What Does Numbers 29:20 Mean in the King James?
And on the third day eleven bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish;
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 verse ends its exact count with תְּמִימִם (temimim, whole and complete): what English calls “without blemish” also names wholeness.
THE MEANING
On this third day the count is exact: eleven bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year lambs. Across the surrounding sequence, the bull count drops by one each day while the rams and lambs remain at two and fourteen. The closing words name the lambs as whole and complete.
THE ROOT
תְּמִימִם
temimim
GROWS FROM
תמם
tamam
To be whole or complete; to reach completion.
The phrase “without blemish” carries the broader sense of tamim: whole, complete, sound. This root also yields language for integrity, so the verse’s closing description holds the lambs within a word of wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
tam: Whole, complete, blameless.
תָּם
The same root describes a person as whole, showing that tamim carries a quality of integrity as well as soundness.
tom: Integrity, completeness.
תֹּם
This noun shows the root’s range as wholeness of character, deepening the verse’s description beyond physical soundness.
THE PATTERN
The offering is counted in detail and marked as whole.
And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish:And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:THE THREAD
And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.The word rendered “perfect” is תָּמִים (tamim, whole or complete), from the same root as the lambs’ description here. Numbers names the lambs as whole; Leviticus uses that same word-family to describe an offering fit to be accepted.
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