🔢WEB · Numbers 5:7
What does Numbers 5:7 mean?
"then he shall confess his sin which he has done, and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, and add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty."
— Numbers 5:7 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
The children of Israel did so, and put them outside of the camp; as Yahweh spoke to Moses, so did the children of Israel.
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the children of Israel: ‘When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against Yahweh, and that soul is guilty;
then he shall confess his sin which he has done, and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, and add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty.
But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for guilt which is made to Yahweh shall be the priest’s; besides the ram of the atonement, by which atonement shall be made for him.
Every heave offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they present to the priest, shall be his.
Every man’s holy things shall be his: whatever any man gives the priest, it shall be his.’”
Explanation
Numbers 5:7 gives a straightforward legal instruction: when a person has wronged someone else — through deception, theft, or breach of trust — that person must openly confess the wrong they did, pay back the full value of what was taken or damaged, and add an extra twenty percent (a fifth part) on top of it, giving all of this to the person they wronged. This isn't a vague apology; it's a concrete, measurable act of making things right, both financially and relationally.
This verse comes from a larger passage (Numbers 5:5–10) in the book of Numbers, traditionally attributed to Moses, who recorded God's instructions to the Israelites during their wilderness journey after the exodus from Egypt. The immediate context describes a situation where a person commits "any of the sins that men commit" against another — cases involving deceit, unfaithfulness, or unjust gain, similar to the restitution laws found in Leviticus 6:1-7. These laws were part of the covenant code meant to govern daily life among God's people, ensuring that justice and integrity were maintained in their community. Not
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