What Does Leviticus 23:28 Mean in the King James?

And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.

Leviticus 23:28 · 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 day of covering is the day human work ceases, revealing that this wholeness is received rather than made.

THE MEANING

The verse holds two things together now: work ceases, and a covering is made for you before the LORD. It presents wholeness as something received rather than produced by your own effort.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that restoration must be earned through enough effort: here the covering arrives for you as your work stops.

THE ROOT

כִּפֻּרִים

kippurim lekapper

GROWS FROM

כפר

k-p-r

Covering; to cover or make atonement

The Hebrew names this as the day of kippurim, then uses the same root in the phrase “to make an atonement.” The repeated root gathers the day and its work under one image: covering, with human labor set aside.

ALSO GROWS

kapporet: The cover of the ark, often called the mercy seat

כַּפֹּרֶת

This branch names a physical cover with the same root, bringing the verse’s language of atonement into a concrete image.

kopher: Pitch or coating

כֹּפֶר

The same root family can describe a coating that covers a surface, adding the sense of protection to the verse’s image of covering.

THE PATTERN

Restoration is received where self-labor stops, rather than built by human effort.

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

Exodus 20:10 · KJVThe Sabbath makes cessation from work part of the structure of a day set apart to the LORD.

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

Isaiah 30:15 · KJVHere deliverance and strength are joined to returning and rest, not to striving.

For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

Hebrews 4:10 · KJVEntering rest is described as ceasing from one’s own works, echoing the day when covering and cessation meet.

THE THREAD

For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

Leviticus 16:30 · KJV

This verse uses the same ⁨כפר⁩ root for making atonement and places its result beside cleansing. Leviticus 23:28 names the day by that covering and says no work is done; this verse shows the covering joined with being made clean before the LORD.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us