What Does Numbers 16:47 Mean in the King James?
And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
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 verb translated “made an atonement” comes from כפר, “to cover”, so the verse pictures a covering made while the plague is already moving among the people.
THE MEANING
Harm is already moving among the people, and a covering is made in their midst. The verse holds danger and protection in the same moment, with Aaron entering the exposed center.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
“Once harm has begun, protection is already too late.”
THE ROOT
וַיְכַפֵּר
vayekapper
GROWS FROM
כפר
k-p-r
to cover, to cover over
The verb translated “made an atonement” comes from כפר (k-p-r), “to cover.” The same root names the pitch that seals Noah’s ark and appears in כִּפֻּר (kippur), “atonement”; here, covering is an act carried out while danger is active.
ALSO GROWS
kōpher: Pitch; sealing material
כֹּפֶר
In Genesis 6:14, this root names the pitch used to seal the ark, making the idea of covering concrete and protective.
kippur: Atonement; covering
כִּפֻּר
This word carries the same root into the language of atonement, which Numbers pictures as being made for the people during the outbreak.
THE PATTERN
When destruction threatens a people, protection appears as a sign or presence set between them and the force.
And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.THE THREAD
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.The Hebrew behind “pitch” uses the same כפר (k-p-r) root as “made an atonement” in Numbers. Genesis shows the root sealing a vessel against floodwater; Numbers shows it covering people while the plague is underway.
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