What Does Leviticus 1:7 Mean?
And the sons of Aaron the priest shall set fire upon the altar, and arrange the wood upon the fire.
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 the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:THE KEY
The Hebrew verb for laying the wood “in order” also describes preparing a table, joining altar and table through a language of purposeful setting.
THE MEANING
The scene stays physical: fire is placed on the altar, and wood is arranged over it. The offering takes shape through a concrete sequence of placement and preparation.
THE ROOT
וְעָרְכוּ
wəʿārəkhû
GROWS FROM
ערך
Arrange, set in order, prepare.
“arrange the wood” in this verse is wəʿārəkhû. The verb וְעָרְכוּ (wəʿārəkhû, “they arrange”) names purposeful setting, not simply putting wood somewhere. The same root can describe preparing a table, so the verse’s ordered wood belongs to a wider language of preparation.
ALSO GROWS
ʿārūkh: Arranged, set in order, prepared.
עָרוּךְ
This form emphasizes the prepared state the wood enters on the altar.
maʿărākhāh: An arrangement or array.
מַעֲרָכָה
The root can describe an ordered formation, showing that the wood is set as a deliberate arrangement rather than a random pile.
וְנָתְנוּ
wənāṯənû
GROWS FROM
נתן
Give, set, place.
“set fire” in this verse is wənāṯənû. The verb וְנָתְנוּ (wənāṯənû, “they put”) comes from נתן (natan, “give, set, place”). The fire is deliberately placed on the altar; the root holds placing and giving within the same word.
ALSO GROWS
mattān: A gift or present.
מַתָּן
This branch carries the root’s sense of giving into a noun; the fire is placed as part of the offering’s prepared scene.
netīnāh: Giving or placing.
נְתִינָה
This form makes the act of setting something in place explicit, matching the fire’s placement on the altar.
מִזְבֵּחַ
mizbēaḥ
GROWS FROM
זבח
Slaughter, sacrifice.
The altar’s name comes from זבח (zavaḥ, “slaughter, sacrifice”), keeping the offering’s material cost in view. The ordered fire and wood serve an offering connected to slaughter, not an abstract act of devotion.
ALSO GROWS
zāvaḥ: To slaughter or sacrifice.
זָבַח
This verb names the act the altar serves, grounding the scene in the concrete offering.
zevaḥ: A sacrifice or slaughtered offering.
זֶבַח
This noun names the offering itself, linking the altar’s name to what is placed before it.
THE PATTERN
Fire and offering are sustained through deliberate tending and ordered placement.
And the fire upon the altar shall burn in it. It shall not be put out. And the priest shall kindle wood upon it every morning, and arrange the rising upon it, and he shall burn upon it the fat of the offerings of wholeness.And he arranged the wood, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it upon the wood, and said, Fill four jars with waters, and pour it upon the rising offering, and upon the wood.For this reason I remind you to fan back into flame the favor of God, which is in you through the placing of my hands upon you.THE THREAD
Lay out the table. Peer out from the watchtower. Eat, drink. Rise, commanders, and rub oil into the shield.The Hebrew verb עָרֹךְ (ʿārōkh, “prepare or set in order”) in “Prepare the table” shares the root ערך (ʿārakh, “arrange, set in order”) with the wood laid “in order” here. The same language reaches from arranging wood above altar fire to preparing a table.
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