What Does Numbers 6:17 Mean in the King James?
And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink 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
The word translated “peace” carries the sense of wholeness, so this offering is named for restoration, not merely quiet.
THE MEANING
Here, wholeness takes material shape: a ram, unleavened bread, grain, and drink all enter one offering to the LORD. The priest gathers these distinct gifts into a single act, holding well-being together with the things that sustain bodily life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Wholeness is only an inward feeling, detached from the body and its material life.
THE ROOT
שְׁלָמִים
shelamim
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
To be whole or complete; to make whole or bring to completion.
“peace offerings” in this verse is shelamim. שְׁלָמִים (shelamim, wholeness offerings) is built from the same three consonants as שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness). English “peace” can sound like the absence of conflict, while this root also carries the sense of being complete and making good; the offering’s name places the ram within that wider language of wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being
שָׁלוֹם
This is the familiar branch behind “peace”; it opens the offering’s name to a fuller sense of well-being.
shalem: Whole, complete
שָׁלֵם
This branch makes the root’s sense of completeness explicit, showing the depth beneath the English word “peace.”
shillem: Make good, repay
שִׁלֵּם
The same root can describe making good what is owed, linking wholeness with something settled or restored.
THE PATTERN
Wholeness becomes visible when material gifts and divided relationships are gathered into shared life.
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?THE THREAD
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.Isaiah uses שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness), from the same שלם (sh-l-m, wholeness and completion) root carried by שְׁלָמִים (shelamim, wholeness offerings). The shared root opens this offering into a line where wholeness is bound to wounding and healing.
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