What Does Leviticus 3:12 Mean?
If his drawing near is a goat, he brings it near before 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
And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD.THE KEY
The offering and the act of offering carry the same root: both are a drawing near to God.
THE MEANING
Here, nearness takes material form: a goat is brought before the LORD. The word for the offering and the verb for presenting it share the root of approach. Gift and drawing near occupy the same movement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the assumption that an offering is only something surrendered: its own root names it as a drawing near.
THE ROOT
קָרְבָּנוֹ
qorbano
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־ב
q-r-b
Approach; draw near; bring close.
“drawing near” in this verse is qorbano. The noun and verb carry the same root, holding the offering and the act of presenting it as one movement toward presence. The goat is named as what is brought near.
ALSO GROWS
hiqriv: Bring near; present; offer.
הִקְרִיב
This is the verb used for presenting the goat, making the act itself an approach.
qarov: Near; close.
קָרוֹב
The shared root connects the offering with nearness itself.
qirvah: Closeness; nearness.
קִרְבָה
This branch carries the root’s movement into the state of being close.
THE PATTERN
The act of bringing something before God gives physical shape to drawing near.
But for me, drawing near to God is good; I have set my shelter in the Lord LORD, to recount all your works.Let us draw near with a true heart in the fullness of trust, our hearts sprinkled from a burdened shared sight, and our bodies bathed in clean waters.THE THREAD
But for me, drawing near to God is good; I have set my shelter in the Lord LORD, to recount all your works.Psalm 73:28 uses the same Hebrew root, קָרַב (q-r-b), for “draw near.” Leviticus names the offering and the act of offering through that same seed, while the psalm speaks the movement directly: nearness to God is itself good.
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