What Does Numbers 4:13 Mean in the King James?
And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:
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
Sacred readiness begins by clearing away what the fire has spent, then spreading a covering over what remains.
THE MEANING
The verse holds a precise sequence: the altar’s ashes are removed, then purple cloth is spread over it. What the fire has left is cleared before the altar is covered, joining removal with shelter.
THE ROOT
וּפָרְשׂוּ
u-farsu
GROWS FROM
פרשׂ
P-R-S
Spread out or extend across a surface.
The root carries the sense of extending something across space, as with wings spread over young or a sail opened to the wind. The cloth spans the altar; it does more than touch its surface.
ALSO GROWS
paras: Spread out; extend across.
פָּרַשׂ
This is the verb used for spreading the cloth over the altar.
mifras: Sail; a surface spread to catch the wind.
מִפְרָשׂ
The sail makes the root’s sense of an extended surface tangible.
וְדִשְּׁנוּ
wə-dishshenu
GROWS FROM
דשן
D-Sh-N
Grow fat, rich, or luxuriant; in this verb form, clear the altar’s ashes.
The verb translated “take away the ashes” comes from a root whose other forms name fatness and flourishing. English makes the residue sound like mere waste, while Hebrew keeps it in a word-family that also carries the sense of abundance.
ALSO GROWS
deshen: Fatness, richness; also altar ashes.
דֶּשֶׁן
The noun names both abundance and the residue cleared from the altar.
dashen: Grow fat; flourish.
דָּשֵׁן
This branch preserves the root’s sense of richness alongside the act of clearing.
THE PATTERN
A covering is an extended surface that shelters what lies beneath it.
And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers’ skins.He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!THE THREAD
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:The verb translated “spread” here comes from the same root as the verb for spreading the cloth over the altar. Deuteronomy uses it for an eagle spreading its wings over its young, so the word holds an image of something extended across what it shelters.
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