What Does Ezekiel 45:17 Mean?
And it shall be the part of the lifted one to give ascending offerings, and grain gifts, and drink offerings, in the feasts, in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all the appointed times of the house of Israel. He shall prepare the offering for falling short, and the grain gift, and the ascending offering, and the wholeness offerings, to cover the house of 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 it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel.THE KEY
Across the house of Israel’s appointed times, offerings for the missing and offerings of wholeness converge in one covering.
THE MEANING
The house’s feasts, new moons, Sabbaths, and appointed times gather burnt, grain, drink, offering for the missing, and wholeness offerings. The prince carries responsibility for presenting this cycle, whose shared purpose is covering for the whole house.
THE ROOT
לְכַפֵּר
lekhapper
GROWS FROM
כפר
Cover; provide a covering.
“to cover” in this verse is lekhapper. The phrase translated “make reconciliation” carries the concrete image of covering. The offerings converge in a covering that extends to the whole house.
ALSO GROWS
kofer: Covering payment; ransom.
כֹּפֶר
This branch makes covering tangible as a payment that covers a claim.
kapporet: Covering; the cover of the ark, often called the mercy seat.
כַּפֹּרֶת
This branch names a physical covering, showing the concrete image carried by the root.
חַטָּאת
ḥaṭṭāʾt
GROWS FROM
חטא
Miss; fall short; miss the mark.
“offering for falling short” in this verse is ḥaṭṭāʾt. The offering’s name shares its seed with the word for missing. The verse places that missing within the house’s recurring provisions, alongside covering and wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
ḥēṭʾ: A miss; missing.
חֵטְא
This noun makes the root’s idea explicit in the phrase “offering for the missing.”
ḥāṭāʾ: To miss; to fall short.
חָטָא
This verb shows that the offering’s name grows from the same seed as the act of missing.
שְׁלָמִים
shelamim
GROWS FROM
שלם
Be whole, complete, or sound.
“wholeness offerings” in this verse is shelamim. Rendered “peace offerings,” shelamim carries the root that also names wholeness and completeness. Beside the offering for the missing and the act of covering, the verse holds the house’s wholeness in view.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness; well-being.
שָׁלוֹם
This branch reveals the wholeness carried within the name of the offerings.
shalem: Whole; complete.
שָׁלֵם
This form makes explicit the completeness that the shelamim offerings name.
THE PATTERN
The appointed calendar gives worship a recurring structure of times and offerings.
These are the appointed meetings of the LORD, which you shall call out as set-apart assemblies, to bring near an offering of fire to the LORD, a rising offering and a grain gift, a slaughter, and poured offerings, each word upon its own day.Command the children of Israel, and say to them, My drawing near, my bread, my offerings of fire, a fragrance of rest to me, you shall guard to bring near to me in their appointed time.Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or in the portion of a feast, or of a new moon, or of sabbaths.THE THREAD
For on that day the priest makes a covering for you, to cleanse you, so that you may be clean from all your shortcomings before the LORD.The verb rendered “make reconciliation” in Ezekiel and “make an atonement” in Leviticus comes from כפר (kaphar), to cover. Leviticus joins that covering to cleansing; Ezekiel places it within the prince’s offerings for the whole house.
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