What Does Exodus 40:32 Mean?
When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they drew near to the altar, they washed, as the LORD commanded Moses.
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
When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses.THE KEY
The Hebrew root for “came near” also names an offering as something brought near, making approach the center of the altar’s meaning.
THE MEANING
The verse presents nearness as something the body enacts: entering the tent and approaching the altar are accompanied by washing. The reader meets a concrete pattern in which drawing close includes cleansing under the LORD’s command.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that nearness to God is only inward or abstract is unsettled here: this verse makes approach bodily, joined to washing.
THE ROOT
קָרַב
qarav
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־ב
Approach, draw near, be near
“drew near” in this verse is qarav. The root ק־ר־ב links the verb “came near” with קָרוֹב (qarov, “near”) and קָרְבָּן (qorban, “offering”). English separates approach from offering, while Hebrew uses one root for nearness and what is brought near; here, approach itself is central.
ALSO GROWS
qarov: Near, close
קָרוֹב
This branch holds proximity and drawing near within the same root, giving the approach in this verse a relational as well as spatial sense.
qorban: Offering; something brought near
קָרְבָּן
The shared root connects altar approach with an offering brought near, placing both acts within the language of drawing close.
THE PATTERN
Approach to sacred presence is marked by washing, so nearness is enacted through cleansing.
When they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with waters, so that they do not die; or when they draw near to the altar to serve, to make smoke rise from the offering of fire to the 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
When they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with waters, so that they do not die; or when they draw near to the altar to serve, to make smoke rise from the offering of fire to the LORD.Exodus 30:20 uses the same root, ק־ר־ב (qarav, “draw near”), and explicitly pairs approaching the altar with washing. It makes the connection between nearness and cleansing in this verse unmistakable.
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