What Does Numbers 28:3 Mean in the King James?

And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the LORD; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering.

Numbers 28:3 · 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 daily offering is both a drawing near and an ascent: what is brought whole is named by its rising.

THE MEANING

The verse gives a daily form to what is brought before the LORD: two first-year lambs, without spot, offered by fire as a continual burnt offering. Its words hold together bringing near, wholeness, and rising.

THE ROOT

תַּקְרִיבוּ

taqrîvû

GROWS FROM

קרב

Approach, come near; in this verb form, bring near.

The verb translated “offer” carries the sense of bringing near. Its branches connect an offering with nearness, so the act is framed as approach as well as presentation.

ALSO GROWS

qorbān: Offering; a drawing near.

קָרְבָּן

The noun for an offering comes from the same root, making the offering an act of approach.

qārōḇ: Near, close.

קָרוֹב

This branch makes the root’s nearness plain: to offer is to bring something close.

עֹלָה

ʿōlāh

GROWS FROM

עלה

Go up, ascend.

The name of the burnt offering is also the word for an ascent. The verse holds fire and rising together in the name of what is offered.

ALSO GROWS

ʿālāh: To go up, ascend.

עָלָה

This verb is the root’s basic movement and reveals the image inside “burnt offering.”

maʿălāh: Ascent, upward step.

מַעֲלָה

This noun preserves the upward movement carried by the offering’s name.

תְּמִימִם

temimim

GROWS FROM

תמם

Be complete, whole, intact.

The condition rendered “without spot” comes from a root of completeness. The lamb is described as whole and unblemished, so wholeness belongs to the offering’s stated form.

ALSO GROWS

tām: Whole, complete, blameless.

תָּם

This branch shows the root’s sense of completeness behind the lamb’s condition.

tōm: Integrity, completeness.

תֹּם

This noun carries the same idea of wholeness into the description of integrity.

THE PATTERN

Scripture carries offering as a recurring rhythm that can take the form of daily sacrifice, prayer, or embodied life.

Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually.

Exodus 29:38 · KJVThe same two yearling lambs are named as an offering day after day, making the continual rhythm explicit.

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 take the place of incense and evening sacrifice, carrying the offering-image into speech and posture.

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 offering-image takes the form of embodied life presented as a living sacrifice.

THE THREAD

If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.

Leviticus 1:3 · KJV

Leviticus names the burnt offering ⁨עֹלָה⁩ (ʿōlāh, ascent) and the unblemished animal ⁨תָּמִים⁩ (tāmîm, whole), echoing the roots in Numbers. Its ⁨קָרְבָּנוֹ⁩ (qorbānô, his offering; drawing near) shares the root behind “shall offer,” bringing nearness, rising, and wholeness together.

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