John Calvin Commentary Leviticus 5:1

"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." — Leviticus 5:1 (ASV)

And if a soul sin. The three kinds of offense to which Moses refers in the beginning of the chapter seem to differ much from each other. For the first, when a person concealed a matter that he knew, it could not arise from error. Yet I include this concealment, which he discusses, under the category of error, supposing it to occur when a person might be induced by shame or fear to connive at any crime or offense about which he might be interrogated. And so, without any intention of perjuring himself, but by blinding himself, he would withhold what he would have said if he had duly examined the matter.

Yet these words must be discussed more closely, as interpreters are not well agreed on their meaning. Some think that the word אלה,²⁶⁶ alah, is used for “execration,” as though it meant that if anyone has heard of a misdoing or detestable crime worthy of execration; yet their interpretation is contradicted by what immediately follows: Whether he has seen or known it.

Others, indeed, interpret it to mean an oath, yet they improperly confine it to perjury, as if Moses stated that a person was guilty who had heard a man perjuring himself and had not opposed him, but had instead covered the perjury by his own connivance or silence. I subscribe, then, to the opinion of those who explain it as meaning “adjuration.” For the words will then fit together very well: “If anyone, being summoned as a witness, has heard the voice of adjuration, by which he is required in God’s name to answer truthfully about the matter proposed, and from favoritism, good nature, or any other false pretext, as if enveloped in a cloud of error, conceals what he well knew (had he paid diligent attention), he shall be guilty.”

We must, therefore, render the disjunctive particle here as a conditional. Literally, it is: “If anyone has heard the voice of adjuration, and (is) himself a witness.” But why should he say, if he has been a witness, and then add, or have known it, as if he referred to different things? What I have said fits very well: that a person becomes guilty who, when summoned as a witness, does not testify about a matter of which he is aware. Now, what does hearing the voice of adjuration mean, unless you understand that he is adjured by the mouth of a judge?

We must also observe that the three kinds of sin first enumerated are connected with each other, since they speak of sinners who are infected by the uncleanness of others. For, after Moses had commanded generally that offenses committed in error should be expiated, he now adds what had not been stated explicitly enough: that those who had been polluted by the defilements of others also required atonement. Thus, this first case will accord very well with the other two; that is, if anyone should make himself an accomplice in another's offense by indirect perjury, he shall be unclean until he has offered a propitiation. For this is what the expression bear his iniquity conveys, as if Moses had said that he contracts guilt who has concealed a crime about which he had been interrogated as a witness.

²⁶⁶ It was in S. M. that that C. found it mentioned that some took . found it mentioned that some took אלה to mean to mean execration, blasphemy, or perjury; but blasphemy, or perjury; but S. M. himself held it to be equivalent to . himself held it to be equivalent to שבועה, , adjuration, and explains the passage as meaning, “If any person shall be adjured, and will not declare the truth, etc.” — and explains the passage as meaning, “If any person shall be adjured, and will not declare the truth, etc.” — W