What Does Leviticus 8:28 Mean in the King James?

And Moses took them from off their hands, and burnt them on the altar upon the burnt offering: they were consecrations for a sweet savour: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Leviticus 8:28 · 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 “consecrations” means “fillings”: what fills the hands is the very thing released onto the altar.

THE MEANING

The hands are where receiving turns into release. The verse calls the set-apart portions “fillings”: what fills the hands passes into fire and rises as an aroma to the LORD.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This undoes the belief that being set apart means keeping something untouched: here, what is set apart reaches the altar through release from the hands.

THE ROOT

מִלֻּאִים

millu'im

GROWS FROM

מלא

m-l-ʾ

to fill, be full

English “consecrations” can sound like a status bestowed; ⁨מִלֻּאִים⁩ (millu’im, “fillings”) belongs to the root ⁨מלא⁩ (m-l-ʾ, “to fill, be full”). Here, the hands are filled with a portion, then that fullness is released onto the altar: being set apart is pictured as a transfer, not a label.

ALSO GROWS

male: to fill; be full

מָלֵא

The root names the filling action behind the portions held in the hands.

melo: fullness

מְלֹא

This branch makes the hidden sense of “consecrations” visible as something that fills.

millu'im: fillings; an ordination offering

מִלֻּאִים

This is the word in the verse: the offering is named through the filling that marks the setting apart.

עֹלָה

olah

GROWS FROM

עלה

ʿ-l-h

to go up, ascend

The Hebrew name ⁨עֹלָה⁩ (olah, “ascending offering”) comes from ⁨עלה⁩ (ʿ-l-h, “to go up, ascend”). “Burnt offering” foregrounds what happens in the fire; the Hebrew name also gives its direction: what leaves the hands rises toward the LORD.

ALSO GROWS

alah: to go up; ascend

עָלָה

This is the motion carried by the offering’s name.

aliyah: ascent; going up

עֲלִיָּה

The related noun echoes the upward movement expressed by ⁨עֹלָה⁩ (olah, “ascending offering”).

THE PATTERN

What is held becomes an offering when it is yielded before God.

And thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the LORD.

Exodus 29:24 · KJVWhat is placed in their hands is presented before the LORD as an offering.

Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Psalm 141:2 · KJVPrayer and lifted hands become an offering rising before God.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Romans 12:1 · KJVThe body itself is presented as a living offering.

THE THREAD

And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD: and it shall be thy part.

Exodus 29:26 · KJV

“Consecration” here also translates ⁨מִלֻּאִים⁩ (millu’im, “fillings”), from ⁨מלא⁩ (m-l-ʾ, “to fill, be full”). The hands are filled with portions, and the breast is waved before the LORD; the shared root reveals consecration as fullness presented.

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