What Does Numbers 18:14 Mean in the King James?
Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.
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 word translated “devoted” marks a boundary: what leaves ordinary claim becomes Aaron’s portion, while the same word can also name what is banned for destruction.
THE MEANING
The verse names a transfer: everything marked as devoted in Israel falls within Aaron’s share. The Hebrew word for “devoted,” ḥērem (חֵרֶם), means something placed under a ban or set apart, and the same root can describe what is handed over to destruction. The sentence holds priestly provision and severe exclusion within one word.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that “devoted” only means a benign sacred gift; the word can also mark something banned for destruction.
THE ROOT
חֵרֶם
ḥērem
GROWS FROM
חרם
To place under a ban, devote, or set apart beyond ordinary claim; in some contexts, to devote to destruction.
“devoted” in this verse is ḥērem. The root חרם binds dedication to prohibition: something set apart is no longer ordinary property, though its destination may be sacred use or destruction. Here, what is removed from common claim becomes Aaron’s portion, while the word retains its severe edge.
ALSO GROWS
ḥērem: A thing placed under a ban or set apart.
חֵרֶם
This noun is the word in the verse; it makes “devoted” a status that changes who may claim the thing.
ḥāram: To ban or devote, sometimes to destruction.
חָרַם
This verb shows that setting something apart can carry a consequence as severe as removal from life or ordinary use.
THE PATTERN
What is set apart leaves ordinary claim, and its designated relation determines whether it sustains sacred service or is placed under judgment.
Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD.And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.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
Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD.Leviticus repeats the Hebrew noun for a devoted thing, ḥērem (חֵרֶם), and makes plain that it cannot be sold or redeemed. That same root opens Numbers 18:14 as a transfer of what is wholly set apart into Aaron’s portion.
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