What Does Leviticus 16:6 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.
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 offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.THE KEY
The priest is not outside the need he addresses: the covering begins with him and extends to his household.
THE MEANING
You can bear responsibility and still need covering; this verse holds both truths together. The covering reaches beyond you to the household connected to you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that carrying responsibility makes you self-sufficient: the one who bears the rite first needs its covering himself.
THE ROOT
וְכִפֶּר
ve-khipper
GROWS FROM
כ־פ־ר
Cover, cover over.
“makes a covering” in this verse is ve-khipper. The root כפר (kaphar, “cover”) lies beneath the verb the KJV renders “make an atonement.” The priest is included in the covering before his household is named; the act does not place him outside the need it addresses.
ALSO GROWS
kofer: Covering material, such as pitch; also a ransom.
כֹּפֶר
The covering and ransom senses grow from the same root, giving “covering” a reach beyond a surface layer to protection or exchange.
kapporet: The cover or lid over the ark.
כַּפֹּרֶת
This branch makes the root’s concrete image visible: a cover over a sacred object, echoing the covering named in the verse.
חַטָּאת
chatat
GROWS FROM
ח־ט־א
Miss, go astray.
“offering for falling short” in this verse is chatat. The offering’s name shares the root of “missing,” keeping that sense alongside its ritual meaning as a sin offering. English holds the offering sense in the phrase while the Hebrew root also carries the image of a miss being addressed.
ALSO GROWS
chata: To miss, go astray, or commit an offense.
חָטָא
The verb shows the action beneath the offering’s name: a miss or offense that calls for response.
chet: A miss or offense.
חֵטְא
This noun makes the root’s “missing” sense explicit beside the offering named in the verse.
THE PATTERN
The covering reaches the one performing the rite before it reaches those within that person’s care.
And Moses said to Aaron, Draw near to the altar, and make your offering for falling short and your rising offering, and make a covering for yourself and for the people; and make the offering of the people, and make a covering for them, as the LORD commanded.Because of this he owes, as for the people, so also for himself, to bring near for shortcomings.And he is the covering for our shortcomings, and not for ours alone, but also for the shortcomings of the whole world.THE THREAD
No man is in the tent of meeting when he goes in to make a covering in the set-apart place, until he comes out, and has made a covering for himself, and for his house, and for all the assembly of Israel.The same כפר (kaphar, “cover”) root recurs, and the reach expands in a clear sequence: the priest himself, his household, then the whole congregation. The household in this verse is one circle in a covering that extends outward.
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