What Does Leviticus 1:2 Mean?
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, If anyone of you brings near a drawing near to the LORD, you shall bring near your drawing near from the cattle, from the herd and from the flock.
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
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.THE KEY
The word for “offering” shares its root with “draw near”: what is brought is also a movement toward closeness.
THE MEANING
Your approach is not described as an abstraction: the verse makes it tangible, with something brought near from the herd or flock. The Hebrew word for offering carries the same root as drawing near, binding what is given to the act of coming close.
THE ROOT
קָרְבָּן
qorbān
GROWS FROM
קרב
q-r-b
To approach, come near, or draw close.
“brings near” in this verse is qorbān. The Hebrew word קָרְבָּן (qorbān, “offering”) grows from the same root as the movement of coming near. English can make an offering sound like an object handed over; the root also holds the approach inside the gift.
ALSO GROWS
hiqriv: To bring near or present.
הִקְרִיב
This is the verb used for bringing the offering: the action and the offering share the root of approach.
qarov: Near or close.
קָרוֹב
This branch makes the root’s sense of nearness explicit, showing that the offering belongs to a language of closeness.
THE PATTERN
Drawing near to God is expressed as movement toward presence, not as an abstraction.
And Moses alone shall draw near to the LORD, but they shall not draw near, and the people shall not go up with him.But for me, drawing near to God is good; I have set my shelter in the Lord LORD, to recount all your works.Let us draw near with a true heart in the fullness of trust, our hearts sprinkled from a burdened shared sight, and our bodies bathed in clean waters.THE THREAD
But for me, drawing near to God is good; I have set my shelter in the Lord LORD, to recount all your works.Leviticus names the offering קָרְבָּן (qorbān, “offering”) from the root קרב (q-r-b), meaning to come near. Psalm 73:28 uses that same root for drawing near to God, revealing the nearness held within the offering’s name.
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