אָשַׁם

Leviticus 4:13 וְאָשֵֽׁמוּ׃ and they will be guilty

Now if the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly so that they violate any of the LORD’s commandments and incur guilt by doing what is forbidden,

Leviticus 4:22 וְאָשֵֽׁם׃ and he will be guilty

When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the commandments of the LORD his God, he incurs guilt.

Leviticus 4:27 וְאָשֵֽׁם׃ and he will be guilty

And if one of the common people sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the LORD’s commandments, he incurs guilt.

Leviticus 5:2 וְאָשֵֽׁם׃ and he will be guilty

Or if a person touches anything unclean—whether the carcass of any unclean wild animal or livestock or crawling creature—even if he is unaware of it, he is unclean and guilty.

Here: 'And he becomes guilty.' He is now answerable and liable, and (on a widely held reading) he has become aware of it. This still belongs to the 'if' half of the law. The 'then' comes in 5:5–6: confess, and bring the purification offering.

Leviticus 5:3 וְאָשֵֽׁם׃ and he will be guilty

Or if he touches human uncleanness—anything by which one becomes unclean—even if he is unaware of it, when he realizes it, he is guilty.

Leviticus 5:4 וְאָשֵׁ֖ם and he will be guilty

Or if someone swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do anything good or evil—in whatever matter a man may rashly pronounce an oath—even if he is unaware of it, when he realizes it, he is guilty in the matter.

Leviticus 5:5 יֶאְשַׁ֖ם he will be guilty

If someone incurs guilt in one of these ways, he must confess the sin he has committed,

Here: The person stands under liability for one of the listed failures, and the context (verses 3–4: 'he comes to know') points to the moment he becomes aware of it. Here it means guilt as a state that has consequences and has now come to light. It is not just a feeling, and it is not just a court's verdict.

Leviticus 5:17 וְאָשֵׁ֖ם and he will be guilty

If someone sins and violates any of the LORD’s commandments even though he was unaware, he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.

Here: 'And he is guilty' or 'and he becomes aware of his guilt / suffers its effects'. The verb names guilt as a real liability toward God, and possibly the person's sense of it. It is the same root as the 'asham, the guilt offering, required in the next verse.

Leviticus 5:19 אָשֹׁ֥ם אָשַׁ֖ם certainly <to be guilty>, he was guilty

It is a guilt offering; he was certainly guilty before the LORD.”

Leviticus 6:4 וְאָשֵׁם֒ and he will be guilty

once he has sinned and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost property he found,

Here: He comes to stand under guilt, owing a debt to God and neighbour that must be paid. Many scholars think the point here is that he recognises it or feels its weight, because nobody has caught him: his own conscience makes him confess.

Numbers 5:6 וְאָֽשְׁמָ֖ה and it will be guilty

“Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman acts unfaithfully against the LORD by committing any sin against another, that person is guilty

Numbers 5:7 אָשַׁ֥ם he was guilty

and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution, add a fifth to its value, and give all this to the one he has wronged.

Here: 'He became liable': the offender stands in debt to this person because of what he did. It is the verb that matches the noun asham earlier in the verse.

Judges 21:22 תֶּאְשָֽׁמוּ׃ ס you will be guilty

When their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we will tell them, ‘Do us a favor by helping them, since we did not get wives for each of them in the war. Since you did not actually give them your daughters, you have no guilt.’”

Here: To incur guilt, meaning to come under liability before God. The guilt in view is breaking the sworn oath and so falling under its curse.

2 Chronicles 19:10 יֶאְשְׁמוּ֙ תֶאְשָֽׁמוּ׃ they will be guilty, you will be guilty

For every dispute that comes before you from your brothers who dwell in their cities—whether it regards bloodshed or some other violation of law, commandments, statutes, or ordinances—you are to warn them, so that they will not incur guilt before the LORD and wrath will not come upon you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not incur guilt.

Psalm 5:10 הַֽאֲשִׁימֵ֨ם׀ hold guilty them

Declare them guilty, O God; let them fall by their own devices. Drive them out for their many transgressions, for they have rebelled against You.

Here: A command addressed to God in the causative form: "make them guilty", that is, rule against them and let them carry the guilt and what it costs. This is the only place in the Bible where the verb takes this causative form, so the exact shade (pronounce guilty vs. make them pay for their guilt) is slightly uncertain.

Psalm 34:21 יֶאְשָֽׁמוּ׃ they will be held guilty

Evil will slay the wicked, and the haters of the righteous will be condemned.

