Leviticus 14:21

If, however, the person is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil,

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses directs the Israelites on the purification ritual for a healed leper, specifying the reduced requirements when the afflicted person lacks financial means. The words — The text uses דַּל (dal) for "poor" and מַשֶּׂגֶת (massegat) for "reaching" or "affording," defining the economic boundary that triggers the scaled offering. The thread — This tiered provision for those who cannot afford a lamb appears in Leviticus 5:7 for sin restitution and Leviticus 12:8 for postpartum purification. Why it lands — The verse states that atonement remains accessible through a single lamb, grain offering, and oil when the standard requirements exceed the person's means. It requires the reader to accept that ritual compliance is calibrated to economic capacity rather than uniform sacrifice.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil;

Cross-references

Leviticus 5:7 If, however, he cannot afford a lamb, he may bring to the LORD as restitution for his sin two turtledoves or two young pigeons—one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.
Leviticus 12:8 But if she cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. Then the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”
Proverbs 17:5 He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.
Leviticus 1:14 If, instead, one’s offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, he is to present a turtledove or a young pigeon.
Leviticus 5:11 But if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he may bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering. He must not put olive oil or frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering.
Leviticus 14:22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
1 Samuel 2:8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.
Job 34:19 who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands.
Proverbs 22:2 The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is Maker of them all.
Luke 6:20 Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.