What Does Exodus 30:30 Mean?
And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and set them apart, so that they may serve me as priests.
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 anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.THE KEY
The verse places anointing and setting apart before priestly service, so the work begins with a role received, not a status achieved.
THE MEANING
Anointing and setting apart come before service: the role is received and appointed before its work begins. The phrase “unto me” gives that service its direction and belonging.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that service begins only after you prove your usefulness: here the setting apart comes first.
THE ROOT
תִּמְשָׁח
timshach
GROWS FROM
משח
To smear or apply oil; to anoint.
“anoint” in this verse is timshach. The verb for anointing shares its root with the title “anointed one.” The verse marks Aaron and his sons for a role before describing their service; the same root carries an action into an identity.
ALSO GROWS
mashiach: Anointed one.
מָשִׁיחַ
The title grows from the same root as the act performed here: anointing marks someone for a role.
mishchah: Anointing or anointing oil.
מִשְׁחָה
The related noun names the oil or anointing associated with the setting apart in this verse.
וְקִדַּשְׁתָּ
veqiddashta
GROWS FROM
קדש
To set apart as sacred or reserved for a purpose.
The root behind “consecrate” also gives the words for what is set apart and for set-apartness itself. Here, the setting apart is joined directly to priestly service: the role is reserved for a particular relationship and purpose.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Set apart; sacred.
קָדוֹשׁ
This adjective describes the set-apart quality that consecration gives the priests.
qodesh: Set-apartness; sacredness.
קֹדֶשׁ
This noun names the state or domain of being set apart, which the verse gives to Aaron and his sons.
לְכַהֵן לִי
lekhahen li
GROWS FROM
כהן
To perform priestly service; to serve as a priest.
“as priests” in this verse is lekhahen li. The Hebrew says “to serve as priest for me,” using the same root as the noun for priest. What English spreads across “minister” and “priest’s office,” Hebrew gathers into one priestly function directed “unto me.”
ALSO GROWS
kohen: Priest.
כֹּהֵן
The person named by this root performs the priestly service described in the verse.
kehunnah: Priesthood; priestly service.
כְּהֻנָּה
This branch names the office and service that Aaron and his sons are set apart to perform.
THE PATTERN
A role of service is marked and set apart before its work begins.
And he poured some of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to set him apart.Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the breath of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.Now the one who makes us firm with you in the Anointed One, and who has anointed us, is God.THE THREAD
And he poured some of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to set him apart.This verse brings the same two roots together: mashach (מָשַׁח, to anoint) and qadash (קָדַשׁ, to set apart). Their pairing makes plain that Aaron’s anointing and his consecration belong to one act of preparation for service.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us