What does the Hebrew root of 'vidui' mean, and why is the spoken act its own mitzvah?

From yadah -- acknowledgment. Maimonides rules that the verbal confession is itself the commandment, not a preparation for the guilt-offering: the words carry the legal and spiritual weight of teshuvah.

How broad is the vidui obligation according to Numbers 5:6?

It covers 'any sin that men commit' -- the formulation is deliberately universal, making verbal confession the required response to wrongdoing of every kind.

Commandment #155 · Positive · Social & Ethical Laws

They Shall Confess Their Sin: The Obligation of Vidui

Q: What three Hebrew words for sin does Leviticus 16:21 use, and what do they describe?

Avon (iniquity -- deliberate wrong), pesha (transgression -- rebellious sin), and chet (sin -- missing the mark). All three categories are named to ensure nothing is excluded from the confession.

Q: What formula did the High Priest use for the Yom Kippur confession?

According to Mishnah Yoma, the formula was: 'Please, O LORD, Your people, the House of Israel, have sinned, transgressed, and acted perversely before You.' The three verbs mirror the three Hebrew sin-words in Leviticus 16:21.

Q: What structural parallel exists between the Yom Kippur scapegoat and Isaiah 53:6?

Isaiah 53:6 says 'the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all' -- the same structure as Lev 16:21, where spoken sins are placed on a bearer who carries them away. The verbal act of confession transfers the burden.

וִדּוּי

Source: Numbers 5:7 · Maimonides, Sefer HaMitzvot, Positive #73

Numbers 5:7 states the verbal confession commandment directly: 'then they shall confess their sin which they have done.' The Hebrew verb וְהִתְוַדּוּ (vehitvadu) is the source of the noun 'vidui' — and the act it names is explicitly oral. Maimonides counts this as a biblical positive commandment distinct from the accompanying restitution: the spoken words are the mitzvah, not merely its introduction. Leviticus 16:21 shows the commandment at national scale on Yom Kippur, where Aaron confesses all three categories of Israel's sin over the live goat.

They Shall Confess Their Sin

וְהִתְוַדּוּ אֶת חַטָּאתָם אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ וְהֵשִׁיב אֶת אֲשָׁמוֹ בְּרֹאשׁוֹ וַחֲמִישִׁתוֹ יֹסֵף עָלָיו

"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."

Numbers 5:7 — Open in Torah Reader

Numbers 5:7 is the Torah's clearest statement of verbal confession as a distinct required act. The verb וְהִתְוַדּוּ (vehitvadu — 'they shall confess') is from the root yadah, the same root as the noun vidui. The act is explicitly verbal: not merely feeling remorse, not merely bringing an offering, but speaking the sin aloud. Maimonides (Positive Commandment #73) rules that vidui is a positive biblical obligation — the spoken confession is itself the mitzvah, not merely the introduction to some other act.

The context in Numbers 5:6 specifies 'when a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD.' The formulation is deliberately broad — 'any sin that men commit' — making vidui the universal response to wrongdoing rather than a procedure reserved for specific cases.

Aaron Shall Confess Over the Goat All the Iniquities

וְסָמַךְ אַהֲרֹן אֶת שְׁתֵּי יָדָו עַל רֹאשׁ הַשָּׂעִיר הַחַי וְהִתְוַדָּה עָלָיו אֶת כָּל עֲוֹנֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת כָּל פִּשְׁעֵיהֶם לְכָל חַטֹּאתָם וְנָתַן אֹתָם עַל רֹאשׁ הַשָּׂעִיר וְשִׁלַּח בְּיַד אִישׁ עִתִּי הַמִּדְבָּרָה

"And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness."

Leviticus 16:21 — Open in Torah Reader

Leviticus 16:21 gives the Yom Kippur application of Numbers 5:7's principle at national scale. Aaron's confession over the scapegoat is explicit — 'all the iniquities... all their transgressions... all their sins' — three Hebrew words for sin (avon, pesha, chet) spoken aloud over the live goat. The Mishnah (Yoma 3:8, 4:2, 6:2) records the exact formula the High Priest would speak: 'Please, O LORD, Your people, the House of Israel, have sinned, transgressed, and acted perversely before You.'

The verbal act is not symbolic decoration; it is the mechanism. The tradition reads the laying of hands and the confession together: the words carry the iniquities, and the goat carries them away. Isaiah 53:6 'the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all' (Isaiah 53) mirrors this structure — a bearer appointed for the burden of spoken sins. Paul's 'if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus' (Romans 10) explicitly preserves the oral character of this commandment in a new application.

Key Figures

Aaron

On Yom Kippur the High Priest confessed three times: once for himself (Lev 16:11), once for the priests (Lev 16:17), and once for all Israel over the scapegoat (Lev 16:21). Each confession was spoken aloud in the court of the Temple. The threefold repetition illustrates how vidui is not a single emergency act but a structured, repeated practice.

Ezra

Ezra 10:1 records Ezra weeping and confessing (vidui) before the house of God, and a 'very great congregation of men and women and children' gathering and weeping with him. Mass public vidui after national sin — the communal application of Numbers 5:7.

Study Questions

For reflection and group study

What does the Hebrew root of 'vidui' mean, and why does Maimonides count the spoken confession as its own mitzvah rather than a preparation for one?

How does the breadth of Numbers 5:6 ('any sin that men commit') shape the scope of the vidui obligation?

What three Hebrew words for sin does Leviticus 16:21 use, and what do they each describe?

How does the Mishnah's recorded formula for the High Priest's Yom Kippur confession fulfil the specifics of Leviticus 16:21?

What structural parallel exists between the Yom Kippur scapegoat ritual and Isaiah 53:6's 'the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all'?

Read the Yom Kippur passage in the Torah reader.

Open Numbers 5 in the Bible Reader

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