What Does Leviticus 26:40 Mean in the King James?

If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;

Leviticus 26:40 · 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 same Hebrew root names both their trespass and the act of trespassing, revealing breach of trust as something enacted, not merely labeled.

THE MEANING

Here, your own crookedness and what you inherit from those before you stand together in the open before God. Trespass is named as a breach in relationship, and the contrary walk appears as a continuing direction. Confession brings the whole pattern into speech.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Inherited wrong does not erase present participation, and present participation does not make inherited wrong disappear.

THE ROOT

מַעֲלָם

maʿălām

GROWS FROM

מעל

To act unfaithfully; to breach trust.

The phrase repeats ⁨מעל⁩ in both the noun for their trespass and the verb for what they did against God. Hebrew binds the breach and the act that enacts it into one relational pattern.

ALSO GROWS

maʿal: To act unfaithfully or treacherously.

מָעַל

This verb is repeated in the verse as ⁨מָעֲלוּ⁩ (maʿălû), “they trespassed,” making the root audible in both the breach and the action.

meʿilah: A breach of trust; an act of sacrilege or unfaithfulness.

מְעִילָה

It carries the same ⁨מ־ע־ל⁩ consonants and shows the root’s relational force: the trespass is a violation of trust.

הָלְכוּ

hāləkû

GROWS FROM

הלך

To walk or go.

The Hebrew says they “walked with me in opposition.” This root’s connection to a course or way of proceeding lets the verse present contradiction as a continuing direction, not just a single act.

ALSO GROWS

hālak: To walk or go.

הָלַךְ

This is the root form behind ⁨הָלְכוּ⁩, “they walked,” in the verse.

mahalakh: A course, route, or way of proceeding.

מַהֲלָךְ

It shares the root’s ⁨ה־ל־ך⁩ consonants and illuminates the verse’s image of opposition as a path taken over time.

THE PATTERN

Confession draws concealed and inherited wrongdoing into speech so the breach can be released.

I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Psalm 32:5 · KJVThe speaker names what was hidden, and the naming reaches release.

And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

Nehemiah 9:2 · KJVThe confession includes both present wrongdoing and the iniquities inherited from those before them.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 · KJVConfession is joined with release and cleansing, showing what becomes possible when wrongdoing is brought into the open.

THE THREAD

I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Psalm 32:5 · KJV

Both verses use forms of ⁨ידה⁩ (y-d-h) for confessing or acknowledging. Psalm 32:5 joins that acknowledgment to “I have not hid” and ends in release, opening the same movement from concealment that Leviticus names for personal and inherited breach.

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