Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 6:2
If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbor in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbor;
2. a matter of deposit ] if he has taken anything which was delivered him to keep. In ancient times when there were no banks or safe places where a man might deposit his private property, he was obliged to conceal anything of value which he possessed; sometimes he entrusted it to a friend for safe custody. Cp. Sir 42:7 with note ( C. B.).
or of bargain ] lit. something placed in the hand, pledge R.V. mg. The difference between this and the preceding is slight, and this latter expression is omitted in the recapitulation of Lev 6:4. The rendering of A.V., fellowship, is supported by LXX. and Syr., and means partnership in any transaction agreed to by placing the hand in that of another.
The next two offences are direct attacks on a neighbour’s goods.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Lev 6:2-7
Bring his trespass-offering.
Christ the true Trespass-offering
In Christ Jesus, the true Trespass-offering, God has provided an offering after His own estimation. Restitution, compensation, and expiation–all are found in Him. When He gave His life a ransom for many, the fullest satisfaction was made to God and man. Both had been trespassed against, and both could now say, I am satisfied. I have all back and more. As God and man had shared in the wrong inflicted by the trespass of the latter, so there is this blessed community, so to speak, in the offering by which the wrong is put away. God is glorified in Christ crucified. A crucified Christ is our glory. Christ is Gods, and Gods Christ is ours. Such is the wondrous mystery of grace displayed in the aspect of redemption furnished by the trespass-offering. Well may we exclaim with the apostle, Oh, the depth of the riches, &c., both of the wisdom and knowledge of God–how unsearchable are His judgments, and His works past finding out,–how comforting is the assurance that one day we shall know these things as we cannot know them now. (F. H. White.)
Social sins and their Godward aspect
I can conceive no law more beautiful, more impartial, more fitted to do the highest good, than the very first requirement with which this chapter begins: If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord. But mark what constitutes a trespass against the Lord. It consists in lying to his neighbour, or in that which was delivered to him to keep, or in fellowship, or in taking anything away from his neighbour by violence. Now, in doing so, he commits a trespass against the Lord: the injury is done against his neighbour, but in its rebound it is sin against God. Every deed of injustice, whether it break the last six commandments or the first four, is sin against God–if it be one of the last six commandments of the law, it has in it two aspects: one aspect towards man, or injury done to man–a neighbour; and its aspect towards God, or sin committed against Him. We never sin against each other–we do injury to each other–but, when we do so, we sin always against God. And hence the distinction is so important–especially in these days when errors are abroad–that the person against whom the thing is done can forgive in the thing which relates to him: if I steal, or if I injure or wound the neighbour, he from whom I plunder can forgive me the injury, because he is injured and the owner; but the sin that underlies the injury, reaching to God, God alone can forgive. See, too, how very comprehensive the law is–shall sin in that which was delivered him to keep. Are you made a trustee?–is property deposited with you?–are you a banker?–has some client left his money in your hands? Then it is your duty to be faithful; it is your duty to remember that the least breach of that trust is injury against your neighbour and sin against your God. Or in fellowship–that is, as we call it in modern days, in partnership. Are you a partner in a house of business? You are bound to look to your co-partners interests as if they were your own; and your co-partner is bound to look to your interests just as if they were his. Or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour, such a one commits sin. Or hath found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely. Among the Romans, it was always regarded as theft to appropriate anything you found upon the streets, whether you could find the owner of it or not: and this law here says–from which that was evidently a reflection that if you find anything of which you cannot find the owner, or if you find anything and know the owner, and either conceal it, or deny it, or swear falsely concerning it, all that is sin against God. Then it shall be, because he hath sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found, or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal–that is, the sum itself–and shall add not as an atonement, but as what may be fairly due–the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth. And then, not only was he to do so, but he was also to do it at the time of his confession and his trespass-offering made by the priest. The sin was forgiven through the trespass-offering as a type of Christs atonement; the injury against the brother was rectified by returning the principal, and a fifth of the principal added to it, and receiving from that brother he had injured his forgiveness. (J. Cumming, D. D.)
