What Does Leviticus 4:31 Mean in the King James?
And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the LORD; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
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
The same altar pattern that serves the offering of wholeness also frames the covering that ends in pardon.
THE MEANING
The passage holds the reader inside a concrete sequence: the fat is removed, the altar receives it, and the person is pardoned. The peace offering gives this act a frame of wholeness, keeping fault and pardon within the same ritual pattern.
THE ROOT
וְכִפֶּר
ve-khipper
GROWS FROM
כפר
kaphar
cover; make a covering
The verb rendered “make an atonement” grows from the root meaning cover. The verse then uses a separate root for the person’s pardon, placing the covering act and its outcome together without treating them as the same word.
ALSO GROWS
kapporet: the cover over the ark
כַּפֹּרֶת
This branch makes the root’s image of covering tangible.
kippurim: coverings; acts of atonement
כִּפֻּרִים
This related form carries the same covering language as the act named in the verse.
שְׁלָמִים
shelamim
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
be whole or complete; bring to completion
The Hebrew behind “peace offerings” comes from the root of wholeness. The fat in this offering is handled by the same pattern, so the verse places pardon within the ritual language of wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: wholeness; well-being
שָׁלוֹם
This familiar branch makes the wholeness carried by the offering explicit.
shalem: whole; complete
שָׁלֵם
This form links the offering’s name to being complete.
וְנִסְלַח לוֹ
ve-nislach lo
GROWS FROM
סלח
salach
pardon; forgive
“forgiven” in this verse is ve-nislach lo. The final verb comes from a root distinct from the one for covering. The sequence is precise: the covering act is named first, and pardon is then stated as the person’s outcome.
ALSO GROWS
salach: to pardon; forgive
סָלַח
This is the verb root behind the verse’s declaration of forgiveness.
selichah: pardon; forgiveness
סְלִיחָה
This related noun carries the same language of pardon into a named state or act.
THE PATTERN
When what stands against a person is covered or removed, the text names pardon as a real release.
And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.THE THREAD
And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.Isaiah uses the same covering root rendered “atonement” here when the text says the sin is “purged.” Across both verses, covering and removal meet in the movement toward pardon.
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