What Does Leviticus 23:12 Mean in the King James?
And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto 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
A sacrifice enters the verse as a double movement: it is brought near and then rises.
THE MEANING
The verse gathers the waved sheaf and a first-year lamb into an act of approach: the lamb is whole, brought near, and offered in a movement of ascent to the LORD. Its language holds harvest, nearness, and rising together in one present act.
THE ROOT
וְהִקְרַבְתֶּם
vehiqravtem
GROWS FROM
קרב
q-r-b
to approach, come near, or bring near
The verb translated “offer” carries the movement of bringing near. Its related noun for an offering names a drawing near, so the verse’s first motion is approach.
ALSO GROWS
qorbān: offering; a drawing near
קָרְבָּן
This related word makes the offering’s root movement explicit: what is given is brought near.
qarov: near
קָרוֹב
The same root connects the act of offering with nearness itself.
עֹלָה
olah
GROWS FROM
עלה
ʿ-l-h
to go up, rise, or ascend
The Hebrew name עֹלָה (olah, an ascending offering) carries the image of rising. Alongside the fire of the burnt offering, the word holds a second movement: ascent.
ALSO GROWS
ʿalah: to go up or ascend
עָלָה
This verb shares the root and names the upward movement carried by the offering’s name.
maʿalah: ascent; step
מַעֲלָה
This branch carries the same root into the image of an upward way.
תָּמִים
tamim
GROWS FROM
תמם
t-m-m
to be complete, whole, or intact
“without blemish” in this verse is tamim. The word carries completeness and soundness along with the image of having no blemish. The gift brought near is a whole young life, so wholeness meets nearness in the act.
ALSO GROWS
tam: whole; blameless
תָּם
This related form shows the root’s sense of wholeness extending to a person’s integrity.
tom: integrity; completeness
תֹּם
This branch keeps the idea of undivided wholeness visible beneath the verse’s description of the lamb.
THE PATTERN
Scripture pictures nearness to God as movement: approaching, ascending, and presenting what is whole.
If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?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.THE THREAD
Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?Leviticus names the burnt offering עֹלָה (olah, that which ascends), from עלה (ʿalah, to ascend); Psalm 24:3 asks who יַעֲלֶה (yaʿaleh, ascends) the LORD’s hill, using the same root. The shared root lets the offering’s upward movement open into the image of a person approaching the LORD’s presence.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us