All sins are against God
When a man defrauds you in weight he sins against you, not against the scales, which are only the instruments of determining true and false weight. When men sin it is against God, and not against His law, which is but the indicator of right and wrong. You care little for sins against Gods law. Now, every sin that you commit is personal to God, and not merely an infraction of His law. It is casting javelins and arrows of base desire into His loving bosom. I think no truth can be discovered which would be so powerful upon the moral sense of men as that which should disclose to them that sinning is always a personal offence against a personal God. (H. W. Beecher.)
Refusing to deceive
A young man came to a gentleman one day with a case of conscience. He was corresponding clerk in a flourishing house of business. His employers had begun to direct him to write letters to customers containing statements which he and they knew to be false. He had objected, and they said: We are responsible for these statements; it is nothing to you whether they are true or false. I said to him, Did they sign the letters, or ask you to write them in your own name? As soon as the question left my lips I saw that if there were a difference both would be wrong, and I hastened to tell him so he said, I have to sign them with my name, per Messrs. Blank. I said, Your case is clear; you must decline to do it. He said, Then I shall be dismissed; and, after a pause, I have a wife and family. I replied, My dear friend, this is a trial of faith and principle; you must do right, and trust to God to take care of you and your family. I met him some days after. Well Mr.
, I said, how are you getting on? He replied, I am still in my situation; I had an interview with the partners, and told them I could not write letters I knew to be untrue. They were very angry, and I expected to receive notice, but I have not received it yet. Months passed, and he remained in his situation. After a while he called upon me, and I saw in his face that something had happened. Well, Mr.–, I said, have you had your dismissal? No, he said, I have not, and smiled. What then? A very confidential post in their service, with a higher salary, has fallen vacant, and they have put me into it. On second thoughts these unprincipled men had come to the conclusion that a clerk who would not deceive a customer would not deceive them, and was too valuable to be lost.
Fruits of deceit
There is an old story of a Frenchman who persuaded some Missouri Indians to exchange fur for gunpowder, representing that they could obtain a fine crop by sowing it. The Indians prepared a field, and sowed the powder, and set a guard to watch it. As it did not come up they saw that they had been deceived. Some time after the partner of the deceiver visited these Indians with a large stock of goods for the purpose of trade. The Indians each took such things as pleased him, till all were gone. The Frenchman went to the head chief and demanded redress. The chief assured him that full justice should be done as soon as the harvest of gunpowder should be gathered. This was poor consolation for his loss, but such a rebuke as his partners perfidy deserved. (S. S. Chronicle.)
A boys temptation resisted
For two years had sailor Ben been off on the sea. Now his ship touched the shore, and his heart was full of joy. When he said good-bye to his mother he was a wild, careless boy; but in the rough days and stormy nights on the water he had learned not only to love his mother better, but to love and serve the God she loved. So he longed to go to her and tell her of this joy. Once on shore he hurried to buy a gift for her; a silver purse with long silver fringe, and into it he counted twenty gold dollars. Ill make your heart glad in more ways than one, mother, he said, as he snapped the clasp and bounded over the rocks to the ship, for this was to be his last night on board for many months. In his haste his foot slipped, and he fell heavily, bruising his head, spraining his wrist, and the precious purse was flung out of his hands down out of sight to the rocks below. Poor Ben! Never thinking of his bruises he climbed down, searching for his treasure till the night closed about him, then slowly with an aching heart he went back to his ship. But there was a boy whose name was Aleck, and who early every morning swung himself down among the rocks to hunt for the eggs the sea-birds leave in their nests. The next morning he caught sight of something he never saw before in any nest, and eagerly grasped it. It is Bens silver purse! No more eggs for Aleck to-day; but with his treasure safe in his pocket he climbs up the rope to show his riches to his mother. Up on the rocks he meets sailor Ben, with limping gait and anxious face, searching for his purse. My boy, Ill give you the brightest gold dollar you ever put your eyes on if youll find the purse I lost here last night. It was for my old mother. It will break my heart to go home without it! For a minute there was a battle fierce and terrible in Alecks heart. Was not the purse his? He had found it. His mother needed the gold as much as Bens mother; but would she ever touch it if she knew he had kept it from its rightful owner? No, he knew what she would bid him do, and laying the purse in Bens hands he gained the victory, the battle was over. And so while Ben was rattling along in the coach, happy to pour into his mothers lap the gold he had saved for her, in the little cottage among the trees, Aleck was telling his mother the story of his temptation. Better an honest heart, my boy, than all the gold and silver in the land. (Christian Age.)
