What Does Numbers 9:3 Mean in the King James?
In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.
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 “appointed season” is a moed, a set time for meeting, so the timing is part of the observance, not just its backdrop.
THE MEANING
Here, an observance has both an appointed time and a prescribed form. The Hebrew verb translated “keep” is repeated as “do it,” making the practice an act to be carried out, not merely a rule to preserve.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the idea that an observance can be improvised or detached from its appointed time and form.
THE ROOT
מוֹעֲדוֹ
moʿado
GROWS FROM
י־ע־ד
y-ʿ-d
To appoint or designate; to set a time or place for meeting.
“appointed season” in this verse is moʿado. Moed carries the sense of an appointed time and a meeting. The verse makes the timing part of the observance itself: the practice happens at its set meeting-time.
ALSO GROWS
moʿed: An appointed time, meeting, or festival.
מוֹעֵד
It shows that the “season” is a designated occasion, not merely a date on a calendar.
yaʿad: To appoint or designate.
יָעַד
This verb reveals the act of setting the occasion that gives the observance its time.
תַּעֲשׂוּ
taʿasu
GROWS FROM
ע־שׂ־ה
ʿ-s-h
To do or make.
The same verb appears twice, though English renders it both times as “keep.” The Hebrew presents the observance as something done at its appointed time, making its keeping an enacted practice.
ALSO GROWS
ʿasah: To do or make.
עָשָׂה
This is the action repeated in the verse: the observance is carried out.
maʿaseh: A deed or work.
מַעֲשֶׂה
This related noun keeps the emphasis on action: the observance takes shape through what is done.
חֻקֹּתָיו
ḥuqqotav
GROWS FROM
ח־ק־ק
ḥ-q-q
To inscribe or prescribe; to mark out a fixed form.
The word translated “rites” belongs to a root associated with inscribing or prescribing. The observance has a marked-out shape, joined to the appointed time rather than left open-ended.
ALSO GROWS
ḥoq: A statute, prescription, or fixed portion.
חֹק
It shows that the observance follows a prescribed form.
ḥuqqah: A prescribed practice or ordinance.
חֻקָּה
This form appears in the Passover ordinance in Exodus, linking the rite to an established pattern.
THE PATTERN
A remembrance becomes a shared practice when its appointed time and prescribed form are held together.
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:THE THREAD
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.Numbers calls the Passover’s form its ḥuqqot, while Exodus calls the feast a ḥuqqah. The shared root links the detailed practice to the enduring pattern of the observance.
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