What Does Leviticus 7:31 Mean in the King James?
And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar: but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’.
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 offering becomes both altar smoke and human food: its sacred order makes room for both.
THE MEANING
The fat is burned on the altar, while the breast becomes Aaron’s and his sons’ portion. Sacred giving here does not mean everything disappears; the offering is divided between the altar and the household that serves it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the assumption that what belongs to God must be removed from human provision: the altar receives one part, and the priestly household receives another.
THE ROOT
וְהִקְטִיר
wehiqṭîr
GROWS FROM
קטר
To make smoke; in offerings, to burn something so its smoke rises.
The word translated “burn” carries the sense of making smoke. The same root connects the fat on the altar with incense, so the verse describes not mere destruction but a portion transformed into rising smoke, alongside a portion kept as food.
ALSO GROWS
qetoret: Incense
קְטֹרֶת
Incense is made to smoke from the same root, linking the fat’s altar portion to the language of fragrant offerings.
miqṭār: Incense altar or burner
מִקְטָר
This related word names the place or instrument for incense smoke, showing how the root extends from the act of making smoke to its ritual setting.
THE PATTERN
Offerings can honor the altar and provide for the people who serve there.
And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance.Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?THE THREAD
And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the LORD.The verb translated “burn” comes from the same root as the verb in Leviticus 6:15, where flour, oil, and frankincense are made to smoke on the altar. The shared root ties the fat’s altar portion to a wider language of offerings made to rise as smoke, while this verse also names the portion kept for Aaron’s household.
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