ויקרא

או הודע אליו שעורו והודע, או שיאמר וידע חטאתו. וכמוהו (משלי ל׳:ל״א) זרזיר מתנים או תיש, כאלו אמר זרזיר מתנים ותיש, כן דעת המפרשים.

או הודע אליו, “or (the sin) becomes known to him, etc.” The meaning of the words is the same as if the Torah had written either והודע or וידע חטאתו, “he is aware of his sin.” In other words, the word או here is to be understood as the same as the connecting letter ו, “and.” We find a similar construction in Proverbs 30,31 זרזיר מתנים או תיש, where the words do not mean “a greyhound or a male goat,” but “a greyhound as well as a male goat.” [This is the view of commentators such as Rabbi Yonah quoted by Kimchi רד"ק.]

אמנם מה שהוצרך לומר הודע בה"א ולהוסיף מלת או, מפני שקרבן חטאת לה"א אחרונה שבשם, ולכך אמר שעירת עזים תמימה נקבה, והה"א מביאה עליו יסורים להודיע אליו חטאתו כדי שיזכור ויביא קרבנו, ולפי שהיא מן וא"ו והוא"ו מן ה"א לכך הוצרך לומר או, כי בזה יהיה ריח ניחוח לה', והמשכיל יבין.

This leaves us with the need to explain why the Torah chose this way of writing the word הודע with the letter ה in front as well as the additional word או. The reason may be that the sin-offering is related to the last letter ה in the tetragram. This is also why the Torah speaks of שעירת עזים תמימה נקבה in verse 28 where the reference to the subject which is masculine, i.e. קרבנו, should have rated the expression תמים instead of תמימה with the feminine ending at the end. The fact is that the letter ה really does refer to the word קרבנו and the message is that G’d inflicts afflictions on the sinner in order to prompt him to repent and to offer the sacrifice as proof of his repentance. It is the attribute of Justice represented by that last letter ה in the tetragram which initiates the afflictions setting the process of repentance-sin-offering in motion. The verse means that had the sinner not been victimised by such afflictions he would not have become aware of his sin.