Le Lévitique 4:23 Commentaire : Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam & Or HaChaim

או הודע is the same as “IF” (אם‎) [THE THING] WAS MADE KNOWN TO HIM — There are many passages where או is used in the sense of אם, and again where אם stands in the place of או. A similar instance is: (Exodus 21:36) “או נודע כי שור נגח הוא”, which means “if it was known that the ox was wont to thrust” (cf., however, Rashi on that verse and our Note thereon).

When he becomes aware Scripture employs brevity, as in the case of the High Priest [:3]; but the intent is to include both the case when the chief learns himself that he has sinned, and the case when someone who observed him in the act informs him. The phrase he becomes aware employs a verb in the past tense (as in “when you are besieged” [Deuteronomy 28:52]). Scripture omits the actor, as in “who was born to Levi” [Numbers 26:59]. Rabbi Moshe ben Shmu’el Gikatilla HaKohen holds that the verb is in the passive voice, for the ḥolem vowel interchanges with the shuruq vowel (as in, “Joseph had been brought down to Egypt” [Genesis 39:1]). The chief brings a male goat, as Sa‘adya Gaon pointed out when he explained the verse, “a greyhound, and a male goat,” [Proverbs 30:31] in his commentary on the Book of Proverbs. Although the animal is male, because of the chief’s high stature, nevertheless: 1) Its blood is not brought into the Sanctuary; and 2) The kohanim eat from the chief’s sin-offering, to secure atonement for him, as it is written [:27]; even though the High Priest does not eat from his own sin-offering.

או הודע, as if the Torah had written: אם הודע “if he became aware.” This is the conventional exegesis of these words. Personally, I feel that the line commences with the word ואשם from the last verse, so that the meaning would be that the individual committed an offense and it was brought to his attention by others.

הודע אליו IT WAS MADE KNOWN TO HIM — when he committed the sin he was under the belief that it was something permissible, afterwards it became known to him that it was a forbidden thing.