Leviticus 5:1 · Bible study
Leviticus 5:1 Commentary: The Sin of Silent Witness
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Understand the meaning of 'hearing the voice of adjuration' in Leviticus 5:1.
Research Summary
- Meaning: A person who hears a judicial adjuration and remains silent despite having knowledge incurs guilt that requires a sin-offering.
- Key words: אָלָה ('alah, adjuration/oath), עֵד ('ed, witness), נָשָׂא עֲוֹן (nasa 'avon, bear iniquity).
- Main debate: Whether the adjuration is exclusively a court summons or could include hearing a false oath/curse (Calvin, Wesley, and Gill note the latter possibility).
- Theological theme: The duty to speak truth is tied to the fear of God; silence in the face of a divine oath is a sin requiring atonement.
- Best use: As background for understanding OT legal process, the nature of sins of omission, and the graded sacrificial system that makes atonement accessible to all.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
“If someone sins by failing to testify when he hears a public charge about something he has witnessed, whether he has seen it or learned of it, he shall bear the iniquity.
WEB World English Bible 2000
“‘If anyone sins, in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, he being a witness, whether he has seen or known, if he doesn’t report it, then he shall bear his iniquity.
KJV King James Version 1769
And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And if any one sin, in that he heareth the voice of adjuration, he being a witness, whether he hath seen or known, if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
`And when a person doth sin, and hath heard the voice of an oath, and he is witness, or hath seen, or hath known--if he declare not, then he hath borne his iniquity:
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And if any one sin, and hear the voice of adjuration, and he is a witness whether he hath seen or known [it], if he do not give information, then he shall bear his iniquity.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
If any one sin, and hear the voice of one swearing, and is a witness either because he himself hath seen, or is privy to it: if he do not utter it, he shall bear his iniquity.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y CUANDO alguna persona pecare, que hubiere oído la voz del que juró, y él fuere testigo que vió, ó supo, si no lo denunciare, él llevará su pecado.
E quando alguma pessoa pecar, que houver ouvido a voz do que jurou, e ele for testemunha que viu, ou soube, se não o denunciar, ele levará seu pecado.
Lorsque quelqu’ un, après avoir été mis sous serment comme témoin, péchera en ne déclarant pas ce qu’ il a vu ou ce qu’ il sait, il restera chargé de sa faute.
Wenn jemand also sündigen würde, daß er den Fluch aussprechen hört und Zeuge ist, weil er's gesehen oder erfahren hat, es aber nicht ansagt, der ist einer Missetat schuldig.
Als nu een mens zal gezondigd hebben, dat hij gehoord heeft een stem des vloeks, waarvan hij getuige is, hetzij dat hij het gezien of geweten heeft; indien hij het niet te kennen geeft, zo zal hij zijn ongerechtigheid dragen.
Quando una persona, dopo aver udito dal giudice la formula del giuramento, nella sua qualità di testimonio pecca non dichiarando ciò che ha veduto o altrimenti conosciuto, porterà la pena della sua iniquità.
Jeźliby też człowiek zgrzeszył, żeby słyszał głos bluźnierstwa, a byłby świadkiem tego, co albo widział, albo słyszał, a nie oznajmiłby, poniesie karanie za nieprawość swoję.
Если кто согрешит тем, что слышал голос проклятия и был свидетелем, или видел, или знал, но не объявил, то он понесет на себе грех.
「若有人 聽見 發誓 的聲音（或譯：若有人聽見叫人發誓的聲音），他 本是見證，卻 不 把 所看見的、 所知道的 說出來，這就是 罪；他要擔當 他的罪孽。
And if anyone does wrong by saying nothing when he is put under oath as a witness of something he has seen or had knowledge of, then he will be responsible:
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Leviticus 5:1
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators from across the traditions converge on the basic legal setting of this verse. The person described hears a public adjuration, a solemn call, often in a courtroom, invoking God's name to compel witnesses to speak, and remains silent despite having direct knowledge (seen or known). Barnes, Keil and Delitzsch, and the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges each place the scene at a judicial investigation where the judge appeals to all present to come forward with evidence. Calvin, after surveying alternative readings, also settles on an adjuration within legal proceedings. The sin, then, is one of omission: refusing to disclose what one knows. Matthew Henry and Adam Clarke stress that the offence strikes at justice itself, since concealing truth lets the guilty go free and endangers the innocent. The phrase “bear his iniquity” (נָשָׂא עֲוֹן) signals that the guilty person is liable for punishment, though the verses that follow (Leviticus 5:5, 6) provide a graded sin-offering for atonement, showing that the community offered a path back even for this kind of silence.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Judicial adjuration (majority view): Context of legal proceedings; cross-reference to Proverbs 29:24 and Matthew 26:63; supported by Barnes, Keil, Cambridge, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown.
- Hearing a false oath or curse (minority view): Semantic range of 'alah (curse); emphasis on the witness's duty to expose blasphemy or perjury; supported by Calvin, Wesley, and Gill as a secondary reading.
