What Does Leviticus 14:13 Mean?
And he shall slaughter the lamb in the place where he shall slaughter the offering for falling short and the rising offering, in the set-apart place. For as the offering for it is the priest's, so is the guilt offering. It is most set apart.
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 he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy:THE KEY
The verse keeps missing and liability distinct, yet gives both offerings the same priestly claim and most-holy standing.
THE MEANING
This verse places the offering for a missed mark beside the offering for liability, giving both the same priestly status and set-apart standing. Their causes remain distinct, but both offerings belong within the same sacred sphere.
THE ROOT
הַחַטָּאת
ha-ḥaṭṭāʾt
GROWS FROM
חטא
To miss, fail, or go wrong.
“offering for falling short” in this verse is ha-ḥaṭṭāʾt. The offering for the missing shares its word family with the act of missing itself. Here it stands beside the offering for liability: the two kinds of rupture remain distinct, yet enter the same set-apart sphere.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāṭāʾ: To miss or go wrong.
חָטָא
This verb shows the root beneath the offering: the rite is named in relation to the missing it addresses.
ḥēṭ: A missing or fault.
חֵטְא
This noun keeps the act and its consequence in the same word family as the offering.
הָאָשָׁם
hāʾāšām
GROWS FROM
אשם
To incur guilt or be liable.
“guilt offering” in this verse is hāʾāšām. Asham carries the sense of liability, giving this offering a distinct emphasis from the offering for the missing. The verse places both under the priest’s claim and calls the asham most holy.
ALSO GROWS
ʾāšēm: Guilty or liable.
אָשֵׁם
This form names the condition associated with the offering.
ʾăšāmâ: Guilt or liability.
אֲשָׁמָה
This branch makes explicit the liability carried by the asham offering.
קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים
qōdeš qodāšîm
GROWS FROM
קדש
To set apart as sacred.
“most set apart” in this verse is qōdeš qodāšîm. Qodesh qadashim expresses an intensified set-apart status: the offering is reserved to the sacred sphere. The root marks a boundary of belonging, not merely a feeling of holiness.
ALSO GROWS
qādōš: Set apart, sacred.
קָדוֹשׁ
This adjective describes what belongs to the sphere named by qodesh.
miqdāš: Sanctuary, a set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
The sanctuary shows how the same root can name a place marked for sacred use.
THE PATTERN
Offerings and the places they enter are marked as set apart, so their handling remains within sacred boundaries.
Every male among the priests shall eat of it. It shall be eaten in the set-apart place. It is most set apart.For seven days you cover the altar, and set it apart. It is an altar most set apart. Whatever touches the altar is set apart.Not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered once into the set-apart places, having found a ransom for the ages.THE THREAD
Likewise this is the instruction of the trespass offering. It is most set apart.The same Hebrew asham root names the trespass offering in both verses, and both call it most holy. This line makes clear that the offering for liability carries its own set-apart status, matching the verse’s comparison with the offering for the missing.
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