What Does Numbers 5:7 Mean in the King James?
Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verb rendered “recompense” comes from שׁוּב (shuv, “return”), so confession moves into the return of what was taken, with a fifth added.
THE MEANING
The missing is spoken into the open, and the principal returns to the person harmed with a fifth added. The verse holds admission and material repair together: what is named remains connected to the loss it caused.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that a spoken apology by itself repairs what another person has lost.
THE ROOT
וְהֵשִׁיב
wə-hēšîv
GROWS FROM
שוב
שׁוּב (shuv) means “return, turn back”; its Hiphil form carries the sense “cause to return, restore.”
The verse uses וְהֵשִׁיב (wə-hēšîv, “and he restores/returns”), a Hiphil form of שׁוּב (shuv, “return, turn back”). Under “recompense” is the movement of return: the principal comes back, then the additional fifth is counted.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: To return, turn back.
שׁוּב
The unprefixed verb supplies the consonants of the verse’s form, making the return-to-source sense explicit.
teshuvah: Return, turning back.
תְּשׁוּבָה
Its consonants ש־ו־ב share the same root sequence; it names return as a change of direction, echoing restoration.
אֲשָׁמוֹ
ʾăšāmô
GROWS FROM
אשם
To incur guilt or liability.
The word rendered “trespass” belongs to the אשם (ʾ-sh-m, “guilt, liability”) family, which also names a reparation offering. The verse holds admission and settlement close together: the wrong becomes a liability whose principal and added fifth are returned.
ALSO GROWS
ʾāšēm: To be guilty, incur liability.
אָשֵׁם
It shares the consonants א־ש־ם and expresses the state attached to the trespass.
ʾāšām: Guilt, liability; also a reparation or guilt offering.
אָשָׁם
It shares the same root consonants and connects wrongdoing with the means of repair.
חַטָּאתָם
ḥaṭṭāʾtām
GROWS FROM
חטא
To miss, fail, or do wrong.
The root חטא (ḥ-ṭ-ʾ, “miss, do wrong”) keeps “sin” tied to an act rather than a fixed identity. Here the missing is spoken into the open, while the verse also accounts for the tangible loss attached to it.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāṭāʾ: To miss, do wrong.
חָטָא
It carries the same root consonants and shows the action beneath the noun “sin.”
ḥōṭēʾ: One who misses or does wrong.
חוֹטֵא
Its consonants ח־ט־א connect the act of missing to the one who commits it.
THE PATTERN
When wrongdoing is brought into the open, the response moves toward turning from it and repairing what was taken.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.And Zacchæus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.THE THREAD
If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.The verb behind “restore” is יָשִׁיב (yāšîv, “he returns/restores”), from שׁוּב (shuv, “return, turn back”), the same root as וְהֵשִׁיב (wə-hēšîv, “and he restores”) here. The shared root makes repayment a visible turn: what was taken comes back.
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