What Does Exodus 29:33 Mean in the King James?
And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.
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 meal binds covering to consecration: what is used in making atonement is eaten as hands are filled and people are set apart.
THE MEANING
Covering becomes embodied in the meal eaten by those whose hands are being filled for service. The meal has a boundary: the outsider does not eat because both the food and the people are set apart.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that a holy meal is open to anyone simply because it is food: this passage marks a boundary around who receives it.
THE ROOT
כֻּפַּר
kuppar
GROWS FROM
כפר
kaphar
Cover, cover over.
“atonement was made” in this verse is kuppar. The word translated “atonement” carries the sense of covering. Its root links the offering with other forms of covering, so the meal belongs to a movement of covering and consecration.
ALSO GROWS
kippur: Covering; atonement.
כִּפּוּר
It shares the covering-root behind the offering in this verse.
kopher: A covering payment or ransom.
כֹּפֶר
It shows the root’s reach from covering to a means of release.
kapporet: The cover of the ark.
כַּפֹּרֶת
The same root names a physical cover associated with the place of atonement.
לְמַלֵּא אֶת־יָדָם
lemallēʾ et-yadam
GROWS FROM
מלא
male
Fill, make full.
The Hebrew phrase behind “consecrate” says “to fill their hands.” The verse connects being set apart with hands made full for service, giving consecration a concrete, embodied shape.
ALSO GROWS
male: To fill, be full.
מָלֵא
It is the verb behind the phrase “fill their hands.”
melo: Fullness; that which fills.
מְלֹא
It shows the same root moving from the act of filling to its completed state.
לְקַדֵּשׁ
leqaddēsh
GROWS FROM
קדש
qadash
Set apart as sacred.
“sanctify” in this verse is leqaddēsh. The root links sanctifying with being holy and with the sanctuary itself. Here, setting apart is not a vague quality: it governs who eats the food and where they belong.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Holy; set apart.
קָדוֹשׁ
It is the quality named at the end of this verse.
miqdash: Sanctuary; set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
It shows the root marking a place as well as people and food.
THE PATTERN
The food of an altar marks participation: eating it places the eater within a set-apart relation.
Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD?Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.THE THREAD
Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.This verse repeats the covering-root כפר (kaphar, cover) and the set-apart root קדש (qadash, set apart), then extends holiness to whatever touches the altar. It reveals the meal as part of a larger movement of covering, setting apart, and participation.
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