Here: "They will be held guilty", meaning they will carry their guilt and pay for it. The verb covers the guilt and the ruin that guilt brings. The next verse uses the same verb in reverse: "none who take refuge in him will be held guilty".

Psalm 34:22 יֶ֝אְשְׁמ֗וּ they will be held guilty

The LORD redeems His servants, and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

Here: To end up as the guilty party and bear what follows from it: legal liability, punishment, ruin. It repeats the last word of v. 21 ('the haters of the righteous yeʾšāmû'). The haters will bear guilt; the refuge-seekers will not.

Proverbs 30:10 וְאָשָֽׁמְתָּ׃ and you will be held guilty

Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will bear the guilt.

Here: 'And you will be guilty': you become liable and answerable for a real wrong, and will carry its consequences. The point is that the curse will not be empty, because you really did wrong.

Isaiah 24:6 וַֽיֶּאְשְׁמ֖וּ and they have been held guilty

Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.

Here: "And they bore their guilt": they were held liable and suffered what their guilt brought on them. This is a legal standing and its penalty, not a feeling of guilt.

Jeremiah 2:3 יֶאְשָׁ֔מוּ they will be held guilty

Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of His harvest. All who devoured her were found guilty; disaster came upon them,’” declares the LORD.

Here: 'They became liable.' This is the legal and ritual term for someone who has misused sacred property and owes reparation. It describes their standing before God, not a feeling of guilt.

Jeremiah 50:7 נֶאְשָׁ֑ם we are guilty

All who found them devoured them, and their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’

Here: 'We are not liable' or 'we will not be held guilty.' The enemies are not talking about feeling guilty. They are claiming that no legal or religious debt attaches to them and no penalty is owed. The form looks at present or future standing: 'nothing will be charged to us.'

Ezekiel 6:6 וְיֶאְשְׁמ֜וּ and they may be held guilty

Wherever you live, the cities will be laid waste and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works blotted out.

Here: As written, the altars 'bear their guilt', that is, they suffer the penalty for guilt. Many read it as 'be desolate' instead, to match its partner verb. The sound is close either way: guilt and desolation are heard together.

Ezekiel 22:4 אָשַׁ֗מְתְּ you have become guilty

you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.

Ezekiel 25:12 וַיֶּאְשְׁמ֥וּ אָשׁ֖וֹם and they have become guilty, continually <be guilty>

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Edom acted vengefully against the house of Judah, and in so doing incurred grievous guilt,

Here: 'And they became guilty.' The verb is plural because Edom is now treated as a people. In biblical usage the word means being liable to pay for a wrong, carrying a debt that has to be settled.

Hosea 4:15 יֶאְשַׁ֖ם it become guilty

Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’

Here: Judah should not take on the same liability. The word is about objective guilt that brings a penalty with it, not mainly about feeling guilty.

Hosea 5:15 יֶאְשְׁמ֖וּ they will be held guilty

Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

Here: The verb covers both being guilty and paying for guilt. Here it most likely means 'until they bear their guilt,' that is, feel its full weight and consequences (as in Hosea 10:2 and 13:16 [14:1 Hebrew]). It may also include coming to recognise that guilt. 'Admit' and 'acknowledge' take the step of confessing out of the verb and turn it into a verbal admission.

Hosea 10:2 יֶאְשָׁ֑מוּ they will be held guilty

Their hearts are devious; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and demolish their sacred pillars.

Here: They will stand liable and pay for it. The word joins the state of being guilty to the penalty that follows. It means more than feeling guilty.

Hosea 13:1 וַיֶּאְשַׁ֥ם and he became guilty

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal, and he died.

Here: "And he became guilty": he took on a liability that must be paid. This is the turning point of the verse, and it is told in the ordinary storytelling verb form, as one event in a life story.

Hosea 13:16 תֶּאְשַׁם֙ it will be held guilty

Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

Here: Samaria will be held liable and will pay the penalty for that liability. It describes guilt as an objective state with consequences, not a feeling. Placing the verb first in the sentence makes the verdict the first thing heard.

Joel 1:18 נֶאְשָֽׁמוּ׃ they have suffered

How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

Habakkuk 1:11 וְאָשֵׁ֑ם and he is guilty

Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They are guilty; their own strength is their god.”

Zechariah 11:5 יֶאְשָׁ֔מוּ they will be held guilty

whose buyers slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion on them.

Here: 'They are not guilty' / 'they bear no guilt'. The buyers face no consequence and carry no liability for the killing. Whether this means they feel no remorse, or no one holds them to account, is debated. The verb points first to the objective state of liability, not to a feeling.