Harm done by trespass
I. The injury wrought by trespass.
1. Trespass defined. Actual wrong and robbery.
2. Trespass conditioned. Might be wrought in ignorance.
3. Trespass weighed. By the Word of God.
4. Trespass recognised (Lev 6:4).
II. The reparation made for trespass.
1. Trespass atoned.
2. Trespass compensated.
(1) Judgment inflicted.
(2) Injury compensated.
(3) Dues exceeded.
There was in Christs obedience an excess of merit presented to God, passing beyond mans demerit. And in Christian devotedness and ministry there are blessings brought to men by man far more sacred, tender, consolatory, and helpful, which more than outweigh all the injury done to men by man. (W. H. Jellie.)
Lessons
1.Of careful attention to be given unto the Word of God (Lev 6:1).
2. To restore things that are lost (Lev 6:4).
3. Not to make a schism in the Church (Lev 6:16).
4. That in the morning we should first think of God, and give Him praise.
5. The merciful man shall obtain mercy by his prayers. (A. Willet, D. D.)
That which was delivered him to keep.–
Depositing property
I. A neighbourly convenience.
1. How helpful a neighbour may become.
2. How grand is this confidence in another.
3. How mutually dependent we are one upon another.
4. How honourable we should be in all transactions.
5. How jealously we should strive to merit implicit trust.
II. A hazardous transaction.
1. Mans reliableness is sorely discredited by continuous breaches of faith.
2. Treasure becomes often a serious anxiety to its possessor.
3. No security can be guaranteed in any earthly confidence.
III. A doubtful alternative. There was another method adopted, when a man was about to journey, if he could not trust his neighbour: he would conceal his treasures underground.
IV. A spiritual analogy. This committing treasure to a neighbour suggests Pauls imagery of the soul committed to Christ (2Ti 1:12, see also verses 14, and 1Ti 6:20).
1. Christ is faithful to our trust.
2. We cannot safely risk our souls in other keeping. (W. H. Jellie.)
Custody of treasure
To deposit valuable property with a neighbour was, and still is, a common practice in the East where no responsible establishments exist for the reception of private treasure. Hence, when a man went on a journey, he concealed his precious things underground. This was connected with the danger of forgetting the spot where they were hidden, when search and digging had to be resorted to. This not only accounts for the fact that treasure is called in Hebrew by a name which denotes hidden, or things which men are in the habit of hiding underground, but explains such allusions as hidden riches of secret places (Isa 45:3), and searchest for her as for hid treasure (Pro 2:4), dig for it more than for hid treasure (Job 3:21). To avoid this danger, men entrusted their treasure to the custody of a neighbour. It is to this practice that the text refers, and it is from this practice that the apostle took the expression in 2Ti 1:12; see also verse 14, and 1Ti 6:20). (C. D. Ginsburg, LL.D.)
