Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

5:14-6:7 The Guilt Offering. Cf. 7:1-10. The distinction between the offenses covered by the guilt offering and the offenses related to the sin offering is puzzling. In general, however, the offenses here appear to be more serious, as shown by the fact that the sacrificial animal is more costly (a male instead of a female) and that the sins are described as a "breach of faith" (5:15). The word translated "guilt offering" (Hb. ’asham) is used elsewhere with the sense of "compensation/reparation for guilt" (5:6), and the offering as a whole serves to repair the relationship between sinners and the Lord. This has led some to call this a "reparation offering."