What Does Ezekiel 46:7 Mean?
He prepares a grain gift, an ephah for the young bull, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according as his hand reaches, and a hin of oil to an ephah.
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 he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah.THE KEY
The measure follows the hand’s reach, while the oil remains proportioned to the offering.
THE MEANING
The offering has a set measure for the bull and ram, while the lambs’ portion follows what the hand can reach. The oil is measured alongside it, one hin to an ephah: the verse holds order and differing capacity together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a faithful offering must be identical in amount for every hand; here, the measure can account for capacity.
THE ROOT
תַּשִּׂיג
tassig
GROWS FROM
נשׂג
nasag
To reach, attain, or overtake.
“reaches” in this verse is tassig. The root holds both the hand reaching a measure and something catching up to a person. Here, the lambs’ portion follows the hand’s reach; elsewhere the same root can describe either provision or pursuit arriving.
ALSO GROWS
wehissigukha: “And overtake you” (Deuteronomy 28:2).
וְהִשִּׂיגֻךָ
Blessings are pictured as reaching and overtaking a person, extending the root’s sense from a hand’s reach to what arrives.
wayyassigu: “And they overtook” (Exodus 14:9).
וַיַּשִּׂיגוּ
Pursuers catch up with those fleeing; the same root can describe a reach that closes the distance.
THE PATTERN
An offering’s measure can follow the giver’s capacity while remaining ordered.
Each one shall give according to the gift of his hand, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you.For if the leaning heart is there first, it is well received according to what one has, and not according to what one does not have.THE THREAD
All these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you hear and respond to the voice of the LORD your God.The verb behind “attain” is נשׂג (nasag), “to reach or overtake”; the same root appears as “overtake” here. Ezekiel measures the portion by what the hand reaches, while Deuteronomy pictures blessings reaching the person.
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