Found that which was lost.–
Restoration of lost property
Nauhaught was an Indian deacon of a native Christian Church in America. He was a poor, hard-working trapper, with a sick wife and child. One night he dreamed that an angel came to him and dropped in his hand a fair, broad gold piece, in the name of God. When he rose that morning he went out into the wilderness to examine his traps; but neither beast nor bird had been caught in the toils, and poor Nauhaught grieved sorely over his misfortunes as he thought of the bare home and the needs of his sick wife, While praying that God would send the angel of his dream to help him in his dire distress, his feet touched something hard amid the grass, and there lay a purse filled with gold.
So, then, the dream was true,
The angel brought one broad piece only;
Should he take all these?
He was sorely tempted to conceal and appropriate his prize. The thing was so easy. No one need know he had found the purse, and all the wants of his needy family could be at once supplied. But his conscience stirred within him like the voice of God:–
Nauhaught, be a man.
Starve, if need be, but while you live, look out
From honest eyes on all men unashamed.
So the Indian deacon, mindful of the Divine voice, walked bravely back to the hamlet, asking, as he went, if any one had lost anything that day. I, said a voice, ten gold pieces in a silken purse. On which Nauhaught at once gave up the purse, and walked away, as poor as ever in pocket, but far richer and stronger in soul through the conflict, in which right had won the victory. The sea captain to whom the lost property had been restored, however, called him back, and begged him to accept a tithe of the prize he had found. This was one gold piece. He took it, and recognising here the very fulfilment of his dream, he gave God thanks. The people told him afterwards who this seaman was, and holy well known all around the coast. He answered, with a wise smile–to himself: I saw the angel, where they saw a man.
He shall restore it.–
Restitution
To wrong man is to dishonour God. To lie to a neighbour, or to deceive him, is to commit a trespass against the Lord. Yet how little is this thought of! Few regard in any such light as this the ten thousand little injustices and over-exactions of which men, in many of the conditions of life, are guilty towards others. But no such acts are overlooked by God. He is as observant of your conduct towards your fellow-men as towards Himself. God requires restitution to be made to Himself when defrauded or wronged by men in the sins which they commit. We therefore read (Lev 5:15-16). God is wronged by every sin of man. On every such occasion there is withheld from Him what is His due. And yet He will have tits claims met. But by whom is the fulfilment to be made? Not by the sinner himself. He is insolvent, and cannot satisfy the first and easiest demand of his Great Creditor. But what he himself is powerless to do can be done to the full by his Divine Substitute. Yes, Man–the Man Christ Jesus, makes awards for harm which those for whom He acts have done. He restores the principal, and with it gives the addition which God requires. He fulfils all righteousness, and yields to God a greater glory and pleasure by the obedience He renders and the character He exemplifies than would have been rendered by mankind at large, even had they never known sin. The restitution on which I wish specially to fix attention is that which has to be made to defrauded and injured man. It is impossible to keep ones eyes and ears open to what is going on in the worlds of politics, commerce, and social life, and not feel that there is nothing that more needs to be urged and performed than restitution. The extent to which overreaching, undue exaction, and unjust dealing are practised is almost beyond what words can express. This was very wonderfully disclosed by the results of some sermons on Restitution, which the late Dr. Finney, of America, delivered in this country some years ago. Moneys were sent to him, varying in sums from one shilling to a hundred pounds, with the names and addresses of the persons to whom they were to be delivered, and to whom they were due. So convicted and miserable were the persons who thus acted in the remembrance of the dishonesties of which they had been guilty, that they could find no relief until restitution according to the Divine command had been made. But that was not all, nor the worst. They could not gain the ear of the Most High (Mat 5:23-24). God is a God of truth, and cannot give countenance to falsehood: of justice, and cannot even seemingly make any compromise with dishonesty and oppression. He cannot give heed to the prayer of the injurer of his brethren, nor fill with good the heart and hand of the dishonest. They are the upright, says David, whom He allows to dwell in His presence (Psa 140:13), to whom He does good, and who are His delight. Men of an opposite character yield Him no pleasure, and are debarred from the privileges of His people. But let the necessary reparation be made, and the required restitution be rendered, and yours will be the privilege of those whom the Lord accepts and honours. Standing right with men, in the matter under consideration, you will have rightness of relationship to the God of justice and truth. It is thus first restitution, then reconciliation. The condition on which God admits the wrongdoer to the place of privilege in His presence, is the restoration of what he has by false means taken from another. In the ease of defrauding God, it is first sacrifice, then restitution; in the case of wronging man, it is first restitution, then sacrifice. And yet it is only when the sin which the wrong-doing implies is forgiven that the wrong-doing itself is repaired. It is accordingly only when the man who has injured his neighbour is convicted of the evil done, and sees it in the all-revealing light of the Divine presence, that he repairs to the injured with the principal and the fifth part in his hand. You may more than satisfy the man that has been wronged; but that will not satisfy God. Sin can be answered for only by the Cross; and the defilement it leaves behind on the soul can only be removed by the blood of cleansing. But bring to God the sacrifice of expiation, and offer to Him His Christ as your plea for the acceptance you require and wish, and you render to Him, in full, the restitution which He demands. (James Fleming, D. D.)
