What Does Leviticus 1:2 Mean in the King James?

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.

Leviticus 1:2 · 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 word for “offering” shares its root with “draw near”: what is brought is also a movement toward closeness.

THE MEANING

Your approach is not described as an abstraction: the verse makes it tangible, with something brought near from the herd or flock. The Hebrew word for offering carries the same root as drawing near, binding what is given to the act of coming close.

THE ROOT

קָרְבָּן

qorbān

GROWS FROM

קרב

q-r-b

To approach, come near, or draw close.

The Hebrew word ⁨קָרְבָּן⁩ (qorbān, “offering”) grows from the same root as the movement of coming near. English can make an offering sound like an object handed over; the root also holds the approach inside the gift.

ALSO GROWS

hiqriv: To bring near or present.

הִקְרִיב

This is the verb used for bringing the offering: the action and the offering share the root of approach.

qarov: Near or close.

קָרוֹב

This branch makes the root’s sense of nearness explicit, showing that the offering belongs to a language of closeness.

THE PATTERN

Drawing near to God is expressed as movement toward presence, not as an abstraction.

And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.

Exodus 24:2 · KJV“Come near” describes approach to the LORD as a real movement, echoing the root carried by “offering” in Leviticus.

But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.

Psalm 73:28 · KJVDrawing near is named as a living closeness to God, using the same Hebrew root found in Leviticus’s word for offering.

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.

Hebrews 10:22 · KJVThe verse speaks of drawing near as an embodied act, carrying the pattern of approach into the Greek scriptures.

THE THREAD

But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.

Psalm 73:28 · KJV

Leviticus names the offering ⁨קָרְבָּן⁩ (qorbān, “offering”) from the root ⁨קרב⁩ (q-r-b), meaning to come near. Psalm 73:28 uses that same root for drawing near to God, revealing the nearness held within the offering’s name.

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