What Does Exodus 30:21 Mean in the King James?
So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.
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
At the sacred threshold, washing the hands that act and the feet that approach is bound directly to life.
THE MEANING
At the threshold of sacred service, the body matters: hands that act and feet that approach are washed, and that washing is bound directly to life. This cleansing stands as a lasting boundary through every generation.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that sacredness concerns only inward intention: the verse names hands and feet, making bodily cleansing part of the boundary that preserves life.
THE ROOT
רָחֲצוּ
rāḥăṣû
GROWS FROM
רחץ
to wash or bathe
“wash” in this verse is rāḥăṣû. The same verb can describe washing or bathing, placing the washing of hands and feet within a broader language of bodily cleansing. Psalm 26:6 uses this root for washing hands beside the altar, a connection English does not show.
ALSO GROWS
rāḥaṣ: to wash or bathe
רָחַץ
This is the same verb in its dictionary form, emphasizing bodily cleansing rather than an abstract idea of purity.
reḥīṣāh: washing or bathing
רְחִיצָה
This noun form makes visible the wider word family behind the specific washing of hands and feet.
merḥāṣ: a bath or bathing place
מֶרְחָץ
This related noun extends the root from the act of washing to a place associated with bodily cleansing.
חָק
ḥoq
GROWS FROM
חקק
to mark or inscribe; the related noun carries the sense of a fixed prescription
The noun חֹק is commonly linked with חָקַק, “to inscribe,” so a statute carries the sense of a boundary set in place. Here the enduring prescription is this washing, held through generations as a condition bound to life.
ALSO GROWS
ḥoq: a statute, fixed prescription, or prescribed portion
חֹק
This is the word used for the lasting ordinance that holds the washing in place.
ḥāqaq: to inscribe or decree
חָקַק
This related verb gives the statute the image of a boundary marked into permanence.
meḥoqēq: a lawgiver or ruler
מְחֹקֵק
This related form shows the same word family extending from an inscribed decree to the one who establishes it.
THE PATTERN
Approach to the sacred is marked by cleansing that includes both the hands and the body.
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.THE THREAD
I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:Psalm 26:6 uses the same root, רָחַץ (rāḥaṣ, wash), for washing hands and places that washing beside the altar. The shared verb opens the handwashing here into the language of approaching the altar.
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