What Does Leviticus 22:27 Mean?
When a bull, or a sheep, or a goat, is born, then it shall be seven days under its mother; and from the eighth day and from then on it shall be pleasing for a drawing near by fire to the LORD.
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
When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD.THE KEY
The newborn remains with its mother for seven days before it can be received as an offering on the eighth.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks a boundary into the present: a newborn bull, sheep, or goat remains under its mother for seven days. From the eighth day onward, it is accepted as an offering made by fire to the LORD. Birth and sacred use stand in sequence, with an interval of maternal care between them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Birth does not make a life immediately ready for sacred use; the verse gives the newborn seven days with its mother first.
THE ROOT
יֵרָצֶה
yērāṣeh
GROWS FROM
רצה
To be pleased with, favor, or accept; in this form, to be accepted or found acceptable.
“pleasing” in this verse is yērāṣeh. At the root of “accepted” is רצה (rāṣāh, to be pleased with or accept), giving the word a shade of being received favorably. The verse ties that acceptance to a threshold: the newborn stays beneath its mother for seven days, then becomes acceptable as an offering from the eighth.
ALSO GROWS
rāṣāh: Was pleased with; accepted.
רָצָה
This form contains the same root consonants, רצה, and shows the root’s sense of favor or acceptance.
yirṣeh: He will be pleased with; he will accept.
יִרְצֶה
This form also carries all three root consonants, showing acceptance as the root’s continuing action.
THE PATTERN
The eighth day marks a threshold at which a newborn becomes eligible for a distinct sacred act.
Likewise shall you do with your oxen and your sheep; seven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.Every male among you who is eight days old shall be cut, in your generations, the one born in your house or bought with silver from any foreigner who is not of your seed.And when eight days were filled for the cutting around of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was named by the messenger before he was gathered together in the womb.THE THREAD
The LORD takes pleasure in those who stand in awe of him, and in those who wait for his faithful love.“Taketh pleasure” translates a form of רצה (rāṣāh, to be pleased with), the same root as יֵרָצֶה (yērāṣeh, to be accepted) here. The shared root lets the offering’s acceptance resonate with the LORD’s pleasure, while Leviticus places that acceptance after the newborn’s first seven days with its mother.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us