What Does Hebrews 9:2 Mean in the King James?
For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
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 sanctuary’s first room is defined by a table where bread is set forth and a lamp where light is held.
THE MEANING
The verse opens a furnished inner space before you: a lamp, a table, and bread already set out. The place called holy holds light and nourishment together; sacredness appears as an ordered space where seeing and being fed belong.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The idea that sacred space has nothing to do with ordinary need gives way here: its first room holds both light and bread.
THE ROOT
ἡ πρόθεσις τῶν ἄρτων
hē prothesis tōn
GROWS FROM
τίθημι
tithēmi
to set or place
“shewbread” in this verse is hē prothesis tōn. The English label hides an action: the Greek names the loaves by their setting forth. The table is a place where bread is deliberately set before, so the sanctuary contains both provision and its presentation.
ALSO GROWS
prothesis: a setting forth, a placing before
πρόθεσις
This is the word used for the loaves here; it makes the bread’s placement part of the image.
epitithēmi: to place upon, lay upon
ἐπιτίθημι
It shares the root of setting or placing, echoing the table as a place where something is set.
ἅγια
hagia
GROWS FROM
ἁγ- (hag-), from ἅγιος (hagios)
set apart; holy
“sanctuary” in this verse is hagia. The Greek name points to what is set apart, giving the furnished room its character. Holiness here is not an empty label: the set-apart space has a lamp, a table, and bread within it.
ALSO GROWS
hagiazo: to set apart, consecrate
ἁγιάζω
The verb makes the root’s quality an action: setting something apart.
hagiasmos: setting apart, consecration
ἁγιασμός
This noun carries the same set-apart quality named by the sanctuary.
σκηνή
skēnē
GROWS FROM
σκην-
skēn-
tent, shelter
“tabernacle” in this verse is skēnē. The word family holds tent and dwelling together. The sanctuary is named as a place to dwell, not merely as an abstract sacred idea.
ALSO GROWS
skēnoō: to dwell, pitch a tent
σκηνόω
The verb grows from the same word family, making the tent a place of dwelling.
skēnopoios: tentmaker
σκηνοποιός
Even the maker of a tent bears the same root, linking the sanctuary’s name to its tangible shelter.
THE PATTERN
The sacred dwelling is furnished with what sustains life and makes it visible: bread and light belong within the same order.
And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.THE THREAD
And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.Hebrews names the bread by its setting forth; Exodus shows it placed on the table before the LORD continually. This makes the table part of an enduring arrangement of provision within the sanctuary.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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