What Does Exodus 29:25 Mean in the King James?
And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before the LORD: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
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 offering is named for its ascent: fire turns what is received from the hands into smoke rising before the LORD.
THE MEANING
The verse places what is in your hands onto the altar, where fire carries the offering upward as smoke before the LORD. The burnt offering is also an ascent, and its smoke is described as a pleasing aroma. Burning and rising belong to the same act.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
What passes into fire is only destroyed; here it also rises as an offering and a pleasing aroma before the LORD.
THE ROOT
עֹלָה
ʿolah
GROWS FROM
עלה
ʿ-l-h
To rise, ascend, or go up.
“burnt offering” in this verse is ʿolah. English foregrounds what happens to the offering in the fire, while עֹלָה names its upward movement. The smoke rises, so the offering is marked by ascent as well as burning.
ALSO GROWS
ʿalah: To go up, rise, or ascend.
עָלָה
This verb carries the same upward motion named by the offering.
ʿaliyyah: An ascent or going up.
עֲלִיָּה
It keeps the root’s sense of upward movement visible in a related noun.
וְהִקְטַרְתָּ
wəhîqṭartā
GROWS FROM
קטר
q-ṭ-r
To make smoke; in the causative form, to make an offering or incense smoke.
“burn” in this verse is wəhîqṭartā. The Hebrew verb describes causing smoke, which holds the altar’s fire together with what rises from it. The same root also names incense, linking this burning with fragrance.
ALSO GROWS
hiqṭîr: To make smoke or burn incense.
הִקְטִיר
This causative form makes explicit the smoke-making action in the verse.
qetōret: Incense.
קְטֹרֶת
The shared root connects the offering’s smoke with the fragrant smoke of incense.
נִיחֹחַ
nîḥōaḥ
GROWS FROM
נוח
n-w-ḥ
To rest or settle.
“sweet savour” in this verse is nîḥōaḥ. The phrase is רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ (re’aḥ nîḥōaḥ), a pleasing aroma described with a word associated with rest or settling. The smoke is not only ascending; it is presented as an aroma that brings a sense of rest before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
nûaḥ: To rest or settle.
נוּחַ
This verb expresses the root’s basic sense carried in נִיחֹחַ.
menûḥāh: Rest or a resting place.
מְנוּחָה
The related noun makes the root’s resting quality clear in a familiar form.
THE PATTERN
Scripture repeatedly describes what is offered to God through the language of aroma.
And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.THE THREAD
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.This verse uses the same עֹלָה (ʿolah, ascending offering) and קטר (qatar, make smoke) word families, then names the result a sweet savour. The shared wording lets the burning and the ascent remain joined: the offering is consumed at the altar as its smoke rises before the LORD.
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