What Does Leviticus 22:23 Mean?
A bull or a lamb that has anything stretched out or drawn in its limbs, that you may make a willing offering; but for a vow it shall not be pleasing.
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
Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.THE KEY
The same imperfect animal may be given freely but cannot fulfill a vow, because willingness and pledged completion carry different standards.
THE MEANING
The verse allows an animal with an extra or deficient part as a freewill offering, but it cannot be accepted for a vow. A freely chosen gift and a pledged offering are different kinds of giving.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the assumption that a willing gift and a vowed commitment are interchangeable.
THE ROOT
נְדָבָה
nedavah
GROWS FROM
נדב
To volunteer or give willingly.
“willing offering” in this verse is nedavah. The freewill offering is named from the root of willing, generous giving. That root makes the distinction in this verse vivid: a freely offered gift is not the same thing as fulfilling a vow.
ALSO GROWS
nādav: To volunteer or give willingly.
נָדַב
This verb carries the willing choice named by the freewill offering.
nādiv: Willing, generous, or noble.
נָדִיב
This related word shows the root’s reach from voluntary giving to a generous disposition.
nedivim: Nobles or generous ones.
נְדִיבִים
The same consonants connect willing generosity with the person characterized by it.
נֶדֶר
neder
GROWS FROM
נדר
To vow; a vow or pledged commitment.
The Hebrew uses a distinct root for the vow, alongside the root of willing giving. The verse’s contrast is built into the words: one offering arises from willingness, while the other is measured against a pledge.
ALSO GROWS
nādār: To vow.
נָדַר
This verb names the act that gives the offering its pledged character.
nedarim: Vows.
נְדָרִים
The plural keeps the same root and makes clear that each vow is a distinct commitment to fulfill.
THE PATTERN
A vow binds its giver to fulfillment, while a free gift is defined by willingness rather than compulsion.
When you vow a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not linger to make it whole, for the LORD your God will surely seek it from you, and it would be a shortcoming in you.When you vow a vow to God, do not linger to make it whole. For there is no delight in the thick-headed. Make whole what you have vowed.Each one, as his heart has taken hold, so let him give, not from grief or from pressure, for God loves a glad giver.THE THREAD
And they came, every one whose heart lifted him, and every one whom his breath made free-hearted, and they brought the LORD's lifted offering for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all its serving, and for the set-apart garments.The Hebrew phrase rendered “made willing” includes נָדְבָה (nadvah), from the same root נדב as the freewill offering here. The shared root traces the offering to willingness, clarifying why it stands apart from an offering bound to a vow.
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