What Does Leviticus 16:6 Mean in the King James?
And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
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 priest is not outside the need he addresses: the covering begins with him and extends to his household.
THE MEANING
You can bear responsibility and still need covering; this verse holds both truths together. The covering reaches beyond you to the household connected to you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that carrying responsibility makes you self-sufficient: the one who bears the rite first needs its covering himself.
THE ROOT
וְכִפֶּר
ve-khipper
GROWS FROM
כ־פ־ר
Cover, cover over.
The root כפר (kaphar, “cover”) lies beneath the verb the KJV renders “make an atonement.” The priest is included in the covering before his household is named; the act does not place him outside the need it addresses.
ALSO GROWS
kofer: Covering material, such as pitch; also a ransom.
כֹּפֶר
The covering and ransom senses grow from the same root, giving “covering” a reach beyond a surface layer to protection or exchange.
kapporet: The cover or lid over the ark.
כַּפֹּרֶת
This branch makes the root’s concrete image visible: a cover over a sacred object, echoing the covering named in the verse.
חַטָּאת
chatat
GROWS FROM
ח־ט־א
Miss, go astray.
The offering’s name shares the root of “missing,” keeping that sense alongside its ritual meaning as a sin offering. English holds the offering sense in the phrase while the Hebrew root also carries the image of a miss being addressed.
ALSO GROWS
chata: To miss, go astray, or commit an offense.
חָטָא
The verb shows the action beneath the offering’s name: a miss or offense that calls for response.
chet: A miss or offense.
חֵטְא
This noun makes the root’s “missing” sense explicit beside the offering named in the verse.
THE PATTERN
The covering reaches the one performing the rite before it reaches those within that person’s care.
And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering, and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement for thyself, and for the people: and offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them; as the LORD commanded.And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.THE THREAD
And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.The same כפר (kaphar, “cover”) root recurs, and the reach expands in a clear sequence: the priest himself, his household, then the whole congregation. The household in this verse is one circle in a covering that extends outward.
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