What Does Leviticus 1:12 Mean in the King James?

And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:

Leviticus 1:12 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The offering is divided into pieces, then the Hebrew root for arranging places those pieces in deliberate order over the fire.

THE MEANING

The verse keeps the offering concrete: its pieces are named, with the head and fat still in view. The priest arranges them on wood already over the altar fire, holding division and deliberate placement together in one act.

THE ROOT

עָרַךְ

ʿārakh

GROWS FROM

ערך

To arrange, set out, or prepare in an array.

“lay them in order” in this verse is ʿārakh. English gives no hint that “lay in order” shares a root with words for rows and setting a table. Here, after the animal is cut apart, that root describes the deliberate arrangement of its pieces on the wood above the fire.

ALSO GROWS

maʿărāḵāh: An array or row.

מַעֲרָכָה

Leviticus 24:6 uses this word for rows of bread set before the LORD, echoing the verse’s emphasis on arranged placement.

taʿarokh: You set out or prepare; used of setting a table in Psalm 23:5.

תַּעֲרֹךְ

The same root can describe provisions deliberately set out, showing that its sense of arrangement extends beyond the altar.

THE PATTERN

What is presented in sacred service is placed in deliberate order on a prepared surface.

And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.

1 Kings 18:33 · KJVThis scene joins cutting and ordered placement in the same sequence as the verse.

And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD.

Leviticus 24:6 · KJVThe bread is arranged in rows on the table before the LORD, making placement part of its presentation.

Let all things be done decently and in order.

1 Corinthians 14:40 · KJVThe same concern for deliberate order appears as a principle for the assembly’s shared actions.

THE THREAD

And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD.

Leviticus 24:6 · KJV

The Hebrew word for “rows” here, ⁨מַעֲרָכוֹת⁩ (maʿărāḵōṯ), comes from the same root, ⁨ערך⁩, as “lay them in order.” The shared root links the arranged pieces on the altar with the bread set out in rows before the LORD.

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