What Does Exodus 27:7 Mean in the King James?

And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.

Exodus 27:7 · KJV

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 verb for carrying the altar is also used for forgiving trespass: carrying and release share one root.

THE MEANING

The altar is built to move: rings receive its poles, and its two sides hold the load as it is carried. Movement is part of its structure, not an afterthought.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

What is sacred must remain fixed in one place.

THE ROOT

בִּשְׂאֵת

bise’et

GROWS FROM

נָשָׂא

n-ś-ʾ

To lift, carry, or take up.

“bear” in this verse is bise’et. Here, the poles let the altar be carried. In Genesis 50:17, the same root appears in a plea translated “forgive”, bringing physical bearing and release into one verbal family.

ALSO GROWS

nāśāʾ: To lift and carry a physical load.

נָשָׂא

This root underlies the altar’s being borne through its rings and poles.

śāʾ: “Bear” appears in a plea to forgive wrongdoing.

שָׂא

In Genesis 50:17, the same root is used when Joseph’s brothers ask him to forgive their trespass, joining bearing with release.

wayyiśʾū: Lifted or carried upward.

וַיִּשְׂאוּ

In Genesis 7:17, the waters bear up the ark, another image of what carries a weight.

THE PATTERN

Scripture presents carrying as a way of sustaining what has weight.

And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.

Exodus 25:14 · KJVThe ark, like the altar, is fitted with rings and poles so it can be carried.

And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.

Isaiah 46:4 · KJVThe language of bearing becomes an image of sustaining a person through every age.

Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2 · KJVCarrying becomes shared support for what weighs on another.

THE THREAD

So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

Genesis 50:17 · KJV

Exodus uses nāśāʾ for carrying the altar; Genesis uses the same root in the plea “forgive ... the trespass.” The root holds physical bearing and the plea for release together.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us