What Does Leviticus 4:6 Mean in the King James?
And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the LORD, before the vail of the sanctuary.
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 blood is placed before the LORD’s presence and at the veil’s face, directing the ritual to the very boundary of presence.
THE MEANING
You meet a threshold here: the blood is applied in a counted rhythm before the LORD and at the veil. Hebrew turns the scene toward a face twice, the LORD’s presence and the veil’s surface, so nearness and separation hold together.
THE ROOT
לִפְנֵי
lifnei
GROWS FROM
פנה
p-n-h
to turn toward; to face
English repeats “before” as if it named only a location. Hebrew first says lifnei YHWH, “before the face or presence of the LORD,” then names penei paroket, “the face of the veil”: the act is oriented toward presence and boundary at once.
ALSO GROWS
panim: face; presence
פָּנִים
The phrase “before the LORD” is built on the word for face or presence, giving the act a relational orientation.
penei: face or surface of
פְּנֵי
The veil also has a “face,” placing the sprinkling at its facing surface rather than treating it only as distant architecture.
panah: turn; face toward
פָּנָה
The root’s verbal sense makes “before” an orientation toward presence, not merely a position in time.
THE PATTERN
Scripture frames approach to divine presence through the language of facing, even where a veil marks the boundary.
And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.THE THREAD
And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.“My presence” here is פָּנִים (panim), face or presence, the same Hebrew word-family carried by “before the LORD” in Leviticus 4:6. That connection opens the scene further: divine presence is not only where the act happens, but a presence that goes with you.
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
