What Does Ezra 8:28 Mean in the King James?
And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the LORD; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers.
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
Holiness here names a shared belonging that reaches from people to vessels, while the silver and gold join it as a willing gift.
THE MEANING
You are addressed as belonging to the LORD, and the vessels with you are named set apart as well. The silver and gold are not treated as mere possessions; they enter the same field of devotion as a freely given offering.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that only people, and never material things, can belong to God in a set-apart way.
THE ROOT
קֹדֶשׁ
qodesh
GROWS FROM
ק־ד־שׁ
q-d-sh
set apart, consecrated
“holy” in this verse is qodesh. The verse calls both the people and the vessels qodesh, set apart, so the same word holds persons and objects in a shared belonging. English can make holiness sound like an inward quality of people alone; this root also names things set apart for sacred use.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: set apart; holy
קָדוֹשׁ
This adjective names the status spoken over the people and vessels.
miqdash: sanctuary; a set-apart place
מִקְדָּשׁ
The sanctuary belongs to the same word family, showing how set-apartness can mark people, objects, and places.
נְדָבָה
nedavah
GROWS FROM
נ־ד־ב
n-d-b
to volunteer; to give from willing generosity
“freewill offering” in this verse is nedavah. The silver and gold are named as nedavah, a gift that comes from willingness. The verse joins set-apart belonging with an offering given freely, rather than presenting the offering as something extracted by force.
ALSO GROWS
nadav: to volunteer; to give freely
נָדַב
This verb shares the root and makes the offering’s willing character explicit.
nadiv: generous; noble or willing
נָדִיב
This related word carries the root’s sense of openhanded willingness into the character of the giver.
THE PATTERN
What belongs to God is set apart across people, objects, and resources, and giving can arise from willingness.
The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.THE THREAD
And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.The words sanctify and holy come from the same ק־ד־שׁ (q-d-sh) root family as the holiness named in Ezra. Exodus makes the connection visible in consecrated objects: set-apartness can mark the things carried and used, not only the people who carry them.
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