Restitution
An extensive hardware merchant in one of the Fulton Street prayer-meetings in New York appealed to his brother merchants to have the same religion for down-town as they had for up-town ; for the week-day as for the Sabbath; for the counting-house as for the communion-table. After the meeting a manufacturer with whom he had dealt largely accosted him. You did not know, said he, that I was at the meeting and heard your remarks. I have for the last five years been in the habit of charging you more for goods than other purchasers. I want you to take your books and charge back to me so much per cent on every bill of goods you have had of me for the five past years. A few days later the same hardware merchant had occasion to acknowledge the payment of a debt of several hundred dollars which had been due for twenty-eight years from a man who could as easily have paid it twenty-four years before. (Family Treasury.)
Reparation by restitution
Another way of being rid of guilt is by making handsome reparation to the injured party–a handsome, genuine recognition and reparation, such as Jacob made to Esau, or David to Bathsheba, or Zacchaeus to the widows and orphans of Judea. It is a step out of sin towards the God of truth and honesty, and towards Jesus Christ. Your agonies over cases of conscience and want of peace may lie there–that you have never made reparation. Oh, we know about it. God is not mocked. You cannot have the peace of conscience of a saint while living in dishonesty. Youll sleep better, and enjoy your food bettor, and the air of June will be round you in mid-January the day you make reparation. That will slacken the bonds of conscience, though it will not take them off it is a sweet thing to do, though desperately hard to begin. I know it because Ive done it–there are people here to whom Ive made reparation, and Im going to make more. The faith of some is scandalised by seeing you come to the prayer-meeting, he or she knowing what reparation you have made. Go and say, I have not only to pay thee for the past, but here are arrears of interest. Try it; it will make you twenty years younger. There is no more mischievous doctrine than the Antinomianism which makes men blink at common honesty and cover up falsehood with Evangelicalism. God will not do it. The minister may come and pronounce a benediction on your sophistries, but it will not do. I am dwelling long on this, though not a moment too much for some men here. Make reparation. (A. Whyte.)
