What Does Leviticus 23:13 Mean?
Its gift shall be two tenths of fine flour mixed in oil, an offering of fire to the LORD for a fragrance that settles. Its poured offering shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.
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 the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.THE KEY
The fragrance called “sweet” shares its root with rest and settling, so the offering’s final note is a soothing aroma before the LORD.
THE MEANING
This verse gives the offering tangible measure: fine flour mingled with oil, followed by wine in a quarter measure. Its fragrance carries the sense of soothing or settling, bringing the measured substance to a quiet, pleasing presence before the LORD.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The idea that devotion exists only as an inward feeling falls away here: the verse gives the offering substance, mixture, measure, and wine.
THE ROOT
נִיחֹחַ
nichoach
GROWS FROM
נוח
To rest, settle, or come to rest.
“a fragrance that settles” in this verse is nichoach. English “sweet” centers on pleasant scent, while nichoach carries the sense of soothing or settling. The fragrance is named in the language of rest, adding a quieting quality to the offering.
ALSO GROWS
nuach: To rest or settle.
נוּחַ
This verb supplies the root sense carried by the offering’s fragrance.
menuchah: Rest or a resting place.
מְנוּחָה
It shows how the same root can describe not only settling, but the rest that follows.
nichoach: A soothing or pleasing aroma.
נִיחֹחַ
This is the word used for the offering’s fragrance in the verse.
בְּלוּלָה
belulah
GROWS FROM
בלל
To mix or mingle; also, in some contexts, to confuse.
“mixed in oil” in this verse is belulah. “Mingled” can sound like a simple cooking detail, but its root also carries the sense of confusion. Here the concrete ingredients clarify the action: flour and oil are brought together in a deliberate mixture.
ALSO GROWS
balal: To mix, mingle, or confuse.
בָּלַל
This verb is the root action behind the flour being mingled with oil.
belil: A mixture or mixed fodder.
בְּלִיל
This related noun keeps the root’s sense of combined materials visible.
נִסְכּוֹ
niskō
GROWS FROM
נסך
To pour out or cast.
“its poured offering” in this verse is niskō. The Hebrew term carries the action of pouring out within the name of the drink offering. The wine is not only specified by amount; it is understood as something poured.
ALSO GROWS
nasakh: To pour out or cast.
נָסַךְ
This verb gives the drink offering its underlying action.
nesekh: A libation or poured drink offering.
נֶסֶךְ
This noun names the kind of offering made with the measured wine.
massekhah: A cast or molten image.
מַסֵּכָה
It shares the root’s sense of pouring or casting material into a form.
THE PATTERN
Across Scripture, offerings take visible form in concrete substances and are described through the fragrance that pleases the LORD.
And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock, and of their fat. And the LORD gazed upon Abel and upon his offering.And you shall prepare a fourth of a hin of wine for a poured offering with the rising offering or sacrifice, for one lamb.And walk in love, as the Anointed One also loved us and handed himself over for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, a fragrance that settles sweetly.THE THREAD
And the LORD smelled the fragrance of rest, and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground for man's sake, for the shaping of man's heart is evil from his youth, and I will not again strike down every living thing, as I have done.The same Hebrew word נִיחֹחַ (nichoach, “soothing aroma”) appears in Genesis 8:21. There it follows an altar offering; here it accompanies exact measures of flour, oil, and wine, making the shared fragrance-word visible.
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