What Does Leviticus 14:18 Mean in the King James?
And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD.
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 oil left in the priest’s hand becomes part of the cleansing, while the act called atonement carries the root sense of covering.
THE MEANING
The verse holds cleansing and covering together: the oil still in the priest’s hand is poured onto the head of the one being cleansed, and the priest’s act before the LORD is named with the root of covering. For you now, what remains still has a place in the completion.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what remains after cleansing begins is useless: the remaining oil belongs to its completion.
THE ROOT
וְכִפֶּר
ve-kipper
GROWS FROM
כפר
k-p-r
To cover or smear over; in this form, to perform the act rendered “make an atonement.”
The word translated “make an atonement” grows from a root of covering. The verse places that covering beside the oil poured on the head of the one being cleansed, joining cleansing with a covering before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
kopher: Pitch or coating; also a ransom in other contexts.
כֹּפֶר
In Genesis 6:14, this word names the pitch that coats the ark, letting the root’s concrete sense of covering show through.
kapporet: The cover of the ark, called the “mercy seat” in the KJV.
כַּפֹּרֶת
This cover belongs to the same word family, echoing the covering named in the priest’s act before the LORD.
THE PATTERN
Oil placed on a person marks restoration as something received in the body.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.THE THREAD
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.The verb translated “make an atonement” in Leviticus and the word for “pitch” in Genesis share the K-P-R root. In Genesis the ark is covered with pitch; here the priest performs a covering for the one being cleansed.
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