What Does Leviticus 16:4 Mean?
He puts on the set-apart linen tunic, and linen breeches are upon his flesh, and he is girded with a linen sash and dressed in a linen turban. These are set-apart garments, so he washes his flesh in water and then puts them on.
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
He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.THE KEY
The verse places set-apartness on the far side of washing: the flesh is washed before the holy linen is worn.
THE MEANING
The body is included in what is set apart: the flesh is washed with water before the linen goes on. Cleansing and clothing appear in sequence, so the garment covers a body that has first been washed. Here, the body is not bypassed in approaching what is set apart.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A sacred covering by itself is enough to make the body ready.
THE ROOT
יִלְבָּשׁ
yilbash ulevasham
GROWS FROM
ל־ב־ש
l-b-sh
to clothe, put on
“put on / put them on” in this verse is yilbash ulevasham. Both the opening “put on” and closing “put them on” come from לָבַשׁ (labash, to clothe or put on); the repeated verb frames the washing between taking up the garment and wearing it. The movement is bodily and ordered: washed flesh is clothed in what is set apart.
ALSO GROWS
levush: garment, clothing
לְבוּשׁ
The noun grows from the same root as the act of putting the linen on; clothing is the tangible covering in this sequence.
hilbish: to clothe another
הִלְבִּישׁ
This form of the root appears in Zechariah 3:4, where filthy garments are removed before new clothing is given.
קֹדֶשׁ
qodesh
GROWS FROM
ק־ד־ש
q-d-sh
to set apart, designate for sacred use
“set-apart linen tunic” in this verse is qodesh. The word translated “holy” belongs to the same root family as מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, sanctuary) and קִדֵּשׁ (qiddesh, set apart or consecrate). The linen is marked for a particular use, and that covering is put on only after the flesh is washed.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: set apart, holy
קָדוֹשׁ
This adjective shares the root that names the garments’ set-apart character.
miqdash: sanctuary, set-apart place
מִקְדָּשׁ
The garment and the sanctuary belong to one word-family of what is designated for sacred use.
וְרָחַץ
werachats
GROWS FROM
ר־ח־ץ
r-ch-ts
to wash, bathe
“wash” in this verse is werachats. The verb describes washing the flesh itself, not just preparing the linen. Its placement before לָבַשׁ (labash, to clothe or put on) makes the body part of the passage from washing to set-apart clothing.
ALSO GROWS
rachats: to wash, bathe
רָחַץ
This is the verb used for washing the flesh before the garments go on.
rachatsu: wash (plural command)
רַחֲצוּ
The same root appears in Isaiah 1:16, “Wash you, make you clean,” keeping washing concrete and bodily.
THE PATTERN
The body is washed before a set-apart covering is put on.
When they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with waters, so that they do not die; or when they draw near to the altar to serve, to make smoke rise from the offering of fire to the LORD.And he answered and said to those standing before him, Lift the soiled garments off him. And to him he said, Look, I have caused your crookedness to cross over from you, and I will clothe you with a change of garments.And I say to him, My lord, you know. And he says to me, These are the ones who come out of the great pressure, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.THE THREAD
And he answered and said to those standing before him, Lift the soiled garments off him. And to him he said, Look, I have caused your crookedness to cross over from you, and I will clothe you with a change of garments.The verb for “put them on” here and “clothe” in Zechariah comes from לָבַשׁ (labash, to clothe or put on). Leviticus places washing before the garments; Zechariah joins the removal of filthy garments with iniquity passing and a changed covering.
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