What Does Ezra 6:10 Mean?
That they may offer sacrifices of settling fragrance to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.
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
That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.THE KEY
The offering is a drawing near that includes a plea for life to continue through those who govern.
THE MEANING
Worship and public life meet in this verse: what is brought near to God is joined to prayer for the king’s life and the lives of his sons. The life of those who govern is held within the community’s prayer.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the idea that devotion concerns only private inward life; here, prayer includes those who govern.
THE ROOT
לְהַקְרָבָה
lehaqrābā
GROWS FROM
קרב
q-r-b
Approach, draw near; in this Aramaic form, to offer or bring near.
“offer” in this verse is lehaqrābā. The word for offering carries the movement of approach. The sacrifice is not just something given; it is something brought near, and the prayer for the king’s life belongs within that same movement.
ALSO GROWS
qᵉrab: Approach, come near (Aramaic cognate)
קְרַב
This root makes the offering an act of drawing near.
qorbān: Drawing near; an offering
קָרְבָּן
The offering itself bears the language of approach, linking sacrifice with prayer.
נִיחוֹחִין
nîḥōḥîn
GROWS FROM
נוח
n-w-ḥ
Rest, settle, come to rest; the related aroma word carries a soothing or pleasing sense.
“settling fragrance” in this verse is nîḥōḥîn. The Aramaic word for the pleasing aromas is tied to the root for rest or settling. Beneath “sweet savours” is an image of what settles into a pleasing presence, placed here beside a prayer for life.
ALSO GROWS
nûaḥ: Rest, settle
נוּחַ
This root gives the aroma a shade of settling or soothing.
mᵉnûḥāh: Rest, resting place
מְנוּחָה
The shared root connects the offering’s pleasing aroma with the language of rest.
לְחַיֵּי
leḥayyê
GROWS FROM
חיה
ḥ-y-h
Live, be alive.
The Aramaic word for life shares the Semitic root חיה with Hebrew words for being alive and life itself. The prayer names the king and his sons together, holding their continuing life within one act of worship.
ALSO GROWS
ḥay: Living, alive
חַי
The shared root puts the king’s life within the larger language of being alive.
ḥayyim: Life, lives
חַיִּים
This Hebrew cognate keeps the root’s sense of life visible beneath the Aramaic form.
THE PATTERN
Prayer and worship hold the life of public leadership within a larger dependence on God.
And he lives, and of the gold of Sheba it is given to him. Prayer is made for him continually, and all the day they bless him.And seek the wholeness of the city where I have carried you away, and pray to the LORD for it, for in its wholeness you will have wholeness.I urge you therefore, first of all, that requests, prayers, approaches, and giving of thanks be made for all humankind. For kings, and for all who stand above; that we may lead a still and whole life in all awe and weight.THE THREAD
And he lives, and of the gold of Sheba it is given to him. Prayer is made for him continually, and all the day they bless him.Ezra’s Aramaic word for “life” and the Psalm’s “he shall live” share the root חיה (ḥ-y-h), meaning to live. The Psalm makes the connection especially clear: the ruler’s life and the continual prayer surrounding him appear in the same line.
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