What Does Proverbs 21:27 Mean in the King James?
The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?
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
An offering does not cleanse the intent behind it; it reveals what that intent is.
THE MEANING
A sacred-looking act cannot make a crooked intention whole. When you bring an offering while carrying a wicked design, the verse calls the act detestable; when that design is deliberate, the contradiction cuts deeper.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a devotional act can cover or cancel a deliberately harmful intent.
THE ROOT
זֶבַח
zevach
GROWS FROM
זבח
z-b-ḥ
To slaughter; to sacrifice or offer.
The root keeps the sacrifice tied to a concrete act of offering, rather than letting it become an abstract religious gesture. Its connection to the altar makes the place and act part of one word-family: what is brought there still carries the nature of the one bringing it.
ALSO GROWS
zāvaḥ: To slaughter or sacrifice.
זָבַח
The verb shows that the noun names an act, with a bringer and something brought.
mizbēaḥ: Altar, the place of sacrifice.
מִזְבֵּחַ
Its name comes from the same root, linking the altar to the act performed there.
בְּזִמָּה
b'zimmah
GROWS FROM
זמם
z-m-m
To devise or plan.
“wicked mind” in this verse is b'zimmah. The Hebrew phrase points to a devised scheme, not merely a passing bad mood. The verse says the offering is detestable already, and more so when it is brought with a wicked plan behind it.
ALSO GROWS
zāmam: To devise or plan.
זָמַם
The verb emphasizes intention formed into a plan, sharpening the verse’s focus on what lies behind the offering.
zimmah: A plan or scheme, often wicked.
זִמָּה
This noun is the form used in the verse; it makes the added wrong deliberate rather than accidental.
THE PATTERN
A sacred offering cannot hide an intention or way of life that contradicts the devotion it performs.
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.THE THREAD
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.“Sacrifices” here is זִבְחֵי (zivḥê, sacrifices), from זבח (z-b-ḥ, to slaughter or offer), the same root as “sacrifice” in Proverbs. The shared root opens a contrast: one offering carries a wicked scheme, while the other names a broken and contrite heart.
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