What Does 2 Chronicles 29:24 Mean?
And the priests slaughtered them, and they purged falling short with their blood upon the altar, to make a covering for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the offering for falling short be made for all Israel.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.THE KEY
The root for “missing” also forms the priests’ verb for purging, while blood on the altar makes a covering for all Israel.
THE MEANING
Here the cost is visible: animals are slaughtered, their blood is placed on the altar, and a covering is made for all Israel. The verse keeps the scope collective, naming “all Israel” twice.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that covering belongs only to a spotless few meets the verse’s repeated declaration: all Israel.
THE ROOT
לְכַפֵּר
lekhapper
GROWS FROM
כפר
cover
“to make a covering for all Israel” in this verse is lekhapper. The Hebrew action translated “make an atonement” grows from כפר (kaphar, “cover”). Blood on the altar is presented as a covering whose stated reach is all Israel.
ALSO GROWS
kippur: atonement; covering
כִּפּוּר
This related form keeps the verse’s covering language audible in the familiar word for atonement.
kapporet: cover; the ark’s cover, often rendered “mercy seat”
כַּפֹּרֶת
The same root names a literal cover in the sanctuary, giving the altar’s covering a concrete image.
הַחַטָּאת
haḥaṭṭāʾt
GROWS FROM
חטא
miss; miss the mark
“purged falling short” in this verse is haḥaṭṭāʾt. The offering noun and the priests’ verb come from חטא (chata, “miss”). In this construction the verb means to purge or cleanse, so the Hebrew lets the sound of the missing echo in the act of purging.
ALSO GROWS
ḥaṭṭāʾt: missing; an offering for the missing
חַטָּאת
This is the word for the sin offering named in the verse.
ḥiṭṭēʾ: purge or cleanse from sin
חִטֵּא
The priests’ verb in this verse belongs to the same root as the offering, joining missing and cleansing in one word family.
הָעֹלָה
haʿolah
GROWS FROM
עלה
rise; go up
The Hebrew word behind “burnt offering” is עֹלָה (ʿolah), “that which rises.” Beside the offering named from חטא (chata, “miss”), it gives the verse two distinct movements: purging and ascent.
ALSO GROWS
ʿolah: that which rises; burnt offering
עֹלָה
The offering’s Hebrew name carries the image of something ascending.
ʿaliyyah: ascent; going up
עֲלִיָּה
This related word makes the upward movement within עֹלָה (ʿolah, “that which rises”) easier to hear.
THE PATTERN
Blood placed on the altar enacts covering and cleansing whose stated reach extends beyond one person.
For the living soul of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make a covering for your living souls, for it is the blood that covers the living soul.And Aaron shall make a covering upon its horns once in a year, with the blood of the offering for falling short, the offering of coverings; once in the year he shall cover it throughout your generations; it is most set apart to the LORD.And nearly all things are cleansed in blood according to the instruction, and without the pouring out of blood, no release comes.THE THREAD
Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make nests in the ark, and cover it within and without with pitch.The command to coat the ark uses כפר (kaphar, “cover”), the same root behind “make an atonement” here. In Genesis the covering is tangible: the coated vessel holds through floodwaters, giving the altar’s covering a concrete image.
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