asham · guilt; guilt offering

What it means

asham (אָשָׁם) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “guilt; guilt offering”.

Guilt: the liability for a wrong done. In the laws, also the guilt offering presented for that wrong.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. What one owes for a wrong done.
2. The sacrifice to make amends.
3. What must be paid back.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Guilt: the debt that remains when someone has done wrong; and, in the laws, the offering presented to make it good. It comes from the verb אָשַׁם, ‘be guilty’.

• The guilt offering in the Law Leviticus 5:15Leviticus 7:1Leviticus 14:12
• Restoring and adding a fifth Numbers 5:7Leviticus 5:6
• The guilt offering of the Philistines 1 Samuel 6:31 Samuel 6:4
• “If he makes his soul a guilt offering” Isaiah 53:10
• The guilt brought on others Genesis 26:10Jeremiah 51:5

Historical and cultural background

The guilt offering went with restitution: the guilty one gave back what was owed and added a fifth (Numbers 5:7; Leviticus 5:16). The Philistines sent back the ark with five gold tumors and five gold mice as a guilt offering (1 Samuel 6:4).

How we translate it

“Guilt offering” 38 times when it is the sacrifice, as in Leviticus (this edition’s glossary: אָשָׁם = ‘guilt offering’); “guilt” 5 times (“you would have brought guilt upon us”, Genesis 26:10). With the verb ‘restore’ it reads “restore to him a guilt offering” (1 Samuel 6:3). In Numbers 5:7, “what he is guilty of”. In Isaiah 53:10 the term of Leviticus is kept, with a note.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• guilt offering ×38
• guilt ×5
• what is owed ×2
• what he is guilty of ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×1
• Leviticus×27
• Numbers×5
• 1 Samuel×4
• 2 Kings×1
• Psalms×1
• Proverbs×1
• Isaiah×1
• Jeremiah×1
• Ezekiel×4

• Genesis 26:10

  Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

• Leviticus 5:6

  He shall bring his guilt offering to YHWH for his sin that he has committed: a female from the flock, a ewe lamb or a female goat, as a sin offering; and the priest shall make expiation for him for his sin.

• Leviticus 5:7

  And if his means do not reach enough for a lamb, he shall bring as his guilt offering for what he has sinned two turtledoves or two young pigeons to YHWH, one as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering.

• Leviticus 5:15

  “When a person acts unfaithfully and sins inadvertently in regard to the holy things of YHWH, he shall bring his guilt offering to YHWH, a ram without defect from the flock, by your valuation in shekels of silver, by the shekel of the sanctuary, as a guilt offering.

• Leviticus 5:16

  And what he has sinned against the holy thing he shall restore, and he shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest; and the priest shall make expiation for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he will be forgiven.

• Leviticus 5:18

  He shall bring a ram without defect from the flock, by your valuation, as a guilt offering, to the priest, and the priest shall make expiation for him for his inadvertence in which he erred without knowing it, and he will be forgiven.

• Leviticus 5:19

  It is a guilt offering; he has certainly become guilty before YHWH.”

• Leviticus 6:6

  And his guilt offering he shall bring to YHWH, a ram without defect from the flock, by your valuation, as a guilt offering, to the priest.

• Leviticus 6:17

  It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion from my fire offerings; it is a most holy thing, like the sin offering and like the guilt offering.

• Leviticus 7:1

  This is the instruction for the guilt offering: it is a most holy thing.

• Leviticus 7:2

  In the place where they slaughter the burnt offering they shall slaughter the guilt offering, and its blood he shall splash against the altar all around.

• Leviticus 7:5

  The priest shall offer up in smoke them on the altar as a fire offering to YHWH; it is a guilt offering.

• Leviticus 7:7

  As the sin offering, so the guilt offering; there is one instruction for them: the priest who makes expiation with it, it shall be his.

• Leviticus 7:37

  This is the instruction for the burnt offering, for the grain offering, for the sin offering, for the guilt offering, for the ordination, and for the sacrifice of peace,

• Leviticus 14:12

  The priest shall take the one lamb and present it as a guilt offering, with the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before YHWH.

• Leviticus 14:13

  He shall slaughter the lamb in the place where one slaughters the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place; for like the sin offering, the guilt offering —it belongs to the priest; it is a most holy thing.

• Leviticus 14:14

  The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one being purified, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

• Leviticus 14:17

  And some of the rest of the oil that is in his palm the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of the one being purified, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering.

• Leviticus 14:21

  But if he is poor and his means do not reach, he shall take one lamb as a guilt offering for a wave offering to make expiation for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil,

• Leviticus 14:24

  The priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before YHWH.

• Leviticus 14:25

  He shall slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one being purified, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

• Leviticus 14:28

  The priest shall put some of the oil that is in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one being purified, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the guilt offering.

• Leviticus 19:21

  And he shall bring his guilt offering to YHWH, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram of guilt offering.

• Leviticus 19:22

  And the priest shall make expiation for him with the ram of the guilt offering before YHWH for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for his sin that he has committed.

• Numbers 5:7

  they shall confess their sin that they have committed; and he shall restore in full what he is guilty of, and add to it a fifth of it, and give it to the one against whom he became guilty.

• Numbers 5:8

  But if the man has no kinsman redeemer to whom to restore what is owed, what is owed that is restored goes to YHWH, to the priest, besides the ram of expiation with which expiation shall be made for him.

• Numbers 6:12

  And he shall separate to YHWH the days of his consecration and bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering; but the former days shall fall away, because his consecration was made unclean.

• Numbers 18:9

  This shall be yours of the most holy things, from the fire: every offering of theirs, every grain offering of theirs and every sin offering of theirs and every guilt offering of theirs that they render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.

• 1 Samuel 6:3

  And they said, “If you send away the ark of the Elohim of Israel, do not send it empty, but be sure to restore to him a guilt offering; then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.”

• 1 Samuel 6:4

  And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall restore to him?” And they said, “By the number of the lords of the Philistines, five gold tumors and five gold mice, for one plague was on all of them and on your lords.

• 1 Samuel 6:8

  And take the ark of YHWH and put it on the cart, and the objects of gold that you are restoring to him as a guilt offering you shall put in the chest at its side; and send it off, and let it go.

• 1 Samuel 6:17

  And these are the gold tumors that the Philistines restored as a guilt offering to YHWH: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;

• 2 Kings 12:16

  The silver of the guilt offerings and the silver of the sin offerings was not brought into the house of YHWH; it belonged to the priests.

• Psalms 68:21

  Surely Elohim will crush the head of his enemies, the hairy crown of the one who walks in his guilt.

• Proverbs 14:9

  Fools mock at guilt, but among the upright there is favor.

• Isaiah 53:10

  And YHWH was pleased to crush him; he made him sick. If he makes his soul a guilt offering, he will see offspring, he will prolong days, and the desire of YHWH will prosper in his hand.

• Jeremiah 51:5

  For Israel is not widowed, nor Judah, of his Elohim, of YHWH Tsevaot; for their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.

• Ezekiel 40:39

  And in the portico of the gate were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, to slaughter on them the burnt offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering.

• Ezekiel 42:13

  And he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers that are in front of the separate area, they are the holy chambers, where the priests who are near to YHWH eat the most holy things; there they shall put the most holy things, and the grain offering, and the sin offering, and the guilt offering; for the place is holy.

• Ezekiel 44:29

  The grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering, they shall eat them; and every thing devoted to destruction in Israel shall be theirs.

And 6 more times.