What Does Exodus 29:17 Mean?
You cut the ram into pieces, and wash the innards of him, and his legs, and set them upon his pieces, and upon his head.
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 thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head.THE KEY
The Hebrew word for “inwards” shares a root with “draw near,” so the rite makes the hidden interior part of the approach.
THE MEANING
You see the ram cut into pieces; its inward parts and legs are washed, then set with the pieces and the head. The inside is named, washed, and placed within the offering’s arrangement. The Hebrew for “inwards” echoes the language of drawing near, joining the hidden interior to the act of approach.
THE ROOT
קִרְבּוֹ
qirbo
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־ב
q-r-b
Draw near; approach.
“innards” in this verse is qirbo. The Hebrew word for “inwards” belongs to the same root family as “draw near” and the word for an approach-offering. The inner parts are washed and placed with the rest, so the verse brings what is inside into the language of approach.
ALSO GROWS
qerev: Interior; midst; inward parts.
קֶרֶב
This is the noun behind “inwards,” locating the ram’s inside within the root family of approach.
qarab: Draw near; approach.
קָרַב
This verb makes the root’s movement toward nearness audible beneath the word for the ram’s interior.
korban: Offering; an approach-offering.
קָרְבָּן
The offering’s name shares the same root, linking the ram’s inward parts to the act of drawing near.
THE PATTERN
Scripture marks approach with washing that reaches the body and the inner person.
I wash my hands in cleanness, and so I circle your altar, O LORD.Let us draw near with a true heart in the fullness of trust, our hearts sprinkled from a burdened shared sight, and our bodies bathed in clean waters.THE THREAD
You bring Aaron and his sons near to the opening of the tent of meeting, and you wash them with waters.The Hebrew verb “bring” is תַּקְרִיב (taqriv, bring near), from ק־ר־ב (q-r-b), the same root carried by “inwards” here, קִרְבּוֹ (qirbo, its inner parts). Aaron and his sons are brought near and washed; here, the ram’s inward parts are washed too, joining approach and inwardness through the same root.
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