ואם נפש כי תחטא. ועשה אחת ממצות לא תעשה ולא ידע אם הוא אסור יביא איל ודעת רבים שזה אשם תלוי לא ידע אם עשה אם לא עשה והחטאת שבתחלה לא ידע ואחר כן ידע והנה החטאת שלא ידע שהוא אסור עד שהודע והאשם ידע שהוא אסור ושכח ואחר כן נזכר או אשם תלוי: AND IF ANY ONE SIN.35According to Lev. 4:27,28,32 when a person sins he brings a female lamb or a she-goat. However, according to our verse one who sins brings a ram. Hence the interpretations which follow. And violates one of the negative commandments and does not know that what he did is prohibited,36And then learns that what he did was prohibited. However, if he knows that the act is prohibited but forgets the law and then reminds himself he brings a sin offering. he shall bring a ram.37As a guilt offering. Many believe38This is the opinion of the rabbis. See Keritot 23a. that the ram is brought as a “doubt guilt offering.” He brings a ram if he does not know whether he violated the law or not.39“This speaks of a person who is in doubt whether he has inadvertently committed an act of such a character as to be punishable with excision. For example, forbidden fat (chelev) and permitted fat (shuman) lay before him, and he believed that both were permissible fat and he ate one of them. Afterwards, however he was informed that one of these was forbidden fat, and he does not know whether he has eaten the forbidden fat. Such a person has to bring a guilt-offering in doubt” (Rashi). A sin offering is brought if he did not know that he sinned and then became aware of it. Observe,40According to the latter opinion (Krinsky). a sin offering is brought if he did not know that a certain act is prohibited until he was informed of it. A guilt offering is brought if he knew that it is prohibited but forgot, and then reminded himself. On the other hand, our verse might be speaking of a “doubt guilt offering.”41In other words, if we accept the opinion that a sin offering is brought for ignorance of the law, then we still have two options regarding the guilt offering spoken of in our verse.