What Does Leviticus 16:9 Mean?
And Aaron brings near the goat upon which the LORD's lot falls, and makes him an offering for falling short.
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 goat upon which the LORD’s lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.THE KEY
The goat is first brought near, and then made an offering for the missing: the act of offering begins as an act of approach.
THE MEANING
The goat marked by the LORD’s lot is brought near and made an offering for the missing. The verse joins what is designated for the LORD with what is brought into the rite of approach.
THE ROOT
וְהִקְרִיב
wehiqriv
GROWS FROM
קרב
qarab
To approach or draw near.
“brings near” in this verse is wehiqriv. The Hebrew verb means “bring near,” giving the KJV’s “bring” a sense of approach. קָרְבָּן (qorbān), “offering,” grows from the same root: the offering is bound to what is brought near.
ALSO GROWS
qorbān: An offering, something brought near.
קָרְבָּן
This branch links the offering to the verse’s verb for bringing the goat near.
qārōv: Near or close.
קָרוֹב
The same root of nearness makes the goat’s approach part of the verse’s meaning.
חַטָּאת
chatta’t
GROWS FROM
חטא
chata
To miss, especially to miss a mark or way.
“offering for falling short” in this verse is chatta’t. The word translated “sin offering” shares its root with the verb “to miss.” The verse thus names the offering in relation to what is missing, bringing that word into the same scene as drawing near.
ALSO GROWS
chata: To miss or go astray from a mark.
חָטָא
This verb makes visible the root meaning beneath the offering’s name.
chet: A miss or failure to reach the mark.
חֵטְא
This noun shares the seed of חַטָּאת and illuminates why the offering is named for the missing.
THE PATTERN
An offering takes shape as something brought near and yielded to God.
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, If anyone of you brings near a drawing near to the LORD, you shall bring near your drawing near from the cattle, from the herd and from the flock.Therefore I urge you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to set your bodies beside God as a living sacrifice, set apart, well-pleasing to him, which is your true service.But this one, after bringing near one slain offering for shortcomings, sat down without break at the right hand of God.THE THREAD
Then he slaughters the goat of the offering for falling short, which is for the people, and brings its blood within the curtain, and does with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkles it upon the covering and before the covering.חַטָּאת (chatta’t, “offering for the missing”) names the goat in both verses. Here the role named in verse 9 is specified as being for the people, and its blood is brought within the veil.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us