What Does Numbers 7:42 Mean in the King James?
On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered:
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’s gift is a drawing near, while its “prince” is a raised one whose root also means to bear.
THE MEANING
This verse gives nearness a concrete shape: the offering comes through a representative named for the people. The title “prince” carries both the sense of being raised and of bearing, so the approach unfolds within a shared life.
THE ROOT
קָרְבָּנוֹ
qorbānō
GROWS FROM
קרב
Draw near; approach.
The Hebrew noun for “his offering” appears in the next line, where the KJV’s “offered” anticipates it. Its root makes the gift itself an approach: what is brought carries nearness in its name.
ALSO GROWS
qarav: Draw near; approach.
קָרַב
This verb names the movement held inside the offering.
qarov: Near; close.
קָרוֹב
The same root links the act of bringing an offering with the state of being near.
qorbān: Offering; that which is brought near.
קָרְבָּן
This is the noun behind the offering in the following line.
נְשִׂיא
nasi
GROWS FROM
נשא
Lift, carry, bear.
The title translated “prince” comes from a root that also means to lift and bear. English preserves the elevated rank; the root also lets the title open toward the weight carried within leadership.
ALSO GROWS
nasa: Lift, carry, bear.
נָשָׂא
This root gives the title “prince” its sense of being raised and bearing.
massa: A load or burden.
מַשָּׂא
This branch makes the root’s sense of bearing tangible.
THE PATTERN
Scripture uses nearness both for the gift brought toward God and for the person approaching God.
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.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 Hebrew word for “draw near” here and the word for offering grow from the same root, קרב. The shared seed holds the gift and the movement of approaching together.
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