Leviticus 5:2

Leviticus 5:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty.
• New International Version (NIV)“ ‘If anyone becomes aware that they are guilty—if they unwittingly touch anything ceremonially unclean (whether the carcass of an unclean animal, wild or domestic, or of any unclean creature that moves along the ground) and they are unaware that they have become unclean, but then they come to realize their guilt;
• English Standard Version (ESV)or if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean wild animal or a carcass of unclean livestock or a carcass of unclean swarming things, and it is hidden from him and he has become unclean, and he realizes his guilt;
• New King James Version (NKJV)‘Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean and guilty.

Context of Leviticus 5:2

1A person may know about something that is wrong. He may not speak about it at a public meeting. That person is sinning. God has said that some animals and insects are not clean. A person may touch a dead animal or an insect like that. If he does, he is doing something wrong. It is a sin even if he did not really want to touch it. 3A person may touch something that another person has made bad. If he does, he is doing something wrong. He might not know that it is bad, but he is still doing a wrong thing. 4A person is doing a wrong thing if he says any careless promise. The promise might be good or bad. People will tell him that he has not obeyed God's rules. Then he will know that he has sinned.

Leviticus 5:2 word by word

א֣וֹ נֶ֗פֶשׁ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּגַּע֮ בְּכָל־דָּבָ֣ר טָמֵא֒ אוֹ֩ בְנִבְלַ֨ת חַיָּ֜ה טְמֵאָ֗ה א֤וֹ בְּנִבְלַת֙ בְּהֵמָ֣ה טְמֵאָ֔ה א֕וֹ בְּנִבְלַ֖ת שֶׁ֣רֶץ טָמֵ֑א וְנֶעְלַ֣ם מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְה֥וּא טָמֵ֖א וְאָשֵֽׁם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Or if a soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: personH5315
• touchנָגַעnâga‛ · to touchH5060
• any uncleanטָמֵאţâmê' · uncleanH2931
• thingדָּבָרdâbâr · word: thingH1697
• a carcaseנְבֵלָהnebêlâh · carcassH5038
• beastחַיָּהchay · living thingH2416
• cattleבְּהֵמָהbehêmâh · animalH929
• creeping thingsשֶׁ֫רֶץsherets · swarmH8318
• it be hiddenעָלַם‛âlam · to concealH5956
• and guiltyאָשַׁם'âsham 'âshêm · be guiltyH816

Cross-references for Leviticus 5:2

• Leviticus 7:21A person might touch something that is not clean. He must not eat the meat of the offering to the Lord. That person must not eat it if he has touched an unclean animal or an unclean person. If he does eat it, they must send him away. They must send him away from Israel's people.’
• Leviticus 11:24A person may touch the dead body of an animal that is not clean. If he does, that person is not clean either. They must keep him separate from the other people until the evening.
• Numbers 19:11Any person who touches a dead body will not be clean for seven days.
• Deuteronomy 14:8You may not eat pigs, either. They have feet in two parts but they do not eat their food a second time. You must not eat any meat from these animals. You must not even touch their dead bodies.
• Isaiah 52:11Leave! Leave! Go out from there. Do not touch anything that is unclean. Leave that foreign place! The people who carry the Lord's special things must keep themselves pure.
• Haggai 2:13Haggai asked the priests another question: ‘If anyone touches a dead body, you know that you become unclean. If an unclean person touches any of these foods, would they also become unclean?’ The priests replied, ‘Yes, those things would be unclean.’
• 2 Corinthians 6:17And so, the Lord says: ‘Come out from among them and be separate. Do not touch anything that is disgusting. Then I will accept you.’
• Leviticus 5:4A person is doing a wrong thing if he says any careless promise. The promise might be good or bad. People will tell him that he has not obeyed God's rules. Then he will know that he has sinned.
• Psalms 19:12Nobody realizes every time they do something wrong. Please forgive me for the sins that I do not know about.
• Luke 11:44It will be very bad for you. You want to seem good to other people, but you are bad on the inside. You are like a grave that has nothing to show that it is there. People walk on that place because they do not know that there is a dead person there.’
• Leviticus 5:17A person might do wrong things against the Lord. But the person might not know that they were wrong. He is sinning.
• Leviticus 4:13All of the people might do bad things when they did not really want to do them. They might not obey some of the Lord's rules. They will have sinned, even if they did not know this.

Commentaries on Leviticus 5:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Any unclean thing - Either the dead body of a clean animal, or the living or dead carcass of any unclean creature. All such persons were to wash their clothes and themselves in clean water, and were considered as unclean till the evening, Leviticus 11:24-31. But if this had been neglected, they were obliged to bring a trespass-offering. What this meant, see in the notes on Leviticus 7 (note).Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-13Verses 1-13 Special occasions are mentioned on which sin-offerings are to be made with a particular confession of the offence for which atonement is sought Leviticus 5:5. Leviticus 5:1 Swearing - Adjuration. The case appears to be that of one who has been put upon his oath as a witness by a magistrate, and fails to utter all he has seen and heard (compare the marginal references. and Proverbs 29:24; Numbers 5:21). Leviticus 5:2-3 Hid from him - Either…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2unclean: "Clean" and "unclean" did not relate to hygiene (see Leviticus 11:1–15:33). They referred to whether someone could participate in worship. For animals, it meant if they were suitable for sacrifice or eating. There is a list of ceremonially clean and unclean animals in 11:1–47. To become ceremonially clean after touching an unclean animal, a person had to wash their clothes. They also had to stay away from the community until evening (11:25). This…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. if a soul touch any unclean thing--A person who, unknown to himself at the time, came in contact with any thing unclean, and either neglected the requisite ceremonies of purification or engaged in the services of religion while under the taint of ceremonial defilement, might be afterwards convinced that he had committed an offense.Read the comment

Topics related to Leviticus 5:2

• Creeping Things
• Defilement
• Sanitation
• Uncleanness

In the dictionaries

• Ezekiel, Book of
• Harm
• Sinoffering
• Thereunto
• Atonement
• Carcass; Carcase
• Criticism
• Exodus, the Book of
• Genesis
• Guilt

Commentaries on Leviticus 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings