What Does Leviticus 27:33 Mean in the King James?
He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.
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 substitution does not cancel what has been set apart; the substitute joins it.
THE MEANING
The verse draws a boundary around what is set apart: judging the animal good or bad does not reopen it to selection. If an exchange happens, both the original and its substitute remain set apart, and neither can be reclaimed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A more suitable replacement can undo the first animal’s consecration.
THE ROOT
יְמִירֶנּוּ
yemirennu
GROWS FROM
מוּר
mur
To exchange or substitute, putting one thing in place of another.
“change” in this verse is yemirennu. Hebrew repeats the verb for exchange, foregrounding the act of substitution. The related noun תְּמוּרָה (temurah, “substitute” or “exchange”) shows that the replacement belongs to the same word family; here the exchange attaches consecration to both animals instead of transferring it from one to the other.
ALSO GROWS
hemir: To exchange or substitute.
הֵמִיר
This verb names the act the verse says cannot undo the animal’s set-apart status.
temurah: A substitute or exchange.
תְּמוּרָה
The noun names the replacement itself, which the verse includes alongside the original in the consecration.
יִגָּאֵל
yiggāʾēl
GROWS FROM
גָּאַל
ga'al
To reclaim or redeem; in some settings, to reclaim as a near kinsman.
“redeemed” in this verse is yiggāʾēl. The closing word comes from a reclaiming root; גֹּאֵל (go’el, “kinsman-redeemer”) names one who reclaims on behalf of family. The verse closes that route too: neither animal can be reclaimed from its set-apart status.
ALSO GROWS
go’el: A kinsman-redeemer or one who reclaims.
גֹּאֵל
This branch makes the reclaiming sense of “redeemed” visible in the verse’s final boundary.
ge’ullah: Redemption or reclamation.
גְּאֻלָּה
This noun names the act the verse says cannot return either animal from consecration.
THE PATTERN
A designation as belonging to God is not undone by a later change in value, form, or circumstance.
He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.THE THREAD
He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.Both verses use מוּר (mur, “exchange or substitute”) for the attempted change. Leviticus 27:10 makes explicit what 27:33 compresses: exchanging one animal for another does not move the consecration; both remain set apart.
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