Numbers 5:6Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

When a husband or wife commits a transgression, they are to acknowledge the guilt of their original sin, and they must add one-fifth to the amount owed for their wrongdoing. This regulation also pertains to those who fail to offer their tithes at the designated time for any cause.

What is the significance of the statement, ‘Husband or wife, he that worketh all the sins of men’? The lightest of sins are termed human sins because it is inherent to human nature, which is prone to change, to be incapable of complete purity. It is written, ‘No one is clean from defilement, even if he lives only one day’ (Job 14:4, 5). Thus, the divine King David also laments: ‘Enter not into judgement with Thy servant, for every man shall not be justified before Thee’ (Ps. 142:2). The only Sovereign Christ stands blameless, as both man and God. Recognizing this, the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed, ‘He that worketh no sin, let no flattery enter into His mouth’ (Isaiah 53:9; 1 Pet. 2:22). Lacking any sins of His own, He bore the sins of others.