What Does Leviticus 19:7 Mean in the King James?
And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.
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 repeated Hebrew verb makes consumption itself the boundary: on the third day, eating turns the offering into what is refused.
THE MEANING
The offering has a boundary: if it is eaten on the third day, it is called abominable and is not accepted. The verse ties its acceptance to when it is eaten; the act of consuming it on that day changes its standing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that something remains acceptable simply because it was acceptable before: its reception is bounded by when it is eaten.
THE ROOT
הֵאָכֹל יֵאָכֵל
he’ākhōl yē’ākhēl
GROWS FROM
אכל
Eat, consume.
“eaten at all” in this verse is he’ākhōl yē’ākhēl. The verb appears twice in הֵאָכֹל יֵאָכֵל (he’ākhōl yē’ākhēl, “eating it is indeed eaten”), pressing the condition onto the act itself. The root אכל (ʾ-kh-l, “eat, consume”) also forms words for food, joining what is eaten to the act of eating; here the boundary is crossed by taking the offering in.
ALSO GROWS
ʾokhel: Food; what is eaten.
אֹכֶל
The same root names both the act of eating and its object, showing how directly the offering’s status is tied to consumption.
maʾakhal: Food or provision.
מַאֲכָל
This word keeps the same root consonants and presents food as something prepared to be consumed, echoing the passage’s focus on the offering’s use.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats eating as a bounded act: crossing a stated condition changes the food’s fate or the eater’s standing.
And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity.Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.THE THREAD
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:Genesis uses אָכֹל תֹּאכֵל (ʾākhōl tōʾkhēl, “you may surely eat”), from the same root אכל (ʾ-kh-l, “eat, consume”). There, eating is freely permitted; here, the verse shows that permission can carry a precise boundary in time.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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