What Does 2 Chronicles 8:12 Mean in the King James?
Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew names the rite in two directions at once: the altar carries slaughter, while the burnt offering carries ascent.
THE MEANING
The verse holds the offering’s cost and movement together: the altar bears the language of slaughter, while the burnt offering is named as what rises to the LORD. Set before the porch of the LORD’s house, the act gives that ascent a visible place.
THE ROOT
עֹלוֹת
ʿolot
GROWS FROM
עלה
ʿ-l-h
Rise, go up, ascend.
“burnt offerings” in this verse is ʿolot. עֹלָה (ʿolah, ascending offering) comes from עָלָה (ʿalah, to rise): even where the KJV foregrounds burning, Hebrew also names the offering by its rising. Here that movement is directed “unto the LORD,” giving the rite a second dimension of approach.
ALSO GROWS
ʿalah: To rise, go up, ascend.
עָלָה
The verb names the movement carried inside the offering’s name.
vayyaʿal: And he brought up; caused to rise.
וַיַּעַל
Genesis 8:20 uses this form for Noah’s act of offering, repeating the root found in “burnt offerings.”
maʿalah: Ascent; an upward step.
מַעֲלָה
This noun keeps the root’s sense of upward movement visible beyond the sacrificial term.
מִזְבֵּחַ
mizbēaḥ
GROWS FROM
זבח
z-b-ḥ
Slaughter, sacrifice.
מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbēaḥ, altar) carries the root זבח (z-b-ḥ, slaughter or sacrifice) in its name. The verse holds both sides together: the altar names the slaughter, and עֹלָה (ʿolah, ascending offering) names what rises.
ALSO GROWS
zāvaḥ: To slaughter or sacrifice.
זָבַח
The verb makes explicit the act carried in the altar’s name.
zevaḥ: A sacrifice; a sacrificial meal.
זֶבַח
This related noun shows the root extending from the act of slaughter to the offering itself.
THE PATTERN
Scripture makes what is offered to God visible as an act of presentation before him.
But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.THE THREAD
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.Genesis places וַיַּעַל (vayyaʿal, he brought up or caused to rise) beside עֹלֹת (ʿolot, ascending offerings), both from עלה (ʿ-l-h, rise). Its KJV “offered burnt offerings” keeps a word echo, while Hebrew reveals that the shared root names both the act and the offering by ascent.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us