What is clear: Failing to testify when a solemn call is made and one has relevant knowledge is a sin that requires atonement.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'voice of adjuration' (קוֹל אָלָה) | All major commentators agree that this is a formal, public appeal, likely in a legal setting, calling on witnesses to speak under oath. | Some (Barnes, Keil, Cambridge) see it strictly as a judge's court summons; others (Calvin, Gill, Wesley) entertain that it could also refer to hearing a person utter a false oath or curse that ought to be exposed. The larger context of legal procedures in Leviticus favours the judicial reading. |
| Nature of the sin: willful concealment vs. negligence | The person is at fault for not reporting what they know. The law treats silence as sin regardless of motive. | A few interpreters (Calvin, Clarke) suggest the sin may arise from fear or shame, making it closer to an unwitting failure; others treat it as a knowing refusal to speak, more deliberate than the unwitting sins in verses 2, 4. |
| The phrase 'bear his iniquity' | It means the person is guilty and liable to punishment, either from God or from the community. | Some (Keil, Matthew Henry) understand it as the guilt that must be expiated through sacrifice; others (Poole, Gill) point to actual penalties such as curse, disease, or excommunication, with the offering averting them. |
| Applicability to Christians today | The call to truthful witness is rooted in God's character and remains binding. | Some traditions apply the passage directly to legal testimony; others broaden it to any situation where speaking truth would serve justice or protect the vulnerable. Views differ on whether the sacrificial system provides a direct model for confession or a type of Christ's once-for-all sacrifice. |
Historical & Cultural Context
In ancient Israel, justice depended heavily on the testimony of witnesses. There was no police force or prosecution system; the wronged party, or a judge in the gate, would initiate a case. One tool for uncovering the truth was adjuration, a formal appeal, often spoken aloud and sealed with an oath in Yahweh’s name, calling on anyone who knew anything to speak. The Hebrew word 'alah (אָלָה) carries both “oath” and “curse,” reflecting the gravity of the pronouncement: if a person refused to speak after hearing it, they called down divine judgment on themselves. The Mishnah (tractate Shevuot) later detailed the laws of the “oath of testimony,” specifying ten conditions under which witnesses were bound to speak, including that the adjuration be made in language they understood and within the Sanhedrin.
Leviticus 5:1 opens a unit (verses 1, 13) that deals with sins of negligence and rashness, cases that could be overlooked but still required a sin-offering. Unlike the deliberate violations of chapter 4, these are lighter, addressing forgetfulness, hidden impurity, or thoughtless oaths. The law thus regulated every level of failure: even silence when called to speak was a matter for the altar. The story of Micah’s mother (Judges 17:2) illustrates the practice: she uttered an adjuration over stolen silver, and her son, hearing it, confessed. By linking this public appeal to personal guilt and sacrifice, Leviticus 5:1 transforms a civic duty into a spiritual one, what we fail to say can separate us from God.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for Leviticus 5:1. The Hebrew text is stable across the Masoretic tradition, and the ancient versions (LXX, Syriac, Targums) align closely with the received reading. A few manuscripts vary the placement of the conjunction, but none alter the meaning.
Reception History
In Jewish tradition, this verse became the foundation for extensive legal discussion in the Mishnah (tractate Shevuot) on the “oath of testimony,” specifying when witnesses were bound to speak. Rabbinical interpreters debated whether the adjuration had to be in Hebrew or could be in any language. The early church, exemplified by Matthew Henry and other Protestant exegetes, connected the verse to Christ’s own silence before the high priest’s adjuration (Matthew 26:63), seeing Jesus as the faithful witness who ultimately spoke the truth. Medieval Jewish commentators like Rashi emphasised the public nature of the call. In Reformation preaching, Leviticus 5:1 was often used to urge civic honesty and the duty of all believers to speak against injustice, a theme that continues in modern preaching on truth-telling in public life.
Preaching This Verse
Three-Point Outline
- The Sin of Silence, The passage singles out the person who hears a solemn call to testify and chooses not to speak. Silence here is not neutral; it becomes a form of betrayal, against the wronged party, the community, and God. The sin is active withdrawal from the truth.
- The Gravity of the Oath, Adjuration invoked God’s name directly. To ignore it was to treat God’s authority lightly. The same phrase “voice of swearing” appears in Proverbs 29:24, linking silence with complicity in crime. Speaking truth is a way of honouring God’s presence in the courtroom.
- The Provision for Restoration, Sin-offerings graded by income (lamb, birds, or flour) show that God does not abandon the guilty. Confession and sacrifice restore both the relationship with God and the integrity of the community. The law does not only condemn; it heals.
Five-Point Outline
- Hearing the adjuration: the public summons to speak.
- Being a witness: having seen or known the matter.
- The failure: not uttering what you know.
- The consequence: bearing iniquity, guilt that must be addressed.
- The remedy: confession and the appointed sin-offering (vv. 5, 13).
Illustration Hooks
- A courtroom scene where a key witness stays silent, allowing a guilty person to go free and an innocent person to be blamed. The silence feels safe but accomplishes harm.
