What Does Leviticus 9:12 Mean in the King James?
And he slew the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled round about upon the altar.
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 not merely displayed after the offering is killed: the Hebrew verb says it is cast onto and around the altar.
THE MEANING
The verse holds the sequence before you: the offering is slaughtered, its blood is brought forward, and the blood is cast around the altar. The offering’s death is followed by the blood’s deliberate movement across the altar’s perimeter, making the life of the offering visible there.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The offering is complete the moment it is killed.
THE ROOT
וַיִּזְרְקֵהוּ
vayizreqehu
GROWS FROM
זרק
z-r-q
to throw, cast, or sprinkle
The root carries the force of casting, so the blood’s movement is active and directed. English “sprinkled” can sound like a light scattering; the Hebrew connects it to throwing blood onto and around the altar.
ALSO GROWS
lizroq: to throw or cast
לִזְרֹק
This verb form makes the force in the root clear: the blood is cast onto the altar.
mizraq: a basin used for the altar service
מִזְרָק
This vessel’s name comes from the same root, linking the act of casting blood with the tool used in that ritual.
הַמִּזְבֵּחַ
hamizbeach
GROWS FROM
זבח
z-b-ḥ
to slaughter an animal in sacrifice
The Hebrew word for altar grows from the root for sacrificial slaughter. The killing and the altar are therefore held in one word-family: the altar is named by the act that gives this scene its purpose.
ALSO GROWS
zevach: a sacrifice or sacrificial offering
זֶבַח
The branch names the offering whose blood is being brought to the altar.
zoveach: one who sacrifices or slaughters
זֹבֵחַ
This branch names the agent of the slaughter, connecting the altar to the act carried out in the verse.
THE PATTERN
Blood carries the meaning of life into God’s presence, where it is treated as more than a sign of death.
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.THE THREAD
For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.This verse states the connection beneath the scene: the life of the flesh is in the blood, and that blood is given upon the altar. It makes the blood cast around the altar more than what remains after the animal’s death; it is the offering’s life made visible there.
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