What Does Leviticus 3:2 Mean in the King James?

And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.

Leviticus 3:2 · 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 word translated “offering” carries the idea of drawing near, and the hand on its head makes that approach bodily before blood reaches the altar.

THE MEANING

The verse places you at the threshold: a hand rests on the offering’s head, its life is taken, and its blood is cast around the altar. Drawing near is given bodily form, carrying contact, death, and blood into the place of encounter.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It unsettles the belief that drawing near is weightless or purely inward: here, approach involves touch, blood, and cost.

THE ROOT

קָרְבָּנוֹ

qorbano

GROWS FROM

קָרַב

To approach, come near, or bring near.

The word rendered “offering” here is qorban, from the root for coming near or bringing near. Hebrew keeps the approach inside the offering’s name: the worshiper draws near through what is brought near.

ALSO GROWS

qarab: To draw near; to approach.

קָרַב

This verb names the movement inside the offering’s root: the offering belongs to an act of approach.

qarov: Near; close.

קָרוֹב

The same word family makes nearness the shared idea behind what is brought to the altar.

וְסָמַךְ

vesamakh

GROWS FROM

סָמַךְ

To lean upon, support, or place against.

“lay his hand” in this verse is vesamakh. The verb translated “lay” belongs to a root that also means lean or support. The hand-on-head gesture carries the sense of resting upon what is offered, not merely passing over it.

ALSO GROWS

somekh: One who supports or upholds.

סוֹמֵךְ

The same root can describe support, giving the hand’s placement a sense of weight-bearing contact.

samukh: Supported; stayed upon.

סָמוּךְ

The root can describe something resting upon another, echoing the hand set upon the offering.

THE PATTERN

Drawing near takes bodily form: what is brought near is touched, given, and presented at the place of encounter.

And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

Leviticus 1:4 · KJVThe worshiper’s hand rests on the offering before it is presented, making approach a bodily act.

And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock.

Exodus 29:10 · KJVThe same hand-on-head gesture accompanies the bringing of an animal to the tent’s entrance.

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.

Hebrews 10:22 · KJVThe language of drawing near remains connected to the body and to the image of sprinkling.

THE THREAD

The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.

Psalm 145:14 · KJV

The Hebrew root ⁨סָמַךְ⁩ (samakh, to lean or support) supplies both the verb translated “lay” in Leviticus and the word translated “upholdeth” here. That shared root brings the sense of support into the hand resting on the offering.

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