- A workplace where an employee knows about a safety violation but says nothing, afraid of retaliation. The unspoken truth eventually causes an accident.
- A family where one member knows another is being harmed but stays quiet to keep the peace. Silence masquerades as loyalty but deepens the injury.
Questions Your Congregation Is Asking
- Is it a sin to remain silent when I witness a crime today, especially if reporting could put me at risk?
- Does this apply only to formal legal settings, or does God call me to speak truth whenever I have knowledge that affects others?
- What do I do if I have already failed to speak? Is there atonement for past silence?
Leading a Discussion
This short verse opens a passage that deals with sins that might seem small but still carry real weight. As a group, consider how silence, a choice not to speak, can be just as damaging as a wrong action.
Discussion Questions
- What does the phrase “hears the voice of adjuration” suggest about the setting in which this sin occurs? How would you describe what is happening in your own words?
- Why do you think the law addresses the person who has only heard the appeal, not the one who first issued it? What does that tell you about individual responsibility?
- The verse says the person “has seen or known.” Why include both? What kinds of knowledge might fall under “known” that do not involve direct observation?
- In what ways are we tempted to stay silent today when we have information that could help others or prevent harm? What fears or loyalties drive that silence?
- The phrase “bear his iniquity” appears repeatedly in Leviticus (e.g., 5:17, 7:18, 17:16, 20:17). What does this phrase communicate about guilt and its consequences, both before God and in community?
- Verses 5, 6 immediately call for confession and a sin-offering. Why do you think confession is required before sacrifice? What role does naming the sin play in restoration?
- How does the provision of graded offerings (lamb, birds, flour) reflect God’s character? What does it say about access to atonement for people of different economic means?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 22:11 | the oath of Yahweh shall be between them both, he has not put his hand on his neighbor’s goods; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution. |
| Leviticus 4:2 | “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them, |
| Leviticus 5:15 | “If anyone commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly regarding Yahweh’s holy things, then he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your estimation in silver by shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering. |
| Leviticus 5:17 | “If anyone sins, doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, though he didn’t know it, he is still guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. |
| Leviticus 7:18 | If any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted, and it shall not be credited to him who offers it. It will be an abomination, and the soul who eats any of it will bear his iniquity. |
| Leviticus 17:16 | But if he doesn’t wash them, or bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.’” |
| Leviticus 19:8 | but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh, and that soul shall be cut off from his people. |
| Leviticus 20:17 | “‘If a man takes his sister—his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter—and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a shameful thing. They shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his iniquity. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
11 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke identifies the sin as refusing to testify when legally sworn in by a civil authority. Concealing what one knows in that situation makes the person guilty before God, regardless of whether the truth would have exonerated the innocent or convicted the guilty.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes emphasizes that the term "trespass-offering" is a misnomer here; the correct idea is a forfeit or penalty for the specific offence. He also notes that the poor person's grain offering is distinguished from the regular grain offering by having no oil or frankincense, marking it as a sin-offering.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin classifies the concealment described here as a sin of error rather than deliberate falsehood. He argues that shame or fear causes a person to blind themselves and withhold what they would have said upon proper examination. The guilt lies in this self-imposed blindness, not in malicious perjury.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator highlights the sin of silence: when a person hears a public call for witnesses to a crime and stays quiet despite having information, that silence itself makes them guilty and requires a sin-offering. This case differs from the others in the passage because the offense is a deliberate refusal to speak, not an unwitting mistake.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note explains that the sin here is the silence of a witness who hears a public oath and refuses to testify about what he has seen or known. The iniquity is the act of withholding knowledge, not a separate offense—the person bears the guilt of his own silence.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill explains that the "voice of swearing" here refers not to profane cursing but to a legal adjuration, where a magistrate or neighbor calls on someone under oath to give testimony. The "soul" indicates the person as a willing agent. Failing to speak what one has seen or known makes that person guilty and in need of a trespass offering.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB interprets the "voice of swearing" as a formal court proclamation calling for witnesses to testify. The sin in view is not a casual refusal but a deliberate neglect to provide information one could give, after being officially adjured to do so.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch clarify that the "oath" in the first case is not a curse or blasphemy overheard, but the judge's solemn adjuration in court, calling on any witness to testify. The sin committed is neglecting to come forward with what one has seen or known, thus withholding evidence.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange treats Leviticus 5:1-13 as a transitional category between sin and trespass offerings, addressing not direct transgression but participation in guilt through silence, uncleanness, or rash oaths. He stresses that such guilt makes a person accessory to a wrong, requiring confession and a sacrifice that is formally a sin offering yet bears the character of a trespass offering.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes a distinctive feature of ancient Jewish law: judges could compel a person to testify even against himself, a power unknown in English legal practice. He uses this to explain that the sin described here is concealing the truth when formally adjured by an oath, a duty that applied even to the accused person.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley points out that the word "hear" here specifies the sin as cursing or blasphemy, and that anyone who hears it is obligated to reveal and prosecute the offender. He interprets "his iniquity" as the punishment, not the sin itself.