Confession and restitution
We may here relate an incident from the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ who had been richly blessed. When he was a student he was absorbed in the things of this world, but soon afterwards yielded to the Spirit of God, and was led to his Redeemer. He became, in reality, another man. But, as often happens, the friends and acquaintances of his jolly student days could not understand the change, and the only conclusion they could come to was that N–had turned hypocrite. Now it happened that N–had, while he was a student, taken away from one of his friends a paper-knife, which the owner set great store by. When, after his conversion to a new life, his eye happened one day to fall on the knife, his conscience smote him for his sin in taking it. The Spirit of God gave him no rest, urging him to take back the knife to its true owner, and acknowledge his sin. Oh, said the man to us, that was a hard step to take! I was willing enough to part with the knife, and would have given up a thousand knives, but I trembled when I thought– he regards you already as a hypocrite, and what will he think now? Bat I went to him and confessed with trembling lips, and–what happened? He took my hand, with tears in his eyes, and said, Now I see that there is something genuine in your conversion. I respect you now, and would gladly be as you are. (Otto Funcke.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. Lie unto his neighbour, c.] This must refer to a case in which a person delivered his property to his neighbour to be preserved for him, and took no witness to attest the delivery of the goods such a person therefore might deny that he had ever received such goods, for he who had deposited them with him could bring no proof of the delivery. On the other hand, a man might accuse his neighbour of detaining property which had never been confided to him, or, after having been confided, had been restored again; hence the law here is very cautious on these points: and because in many cases it was impossible to come at the whole truth without a direct revelation from God, which should in no common case be expected, the penalties are very moderate; for in such cases, even when guilt was discovered, the man might not be so criminal as appearances might intimate. See the law concerning this laid down and explained, See “Ex 22:7“, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This sin, though directly committed against man only, is here emphatically said to be done against the Lord; not only in general, for so every sin against man is also against the Lord, whose image in man is thereby injured, and whose law, which obligeth us to love, and fidelity, and justice to other men, is thereby violated; but in a more special sense, because this was a violation of human society, whereof God is the author, and president, and defender; see Num 5:6; and because it was a secret sin, of which God alone was the witness and judge; see Act 5:4; and because Gods name was abused in it by perjury, Lev 6:3.
To keep, to wit, in trust. Or in fellowship, Heb. or in putting of the hand. Which may be either,
1. Another expression of the same thing immediately going before, which is very frequent in Scripture; and so the sense is, when one man puts any thing into another mans hand to keep for him; and when he requires it, to restore it to him. Or,
2. A distinct branch, which seems more probable, and so it belongs to commerce or fellowship in trading, which is very usual, when one man puts any thing into anothers hand, not to keep it, as in the foregoing word or member, but to use and improve it for the common benefit of them both, in which cases of partnership it is easy for one to deceive the other, and therefore provision is here made against it. And this is called a putting of the hand, because such agreements and associations used to be confirmed by giving or joining their hands together, Jer 1:15; Gal 2:9. Compare Exo 23:1.
Taken away by violence, to wit, secretly; for he seems to speak here of such sins as could not be proved by witness.
Or hath deceived his neighbour, got any thing from him by calumny, or fraud, or circumvention; for so the word signifies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2-7. If a soul sin, and commit atrespass against the LordThis law, the record of which shouldhave been joined with the previous chapter, was given concerningthings stolen, fraudulently gotten, or wrongfully kept. The offenderwas enjoined to make restitution of the articles to the rightfulowner, along with a fifth part out of his own possessions. But it wasnot enough thus to repair the injury done to a neighbor and tosociety; he was required to bring a trespass offering, as a token ofsorrow and penitence for having hurt the cause of religion and ofGod. That trespass offering was a ram without blemish, which was tobe made on the altar of burnt offerings, and the flesh belonged tothe priests. This penalty was equivalent to a mitigated fine; butbeing associated with a sacred duty, the form in which the fine wasinflicted served the important purpose of rousing attention to theclaims and reviving a sense of responsibility to God.
