. For once the sin has been forgiven as a result of the one shedding of blood a further sin offering is unnecessary. What is now required is the rededication offering.
There is an important lesson here on the need to accept forgiveness. Once we have brought our sin to God in line with His terms through the blood of Christ we must accept the forgiveness and not keep harping back to it, and not go over it again and again. Then we must dedicate ourselves to Him in total surrender.
Lev 5:8-10
‘And he shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin-offering first, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not divide it asunder: and he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin-offering on the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar: it is a sin-offering. And he shall offer the second for a burnt-offering, according to the ordinance; and the priest shall make atonement for him as concerning his sin which he has sinned, and he shall be forgiven.’
With the sin offering the priest wrings the bird’s neck. Whether he removes the head depends on whether we see ‘but he shall not divide it asunder’ as referring to the neck or the whole bird (compare Lev 1:17).
We are probably to see what now happens to the blood as being a general statement, taking into account that it is almost certainly the offering in Lev 5:6 that is in mind as well as the bird offering. The account is very much abbreviated. Nothing has been said there about the application of the blood, and the terminology is that usually for an animal offering. This suggestion must be so. The bird would not have sufficient blood to do what is described here (contrast Lev 1:15). The blood is applied to the side altar and the remainder drained out at the base of the altar.
This is a combination of what happens to a whole burnt offering and to a purification for sin offering. In the one the blood is sprinkled on the sides of the altar, in the other the remainder of the blood is flung at the base of the altar (to sanctify it and make atonement for it). This is because it is a purification for sin offering, but only for an individual sin. But it is unlike the purification for sin offering in that the horns of the altar are not daubed with the blood to purify the altar. The one sin is not as all pervasive as the many. The second bird is dealt with in accordance with ‘the ordinance’, that is in the same way as in the whole burnt offering (Lev 1:14-17).
“And the priest shall make atonement for him as concerning his sin which he has sinned, and he shall be forgiven.” Thus will the priest make atonement for the one who has sinned, and he will be forgiven. Note the repetition in ‘the sin which he has sinned’. Sin is no light matter.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Lev 5:7. One for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering It appears from the following verses, that the sin-offering was first to be offered, in order to reconcile the sinner with God: and then the burnt-offering or gift might be accepted. In Mat 5:23-24 our Saviour refers to this custom.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
This was a merciful provision for the poor, in their times of offending. The Virgin Mary’s offering upon another occasion, was in this humble way. Luk 2:24 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 5:7 And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, 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.
Ver. 7. Two turtle doves. ] See Trapp on “ Lev 1:14 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
trespass. Hebrew. ‘asham. App-44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
he be not able to bring a lamb: Heb. his hand cannot reach to the sufficiency of a lamb, Lev 5:11, Lev 12:8, Lev 14:21, 2Co 8:12, Jam 2:5, Jam 2:6
two turtledoves: Lev 1:14, Lev 1:15, Mat 3:16, Mat 10:16, Luk 2:24
one: Lev 5:8, Lev 5:9, Lev 9:3, Lev 14:22, Lev 14:31, Lev 15:14, Lev 15:15, Lev 15:30, Lev 16:5, Heb 10:6-10
Reciprocal: Lev 14:4 – two birds Lev 14:12 – trespass Lev 25:26 – himself be able to redeem it Lev 27:8 – poorer Num 6:10 – General Num 8:12 – the one Deu 16:10 – a tribute Mat 21:12 – doves
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 5:7. Not able Through poverty. And this exception was allowed also in other sin-offerings. For a sin-offering Which was for that particular sin, and therefore offered first before the burnt-offering, which was for sins in general; to teach us not to rest in general confessions and repentance, but distinctly and particularly, as far as we can, to search out, and confess, and loathe, and leave our particular sins, without which God will not accept our other religious services.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 5:7-13. Concessions to Poverty in the case of sin offerings. This section takes up the last verses in Leviticus 4. (Guilt offering in Lev 5:7 should be sin offering as is shown by Lev 5:8 f.) If the offerer cannot afford a lamb, two turtle doves or young pigeons may be offered. Only one of these is properly a sin offering; but another, for a burnt offering, has to be given as well, as one would hardly be enough. Part of the blood is sprinkled on the side of the altar, part poured out at the base (cf. Lev 4:7). If not even this can be afforded, a small meal offering will be accepted as a sin offering. A tenth of an ephah would form about 6 pints. Oil and frankincense are the natural accompaniments, as in Lev 2:15. These concessions are doubtless because the sin is of an unwitting character. Whether the offerer or the priests is to decide as to the kind of victim, is not stated.