What Does Numbers 16:7 Mean in the King James?
And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
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 one set apart is the one the LORD chooses, not the one who claims the place.
THE MEANING
The verse puts sacred standing under the LORD’s choice: the one chosen is set apart, while the sons of Levi are charged with taking too much upon themselves. Nearness to sacred things does not erase the line between being chosen and claiming more authority. The accusation remains sharp: overreach can exist inside a sacred role.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A sacred role proves every further claim I make is right. The verse breaks that certainty by placing the choice with the LORD and naming the Levites’ overreach.
THE ROOT
הַקָּדוֹשׁ
haqqādôsh
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
Set apart; consecrate.
Beneath the familiar word “holy” is the concrete sense of being set apart. The same root appears in words for set-apartness and the set-apart place; here, the LORD’s choice marks the man as set apart, while the accusation against the Levites names the danger of claiming more.
ALSO GROWS
qōdesh: Set-apartness; holiness.
קֹדֶשׁ
It names the state expressed by “holy,” showing that the verse concerns a distinct standing, not merely a description.
miqdāsh: Sanctuary; set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
The same root reaches from a person set apart to a place set apart, linking the chosen man with the sacred space he approaches.
יִבְחַר
yivḥar
GROWS FROM
בחר
b-ḥ-r
Choose; select.
“choose” in this verse is yivḥar. The verse assigns the choosing to the LORD: the man’s distinction comes from the chooser, not from his own claim. The root’s branches keep that sense of selection visible, placing authority with the one who chooses.
ALSO GROWS
bāḥîr: Chosen one; choice one.
בָּחִיר
It carries the act of choosing into the identity of the one selected.
mibḥār: Choice; the best or select portion.
מִבְחָר
It shows the root’s sense of selection extending to what is singled out as choice.
THE PATTERN
Sacred standing comes through God’s choosing, while nearness to the sacred carries accountability rather than entitlement.
Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.THE THREAD
Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.“Holy” here and “sanctified” in Leviticus share the Hebrew root קדש (q-d-sh), meaning set apart. Leviticus sharpens the warning: the LORD’s set-apartness is revealed among those who come near, so nearness does not make self-assertion safe.
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