What Does Leviticus 3:1 Mean in the King James?
And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before 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
What KJV calls a peace offering is שְׁלָמִים (shelamim, wholeness offering), brought near as an animal that must itself be תָּמִים (tamim, whole and sound).
THE MEANING
The verse presents wholeness as a concrete gift brought near: an animal from the herd, male or female, offered before the LORD without blemish. Its name, שְׁלָמִים (shelamim, peace offering), meets the condition תָּמִים (tamim, whole and sound).
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that calling something a gift of wholeness makes the gift itself whole: the verse requires the offering to be without blemish.
THE ROOT
שְׁלָמִים
shelamim
GROWS FROM
שלם
To be whole or complete; in related forms, to make whole or repay.
שְׁלָמִים (shelamim, peace offering) carries the same root as שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness). Its name points beyond calm or lack of conflict: the offering belongs to the language of wholeness, and the verse requires that wholeness to be visible in what is brought.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being
שָׁלוֹם
The same root names the wholeness carried by this offering.
shalem: Whole, complete
שָׁלֵם
This form makes the root’s sense of completeness explicit.
shillem: Repaid, recompensed
שִׁלֵּם
The root also carries the sense of making good or bringing something to completion.
קָרְבָּנוֹ
qorbano
GROWS FROM
קרב
To approach or draw near.
“oblation” in this verse is qorbano. קָרְבָּנוֹ (qorbano, his offering) comes from the language of drawing near. The gift is not merely an object; it is what is brought near before the LORD, so approach and wholeness meet in this verse.
ALSO GROWS
qarav: Approach, come near
קָרַב
This verb shows the action underneath the word for offering.
qarov: Near, close
קָרוֹב
The same root describes closeness, revealing nearness within the act of giving.
תָּמִים
tamim
GROWS FROM
תמם
To be complete, whole, or finished.
“Without blemish” is תָּמִים (tamim, whole and sound), from a different root than שְׁלָמִים (shelamim, peace offering). The two roots meet in meaning: the offering named for wholeness is itself required to be whole.
ALSO GROWS
tamim: Whole, sound, without defect
תָּמִים
This is the form used in the verse for the required condition of the offering.
tom: Integrity, completeness
תֹּם
This noun carries the root’s sense of wholeness into the quality of integrity.
tamam: Be complete, come to an end
תָּמַם
The verb reveals the root’s movement toward completion.
THE PATTERN
Wholeness becomes visible through an intact gift, shared life, and actions that bring people together.
And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning.Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;THE THREAD
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.Isaiah’s שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness) shares the root שלם (sh-l-m; shalam) with שְׁלָמִים (shelamim, peace offerings). The verse places that wholeness beside healing, opening the offering’s name toward restoration.
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