What Does Leviticus 1:14 Mean?
And if his drawing near to the LORD is a rising offering from the birds, he shall bring near his drawing near from the turtledoves or from the young of the dove.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.THE KEY
The offering is both brought near and named as an ascent: the bird approaches, and the olah rises.
THE MEANING
This verse holds nearness and ascent together: the bird is brought near to the LORD, and the offering’s name carries the sense of rising. Even turtledoves and young pigeons have a place in that approach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that only a large animal can be brought near is undone here: birds, too, are named as offerings to the LORD.
THE ROOT
עֹלָה
ʿōlāh
GROWS FROM
עלה
ʿ-l-h
to go up, rise, ascend
“rising offering” in this verse is ʿōlāh. ʿŌlāh carries the sense of an ascent. The offering is named not only by what it is, but by its movement upward.
ALSO GROWS
ʿālāh: to go up, rise, ascend
עָלָה
This is the verb behind ʿōlāh, making the offering’s upward movement audible in its name.
ʿăliyyāh: ascent, going up
עֲלִיָּה
This related noun keeps the same movement of rising that shapes the offering.
קָרְבָּן
qorbān
GROWS FROM
קרב
q-r-b
to approach, draw near
“drawing near” in this verse is qorbān. Qorbān carries the sense of what is brought near. The verse joins that nearness to the ascent of ʿōlāh: the bird is brought near, and the offering rises.
ALSO GROWS
qārab: to approach, draw near
קָרַב
This verb reveals the approach contained in the word for offering.
qārōb: near, close
קָרוֹב
The related word for nearness shows the shared root’s movement toward closeness.
THE PATTERN
What is offered is carried into nearness through a movement of ascent.
And Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean beast and of every clean bird, and sent up rising offerings on the altar.Let my prayer be set before you as smoke, and the lifting of my palms as the evening offering.Therefore I urge you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to set your bodies beside God as a living sacrifice, set apart, well-pleasing to him, which is your true service.THE THREAD
And Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean beast and of every clean bird, and sent up rising offerings on the altar.The Hebrew word for “burnt offerings” here is עֹלוֹת (ʿōlōt), the plural of עֹלָה (ʿōlāh), meaning “ascent.” The same word gathers clean beasts and fowl under one movement, so the creature changes while the offering’s upward direction remains.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us