Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 22:14
And if a man eat [of] the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth [part] thereof unto it, and shall give [it] unto the priest with the holy thing.
14. unwittingly ] Cp. Lev 4:2. We are reminded by the directions here (‘the fifth part’ to be added) of ch. Lev 5:14-16; but the case there is quite different. It had to do with unintentionally keeping back from the Lord His dues. Here the man has unwittingly eaten of consecrated food, although not belonging to those who, in accordance with the preceding regulations, were privileged in that respect. The penalty in the former case was naturally a heavier one, viz. a Guilt-Offering.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Unwittingly – Inadvertently, or through ignorance. Compare Lev 4:2 note.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. Then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it] The holy thing of which he has unknowingly eaten shall be fairly valued, and to this value he shall add one fifth more, and give the whole to the priest.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The fifth part, over and above the principal, and besides the ram to be offered to God, Lev 5:15.
Shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing; or, and shall give unto the priest the holy thing; i.e. the worth of it, which the priest was either to take to himself or offer to God, as the nature of the thing was.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. if a man eat of the holy thingunwittinglyA common Israelite might unconsciously partake ofwhat had been offered as tithes, first-fruits, &c., and ondiscovering his unintentional error, he was not only to restore asmuch as he had used, but be fined in a fifth part more for thepriests to carry into the sanctuary.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And if a man eat [of] the holy thing unwittingly,…. Either not knowing that it is an holy thing, or the heave offering, or any thing of that kind; or else is ignorant of the punishment of such an action, as Gersom observes; and this is to be understood of any man that was not a priest, or was not of the priest’s family, even any common Israelite; so the Targum of Jonathan, a man of Israel, or an Israelite, one of the common people:
then he shall put a fifth part thereof unto it; a fifth part of the value of what he has eaten, to an equivalent for the whole, that is, he shall pay the full value for what he has eaten, and a fifth part besides:
and shall give [it] to the priest with the holy thing; the meaning is, that he shall give the fifth part to the priest, with the equivalent for what he has eaten; for he could not give the holy thing itself, but a compensation for it; according to Gersom, he was to give the principal to the priest, whose the holy thing was he ate of, and the fifth part he might give to what priest he would. The Jewish canon, concerning this matter, runs thus; he that ignorantly eats the heave offering pays the principal, and the fifth part; and the same, either he that eats, or drinks, or anoints; and whether the heave offering be clean or unclean, he pays the fifth, and the fifth of the fifth; and he does not pay the heave offering but of common things, rightly ordered, and they become an heave offering, and the compensation of it; and if the priest would forgive, he may not p.
p Misn. Trumot, c. 6. sect. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Verse 14
The text makes provision for one who unwittingly partook of the holy things when ceremonially unclean. These “holy things” were the priests’ portion of the various sacrifices brought to the altar, which became a part of his stipend. In such case, the guilty person must:
1. Refund the market value of the meat eaten, and
2. Add a fifth part, or twenty percent, as a fine.
This acknowledged his trespass, and the offender then followed the pattern prescribed for the appropriate sacrifice, Le 5:15, 16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14. And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly. A question may here arise, why God would have satisfaction made to the priests, if any one should have eaten of the offerings; for they deserved punishment rather than reward, if they had suffered sacred things to be brought into contempt by their promiscuous use. But the error of those is here dealt with, who had not reserved for the priests their lawful share. A portion, as we shall see, was assigned by God, which they were to set aside before they tasted any part of the victim; those, therefore, who had sinned by inadvertency, are commanded by Him to expiate their fault, to restore so much to the priest, and to add a fifth part. And this was done with the object of which we have spoken, lest, if the things offered to God were exposed to common use, religion should be brought into contempt. What follows afterwards, “and they shall not profane the holy things,” I interpret as addressed to the priests themselves; for this sentence is connected with the previous one, in which the injunctions were directed to the priests alone; and this is further confirmed by the next verse, which declares that the whole people would be accomplices in the sin of the priests if they should have polluted the sacred oblations. For thus I take the words, “that they should not suffer the people to bear the iniquity,” or the punishment of the transgression, if the unclean should have touched things offered to God. For as the priest is the mediator of reconciliation to propitiate God towards men, so his impiety is a common iniquity, which brings guilt upon all. The translation which some give, “that they should not lade themselves,” (196) is further from the sense, and altogether wrested. Finally, God again declares that in proportion to the greatness of the honor which He had put upon them, would be the heaviness and inexcusableness of the crime, if they acted unworthily of their calling.
(196) As in margin of A. V.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) Eat of the holy thing unwittingly.Or, through ignorance, as it is rendered in the Authorised version in all the other five passages where this expression occurs in this book. (See Lev. 4:2; Lev. 4:22; Lev. 4:27; Lev. 5:15; Lev. 5:18.) That is, when he ate of the things he was ignorant that they were holy.
He shall put the fifth part thereof unto it.To make the people more careful, the offender though ignorant of the offence at the time when he committed it, had to pay the fifth part of the value of the holy property which he had eaten, in addition to the principal. For the way in which this was estimated see Lev. 5:16.
And shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing.Better, And shall give back the holy thing to the priest. Holy thing denotes here the equivalent of the holy thing which he has eaten. This he has to return to the priest with the fifth part. As eating holy things through ignorance was not so great an offence as withholding them altogether, or not delivering them up, restitution with a small fine was deemed a sufficient caution, whilst the case of ignorantly keeping them back was more serious, and hence the offender had also to bring a trespass offering. (See Lev. 5:14-17.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14-16. Unwittingly See Lev 4:2, note.
The fifth part To inspire caution in dealing with holy things, the innocent offender was liable to a fine, the amount of which was to be estimated by the priest, who was to value the thing eaten and then add a fifth.
Not profane The priests are required not to allow improper persons to eat the holy things, and thus cause the people to bear the iniquity of trespass. It may be that the priests are intended instead of the people, for the Hebrew is ambiguous. See Lev 10:17; Num 9:13, notes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 22:14. He shall put the fifth part thereof unto it The meaning is, that the person, thus ignorantly offending, should, to the full worth of the thing, add a fifth part, and so restore to the priest what he had inadvertently applied to his own use.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Observe here again, sanctification is of the LORD. Joh 17:19 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 22:14 And if a man eat [of] the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth [part] thereof unto it, and shall give [it] unto the priest with the holy thing.
Ver. 14. See Trapp on “ Lev 22:10 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
unwittingly: i.e. through ignorance. See Lev 4:2, Lev 4:22, Lev 4:27; Lev 5:15, Lev 5:18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Lev 5:15-19, Lev 27:13, Lev 27:15
Reciprocal: Lev 5:16 – make Ezr 2:63 – should not
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 22:14. The fifth part unto it Over and above the principal, and besides the ram to be offered to God, Lev 5:15. And shall give unto the priest the holy thing That is, the worth of it, which the priest was either to take to himself or to offer to God, as the nature of the thing was.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
22:14 And if a man eat [of] the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the {g} fifth [part] thereof unto it, and shall give [it] unto the priest with the holy thing.
(g) He shall give that and a fifth part over.