Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Numbers 5:6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty;
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Numbers 5:6 within “Wronging a Neighbor Requires Confession and Restitution,” advances the repeated worship sequence with this exact requirement; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Speak to the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty.
Read It With
- Numbers 5:5–10
Read Numbers 5:6 with 5:5–10. It within “Wronging a Neighbor Requires Confession and Restitution,” advances the repeated worship sequence with this exact requirement; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Speak to the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty. The complete unit establishes this contextual meaning: A man or woman who wrongs another is accountable for unfaithfulness, must confess, restore the principal plus one fifth to the harmed person or nearest relative, and bring the specified offering; priestly gifts remain with the priest.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Wronging a Neighbor Requires Confession and Restitution advances Numbers from Sinai's ordered camp through wilderness failure and generational death toward Moab, succession, and land-facing law. Its particular movement is this: A man or woman who wrongs another is accountable for unfaithfulness, must confess, restore the principal plus one fifth to the harmed person or nearest relative, and bring the specified offering; priestly gifts remain with the priest. At 5:6, the verse within “Wronging a Neighbor Requires Confession and Restitution,” advances the repeated worship sequence with this exact requirement; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Speak to the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty.
Follow the Context
- Wrong against a person is named as unfaithfulness before God.
- Confession, added restitution, recipient rules, and priestly portions are distinguished.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“unclean / jealous zeal”
In plain language: Ritual status and a husband's jealousy are different categories; neither supplies a modern diagnosis or proof of guilt.
Ritual status and a husband's jealousy are different categories; neither supplies a modern diagnosis or proof of guilt. Within Numbers 5:5–10, it helps interpret this verse's role: within “Wronging a Neighbor Requires Confession and Restitution,” advances the repeated worship sequence with this exact requirement; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Speak to the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty.
Why it matters: Interpreters debate ritual function, chronology, source layers, historical performance, symbolic systems, and the relationship among Torah calendars. The recorded sequence is firm; reconstructed origins and universal symbolism are not. For “Wronging a Neighbor Requires Confession and Restitution,” confidence is strongest in the received unit's stated sequence and literary function; source, date, demography, geography, mechanism, archaeology, and historical reconstruction remain probable, plausible, or uncertain as the evidence warrants.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
A ritual gift does not replace repayment, excuse abuse, hide a harmed person, or let clergy receive money meant for the victim.
What Remains True
Because Numbers 5:6 within “Wronging a Neighbor Requires Confession and Restitution,” advances the repeated worship sequence with this exact requirement; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Speak to the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty, its proportionate enduring truth is this: Faithful practice should join truthful memory, proportionate commitment, transparent resources, rest, gratitude, and access rather than spectacle or coercion. This unit also keeps the following boundary explicit: A ritual gift does not replace repayment, excuse abuse, hide a harmed person, or let clergy receive money meant for the victim.
How It Can Shape Life
- Verse role: Numbers 5:6 within “Wronging a Neighbor Requires Confession and Restitution,” advances the repeated worship sequence with this exact requirement; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Speak to the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty. Contextual meaning: A man or woman who wrongs another is accountable for unfaithfulness, must confess, restore the principal plus one fifth to the harmed person or nearest relative, and bring the specified offering; priestly gifts remain with the priest. Proportionate enduring truth: Faithful practice should join truthful memory, proportionate commitment, transparent resources, rest, gratitude, and access rather than spectacle or coercion. This unit also keeps the following boundary explicit: A ritual gift does not replace repayment, excuse abuse, hide a harmed person, or let clergy receive money meant for the victim. Application: Review whether a community's repeated practices actually serve memory, repair, belonging, and honest stewardship, and remove burdens that depend on pressure or hidden finance. For “Wronging a Neighbor Requires Confession and Restitution,” begin with the actors, power differences, and consequences named in this exact unit rather than borrowing a slogan from a neighboring verse.
Teach It Back
Explain why Numbers 5:6 within “Wronging a Neighbor Requires Confession and Restitution,” advances the repeated worship sequence with this exact requirement; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Speak to the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty. Use 5:5–10, state one Hebrew, textual, legal, historical, or compositional limit, identify one person or group at risk, and reject one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Numbers 5:5–10 — Wronging a Neighbor Requires Confession and RestitutionSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Numbers 5:6 remains within this thought-unit limit: Interpreters debate ritual function, chronology, source layers, historical performance, symbolic systems, and the relationship among Torah calendars. The recorded sequence is firm; reconstructed origins and universal symbolism are not. For “Wronging a Neighbor Requires Confession and Restitution,” confidence is strongest in the received unit's stated sequence and literary function; source, date, demography, geography, mechanism, archaeology, and historical reconstruction remain probable, plausible, or uncertain as the evidence warrants.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Numbers 5:5–10, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Numbers
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, release 2.2, 2021
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, numbers, speeches, poems, legal clauses, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Num.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 5:5–10
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Numbers with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, source files dated 2026-08-08
Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, ritual, legal, number, name, poetic, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Numbers PDF, complete 134-page PDF, translation and translator notes attached to 5:5–10
Open source ↗modern critical open study guide
Numbers Part 1
Yale Bible Study
Yale Divinity School, 2023 course edition
Supports: Final-form movement, wilderness setting, census and camp, complaint, leadership, composition, and ethical framing.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Numbers Part 1, complete study guide sections “Introduction,” “At Sinai (1:1–10:10),” “From Sinai to Moab (10:11–22:1),” and “Composition,” applied to Numbers 5:5–10
Open source ↗