What Does Ezekiel 46:6 Mean?
On the day of the new moon it is a young bull, whole, and six lambs, and a ram; they are whole.
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 in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish.THE KEY
The Hebrew names the new moon with the root of renewal and calls each animal whole, so the month begins with renewal embodied as wholeness.
THE MEANING
The month’s turning is marked by a young bull, six lambs, and a ram, all without blemish. The verse holds newness beside wholeness: the beginning takes visible form in what is brought forward intact.
THE ROOT
הַחֹדֶשׁ
ha-chodesh
GROWS FROM
חדש
newness; to renew or make new
Chodesh, the word rendered “new moon,” shares its root with words for “new” and “renew.” The Hebrew therefore carries the language of renewal within the name of the month’s turning.
ALSO GROWS
chadash: new, fresh
חָדָשׁ
This adjective shares the root of chodesh, linking the month’s turning with newness.
chiddesh: renew, make new
חִדֵּשׁ
This verb makes the root’s renewing sense explicit, as in the prayer for God to renew a right spirit.
תָּמִים
tamim
GROWS FROM
תמם
to be complete, whole, or sound
“whole” in this verse is tamim. Tamim describes an animal with no blemish, and the root also carries the sense of completeness and integrity. The offering remains a concrete animal offering, while its description speaks of wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
tam: whole, blameless
תָּם
This related form shows how the language of being without blemish also carries the sense of being whole.
tom: integrity, completeness
תֹּם
This noun extends the same root’s sense of wholeness into the idea of integrity.
tamam: be complete, come to completion
תָּמַם
The verb makes explicit the root’s movement toward completeness.
THE PATTERN
A renewed beginning becomes visible in what is brought forward before God.
And in the heads of your new moons you shall bring near an ascending offering to the LORD; two young bulls, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year, whole;Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steady breath within me.Therefore I urge you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to set your bodies beside God as a living sacrifice, set apart, well-pleasing to him, which is your true service.THE THREAD
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steady breath within me.The word for “renew” (chiddesh) shares the root חדש with chodesh, “new moon.” The month’s new beginning and the renewal sought within the heart carry the same seed of newness.
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