Numbers 5:6, commentary and pictures

The Hebrew word rendered "person" is neh-phesh, denoting the man or woman who commits a sin and becomes guilty, so that "soul" may be put in its place without changing the sense. Any sin committed by a man or woman that renders that person guilty before the Lord is a trespass against the Lord. This embraces wrongdoing against another person, for to sin against a neighbor or deliberately to defraud him is also a trespass against God and leaves the wrongdoer guilty. The chapter thereby displays God's abhorrence of sin and warns against its destructive course and fearful end.

The guilty one must confess the trespass rather than harden the heart or evade that duty. Confession must be specific and personal, picking out the sin and acknowledging it to the one injured and repairing harm done even to another's character as fully as possible, and it is more than merely ceasing to sin and doing differently or making a general confession of having been a great sinner. It was made over the head of the offering, not to the priest, with the trespass-offering brought at the same time, and confession and restitution were required before an individual atonement could be made.

The offender must make restitution by repaying the loss and adding one fifth of its value, restoring what was taken and making reparation as far as lies in one's power. When the trespass is keeping property that belongs to another, it is to be restored first to its owner, then to the owner's kinsman if the owner cannot be found, and if there is no kinsman given to the Lord for the purposes of His work, a principle applying to making right whatever does not belong to us. Leaving the wrong unaddressed burdens the conscience and stands between the wrongdoer and God, and without this complete digging out of every past sin, efforts to overcome present and future temptations will avail very little.