What Does Numbers 6:16 Mean in the King James?
And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:
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
What the KJV calls “offer” is rooted in bringing near, so the offering for missing and the ascending offering share one movement of approach.
THE MEANING
This verse shows an approach that brings both the missing and the ascending offering before the LORD. The missing is named within the same movement of nearness as the olah, the offering that rises.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that coming near to God requires hiding what is missing.
THE ROOT
וְהִקְרִיב
vehiq'riv
GROWS FROM
קרב
q-r-b
Approach; draw near.
The Hebrew verb translated “offer” means to bring near. The act described here is therefore an act of approach: what is missing and what rises are both brought before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
qarav: Approach; draw near.
קָרַב
This is the root action beneath the priest’s act of bringing the offerings near.
qorban: Offering; something brought near.
קָרְבָּן
The word for an offering shares the same root, joining the gift with the movement of approach.
qarov: Near; close.
קָרוֹב
This branch makes the root’s language of closeness audible inside the act of offering.
חַטָּאת
chatta't
GROWS FROM
חטא
ḥ-ṭ-ʾ
Miss; go wrong.
“sin offering” in this verse is chatta't. The offering’s name carries the language of missing within it. The text does not hide what has gone wrong; it brings it into the act of approaching.
ALSO GROWS
chata: Miss; go wrong.
חָטָא
The verb names the missing that the offering addresses.
chet: Missing; a failure or offense.
חֵטְא
This noun keeps the idea of missing connected to the sin offering named in the verse.
עֹלָה
olah
GROWS FROM
עלה
ʿ-l-h
Go up; ascend.
“burnt offering” in this verse is olah. The Hebrew name olah carries the sense of ascent alongside the offering’s burnt form. Together with the offering for missing, it gives the verse two movements held in one approach: what is brought near and what rises.
ALSO GROWS
ʿalah: Go up; ascend.
עָלָה
The verb names the upward movement carried by the offering’s name.
ʿaliyah: Ascent; going up.
עֲלִיָּה
This noun preserves the same movement of rising that the verse names in olah.
THE PATTERN
Nearness to God brings the worshiper’s condition into view as part of the approach.
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.But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.THE THREAD
But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.The root קרב (q-r-b, qarab) means “approach” or “bring near”; it lies beneath “offer” in Numbers and “draw near” here. Numbers shows offerings brought near, while the Psalm names nearness to God itself as good.
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