What Does Exodus 29:15 Mean in the King James?

Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.

Exodus 29:15 · 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 carries the image of leaning or supporting: the hands make the offerers’ relation to the ram bodily visible.

THE MEANING

Here, the offering meets the people who bring it through their hands on its head. The gesture makes that relation tangible, with the Hebrew verb carrying the sense of leaning upon or supporting.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It loosens the belief that an offering can be detached from those who bring it: their hands rest directly on the ram’s head.

THE ROOT

וְסָמְכוּ

vesamkhu

GROWS FROM

סמך

samekh-mem-kaph

To lean upon or support.

“put their hands” in this verse is vesamkhu. The verb translated “put” carries the image of leaning or placing support. In this gesture, the hands make the offerers’ relation to the ram embodied and visible.

ALSO GROWS

uphold: One who supports or sustains.

סוֹמֵךְ

This form of the same root shows the image of support contained in the hand-placing verb.

sāmukh: Supported or resting upon.

סָמוּךְ

The root can describe what leans on something; that adds weight to the hands resting on the ram’s head.

THE PATTERN

A hand placed on another makes an otherwise invisible relation tangible through contact.

And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

Leviticus 1:4 · KJVThe same Hebrew hand-on-head formula makes the offerer’s relation to the offering bodily visible.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;

Numbers 27:18 · KJVThe same Hebrew root makes Joshua’s appointment tangible through the laying on of a hand.

Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

Acts 8:17 · KJVHere, too, hands are laid and the recipients receive; the relation is enacted through touch.

THE THREAD

And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

Leviticus 1:4 · KJV

Leviticus uses the same root ⁨סמך⁩ (sāmakh, lean or support) in its formula for placing a hand on an offering’s head. That shared verb lets the gesture carry bodily association: the people meet what is presented through the hand on its head.

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