What Does Leviticus 16:11 Mean?
And Aaron brings near his bullock, the offering for falling short, which is for himself, and makes a covering for himself and for his house, and slaughters the bullock.
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 Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself:THE KEY
The one who brings covering for a household stands inside the missing it covers.
THE MEANING
The one who draws near on behalf of others is included in the need for covering, with his own missing addressed before his household’s. The bull is killed, leaving the cost of the covering in full view.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The person responsible for a household has no need for covering of their own.
THE ROOT
כִּפֶּר
kipper
GROWS FROM
כפר
כפר (kaphar) means to cover or coat over.
“makes a covering” in this verse is kipper. The same root names the coating of Noah’s ark and the cover over the ark of the covenant. Here, covering is made tangible through the slain bull.
ALSO GROWS
kofer: Pitch or covering material
כֹּפֶר
In Genesis 6:14, this word belongs to the coating that covers the ark inside and out.
kapporet: The cover over the ark
כַּפֹּרֶת
This related word shows the root’s image of a covering placed over something.
חַטָּאת
chatat
GROWS FROM
חטא
חטא (chata) means to miss or go wrong; the noun can name the missing itself.
“offering for falling short” in this verse is chatat. The offering’s name shares its seed with the word for missing. The verse keeps the offering and the missing it addresses in one word-family.
ALSO GROWS
chet: Missing, a miss
חֵטְא
This is the missing named in the word-family of the offering.
chata: To miss or go wrong
חָטָא
The verb shows the action at the root of the offering’s name.
וְהִקְרִיב
vehiqriv
GROWS FROM
קרב
קרב (qarav) means to draw near or approach.
“brings near” in this verse is vehiqriv. The verb translated bring carries the sense of making something approach. Its root also names the drawing-near offering, so the bull is brought near as part of the act of approach.
ALSO GROWS
korban: A drawing-near offering
קָרְבָּן
This related word makes the approach within the act of bringing more visible.
qarov: Near
קָרוֹב
This branch shares the root’s sense of nearness and approach.
THE PATTERN
The one who approaches on behalf of others is included in the need for covering, and that covering is marked by blood.
And Aaron brings near his bullock, the offering for falling short, which is for himself, and makes a covering for himself and for his house.But into the second, once a year, goes the high priest alone, not without blood, which he brings near for himself and for the unknowing missings of the people.For on that day the priest makes a covering for you, to cleanse you, so that you may be clean from all your shortcomings before the LORD.THE THREAD
Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make nests in the ark, and cover it within and without with pitch.The same root כפר (kaphar), meaning to cover, appears in the command to coat the ark inside and outside with pitch. There the covering encloses the ark; here it names the covering for the priest and his household.
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