What Does Leviticus 10:3 Mean?
Then Moses said to Aaron, This is what the LORD spoke, saying, In those who draw near to me, I will be set apart, and before the face of all the people I will be given weight. And Aaron kept still.
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
Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.THE KEY
The LORD is shown as set apart among those who draw near, and that same presence bears weight before everyone.
THE MEANING
God’s nearness does not make the LORD familiar or manageable: the people closest to him are where his set-apartness is disclosed. That presence carries weight before everyone, and Aaron’s silence holds the gravity without resolving it. The verse lets the loss remain visible alongside the claim of holiness.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that being close to God guarantees safety or makes holiness easier to bear.
THE ROOT
אֶקָּדֵשׁ
’eqqādeš
GROWS FROM
קדשׁ
q-d-sh
Set apart; be recognized as set apart.
The Hebrew says that the LORD is shown as set apart among those near him. The ones who approach are where God’s distinctness becomes visible, and the verse carries that disclosure outward to the whole people.
ALSO GROWS
qādōsh: Set apart; holy.
קָדוֹשׁ
This describes the nature disclosed among those who draw near.
qōdeš: Set-apartness; sacred space or thing.
קֹדֶשׁ
The same root links the LORD’s set-apart nature with the place and things marked for encounter.
בִּקְרֹבַי
biqrovai
GROWS FROM
קרב
q-r-b
Approach; draw near.
“draw near to me” in this verse is biqrovai. The phrase means “among my near ones,” from the root for approaching. קָרְבָּן (qorbān, an offering brought near) grows from the same root, linking nearness with what is brought into the presence of God. Here, those who draw near are the place where the LORD is revealed as set apart.
ALSO GROWS
qārav: Approach; draw near.
קָרַב
It names the movement toward the LORD that frames the verse.
qorbān: Offering; something brought near.
קָרְבָּן
It shows that the language of approach also names what is brought into divine presence.
אֶכָּבֵד
’ekkāvēd
GROWS FROM
כבד
k-b-d
Be heavy or weighty; be honored.
“given weight” in this verse is ’ekkāvēd. The Hebrew root holds the sense of weight alongside honor. כָּבוֹד (kāvōd, weight or glory) makes the public effect concrete: the LORD’s presence bears weight before all the people.
ALSO GROWS
kāvēd: Heavy; weighty.
כָּבֵד
It gives the root’s concrete sense of weight carried by the verse’s claim.
kāvōd: Weight; honor; glory.
כָּבוֹד
This branch links the LORD’s public honor with the weight of his presence.
THE PATTERN
The nearer people come to God’s presence, the more its set-apartness is disclosed and its weight felt.
And also the priests who draw near to the LORD, let them set themselves apart, lest the LORD burst out upon them.And one called out to another, and said, Set apart, set apart, set apart is the LORD of hosts. The whole earth is filled with his weight.For our God is a fire that devours.THE THREAD
And one called out to another, and said, Set apart, set apart, set apart is the LORD of hosts. The whole earth is filled with his weight.Isaiah holds the same Hebrew roots together: קָדוֹשׁ (qādōsh, set apart) and כָּבוֹד (kāvōd, weight or glory). Leviticus locates that set-apartness among those who approach and its weight before the people; Isaiah lets the same pairing fill the whole earth.
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