Le6:8-13. THE LAWOF THE BURNTOFFERING.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord,…. All sin is against the Lord, contrary to his nature and will, and a transgression of his law; but some sins are more apparently so than others, and against which he expresses greater indignation and abhorrence, being attended also with very aggravating circumstances, as these that follow; which are such as are not only contrary to the will of God, but to the good of society, and tend to the subversion of it, of which he is the founder and supporter, and especially when he is sworn by, and appealed to as a witness, in a case not only injurious but false:
and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep; whether money or goods, or any living creature, sheep, cow, horse, c. and should deny that ever anything was delivered to him, and take his oath upon it which is a very grievous crime, and not to go unpunished, as was known by the light of nature, and declared by the Heathen oracle h; and yet there was to be a trespass offering to make atonement for such a sin: Jarchi thinks, by his neighbour is meant a third person between them; but if that third person was a witness of the goods being delivered, there would have been no occasion of an oath, as follows: the case supposed seems to be, when anything was delivered to the care and custody of another, without the knowledge of any but the person that delivered it, and he to whom it was delivered; who retaining it for his own use, embezzling the goods, and acting the unfaithful part, affirms to the owner he never had anything of him, and so lies to him, and to that lie adds an oath of perjury:
or in fellowship: in partnership; as, for instance, having received money belonging to them both, denies he ever received any, and so cheats his partner of what was his due, and being put to his oath, takes it: or, “in putting of the hand” i, as persons usually do when they enter into fellowship or partnership, they give each other their hand in token of it; or in putting anything into the hand, as money to trade with, and he denies he received any; or by way of purchase for anything bought, and the person of whom the purchase is made affirms the purchaser never put anything into his hand, or paid him anything, but insists upon being paid again; or in a way of lending, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom, because then money is put into the hand of him that receives it, and, in the case supposed, the borrower denies that ever any was put into his hand, or he borrowed any; and being called upon to swear, swears falsely:
or in a thing taken away by violence: without the will and knowledge of the owner; privately and secretly, but being suspected, is challenged with it, and denying it, is made to swear, which he does falsely:
or hath deceived his neighbour; cheated him in trade and commerce, defrauded him in business, extorted money from him; or by calumny and false accusation got anything out of his hands, see Lu 19:8 or by detaining the wages of the hireling; so Jarchi and Ben Gersom.
h “Spartano cuidam respondit”, &c. Juvenal. Satyr. 13. prope finem. i “in positione manus”, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(2) And commit a trespass against the Lord.It will be seen that the trespass against God is, strictly speaking, a violation of the rights of a neighbours property. As fraud and plunder are most subversive of social life, a crime of this sort is described as an insult to God, who is the founder and sovereign ruler of his people.
In that which was delivered him to keep.To deposit valuable property with a neighbour was, and still is, a common practice in the East where no responsible establishments exist for the reception of private treasure. Hence, when a man went on a journey, he concealed his precious things underground. This was connected with the danger of forgetting the spot where they were hidden, when search and digging had to be resorted to. This not only accounts for the fact that treasure is called in Hebrew by a name which denotes hidden, or things which men are in the habit of hiding underground, but explains such allusions as hidden riches of secret places (Isa. 45:3), and searchest for her as for hid treasure (Pro. 2:4), dig for it more than for hid treasure (Job. 3:21). To avoid this danger, men entrusted their treasure to the custody of a neighbour. It is to this practice which the text before us refers, and it is from this practice that the apostle took the expression when he declares, I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day (2Ti. 1:12; see also Lev. 6:14, and 1Ti. 6:20).
Or in fellowship.Literally, or in something that is placed in the hand; that is, put in his hand, a deposit. It is similar in nature to the trust mentioned in the preceding clause, for which reason it is not repeated in the general recapitulation of the offences in Lev. 6:4-5.
Or in a thing taken away in violence.Having specified two cases of embezzlement in connection with things voluntarily handed over to the defrauder, two other frauds are adduced, in which the offender possessed himself of his neighbours property by violence and extortion.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 6:2. Commit a trespass against the Lord Known and voluntary sins are considered in this chapter. Every sin which men commit, says Jameson from Calmet, is against God, the supreme Lawgiver and Judge; but especially such sins, as, being committed in secresy, or lying out of the reach of human jurisdiction, cannot be punished by men; or which are not very liable to be detected, unless by the conviction of men’s consciences, and an awful regard to the majesty of God, who knows the secret thoughts of the heart. Now the trespasses here mentioned are of this kind; and, therefore, emphatically said to be committed against the Lord; see 1Sa 17:25. Or hath deceived his neighbour, at the close of this verse, we should rather read, hath defrauded his neighbour; see Mal 3:5. Dr. Beaumont renders this verse thus; “A soul, when he shall sin and transgress a transgression against Jehovah, and falsely deny* unto his neighbour a thing delivered him to keep, or in putting of the hand, or in a thing taken away by violence; or hath deceitfully oppressed his neighbour.”
