What Does Leviticus 4:4 Mean in the King James?

And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the LORD.

Leviticus 4:4 · 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

Before the bull’s life is taken, the offerer’s hand leans onto its head: the offering begins with bodily contact.

THE MEANING

You encounter an offering that cannot stay abstract: the bull is brought to the tent’s entrance, touched at the head, and killed before the LORD. The Hebrew verb behind “lay” can carry the sense of leaning or setting support upon something, so contact comes before death. The verse leaves the hand’s exact meaning unstated and holds the physical act in view.

THE ROOT

וְסָמַךְ

wəsāmak

GROWS FROM

סמך

to support, lean upon, or rest against

“lay his hand” in this verse is wəsāmak. The English “lay” can sound like a simple placement, but the root carries the sense of leaning or support. The offerer’s hand rests on the bull before its life is taken, making contact the first visible act of the offering; this verse does not say exactly what that contact means.

ALSO GROWS

semikhah: laying on of hands

סְמִיכָה

This related form keeps the physical gesture visible: a hand placed upon another is a deliberate point of contact.

samukh: near, adjacent

סָמוּךְ

This related form brings out the nearness implied by leaning against something: the offerer is not distant from the offering.

THE PATTERN

Laying hands makes a relation visible through bodily contact, whether it marks an offering, bears what is spoken over it, or accompanies reception.

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 same Hebrew root ⁨סמך⁩ (sāmak, to lean or rest upon) places the offerer’s hand on the animal before the offering is accepted.

And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:

Leviticus 16:21 · KJVThe hand-on-head gesture accompanies words placed upon the goat, making the relation between the people and the animal explicit.

Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

Acts 8:17 · KJVHere too, hands are laid upon people as part of a visible act that accompanies reception of the Set-Apart Breath.

THE THREAD

And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:

Leviticus 16:21 · KJV

The same Hebrew root, ⁨סמך⁩ (sāmak, to lean or rest upon), describes the hand placed on the goat. Leviticus 16 explicitly names what is placed upon it, while Leviticus 4 shows the same bodily contact before the bull is killed without stating what the hand signifies.

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