* “Falsely deny:or lye: but the word meaneth lying by the denial of a thing; see Gen 18:15.”
“Delivered.The apostle uses a word exactly to the same import, 2Ti 1:12.”
“Putting of the hand. This may mean fellowship or partnership, or putting of a thing to one’s care and fidelity, to ’employ for him; or it may imply the lending or borrowing of a thing.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Lev 6:2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;
Ver. 2. Against the Lord. ] As David in defiling his neighbour’s wife, and afterwards killing him, is said to have “despised the commandment of the Lord, and to have done evil in his sight,” 2Sa 12:9 which also he penitently acknowledgeth. Psa 51:4 Sin is properly against none but God, being a transgression of his law. Hence the manslayer was confined to the city of refuge as to a prison, during the life of the high priest; as being, saith one, a the chief god on earth. That was a true position of the Pelagians, Omne peccatum est contemptus Dei, that every sin is a contempt of God. Pro 18:3
In fellowship.
a Godw., Heb. Antiq., p. 98.
b Dextram coniungere dextrae.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
soul = person. Hebrew. nephesh (App-13).
trespass. Hebrew. ma’al. App-44. All sin is viewed as “against Jehovah”. Compare Psa 51:4.
delivered him to keep = a deposit. Otherwise treasure was generally hidden in the ground. Isa 45:3. Pro 2:4. Job 3:21.
in fellowship = in pledge. Hebrew giving the hand, put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of the Adjunct) for pledging.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
commit: Lev 5:15, Lev 5:19, Num 5:6-8, Psa 51:4
lie: Lev 19:11, Gen 26:7, Joh 8:44, Act 5:4, Eph 4:25, Col 3:9, Rev 22:15
in that: Exo 22:7-10
in fellowship: or, in dealing, Heb. in putting of the hand, Isa 21:2, Isa 24:16, Isa 33:1, Hab 1:13
deceived: Pro 24:28, Pro 26:19, Isa 59:13-15, Jer 9:5, Amo 8:5, Mic 6:10-12
Reciprocal: Gen 20:6 – sinning Gen 39:9 – sin Eze 33:15 – give Mat 5:23 – rememberest Mat 18:15 – if
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 6:2. If a soul sin This sin, though directly committed against man, is emphatically said to be done against the Lord, not only in general, for so every sin against man is also against the Lord, but in a special sense, because this was a violation of human society, whereof God is the author, and president, and defender; and because it was a secret sin, of which God alone was the witness and judge; and because Gods name was abused in it by perjury. In that which was delivered to keep By breach of trust in any goods committed to his care, and by denial of the facts when brought upon his oath before the judges. Or in fellowship Hebrew, in putting the hand; alluding to the form of making contracts, by the parties giving the hand to each other. So it may either signify, in carrying on a common trade by joint stock, or in any matter of trust, for which he gave his hand, and plighted his faith to another. In any thing taken away by violence By robbery or stealth, for the word signifies both. Theft not being punished among the Jews with death, they tendered an oath to those who were accused or suspected of it, to clear themselves from the imputation, Exo 22:11. Or hath deceived (rather defrauded) his neighbour, as Mal 3:5, where the same word signifies to defraud a hireling of his wages, and to oppress the widow and fatherless by acts of injustice.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
6:2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in {a} fellowship, or in a thing taken away by {b} violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;
(a) To give, and occupy for the use of him that gave it.
(b) By any deceit, or unlawful means.