What Does Leviticus 3:3 Mean?
And he brings near from the wholeness offering a gift of fire to the LORD; the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat upon the entrails.
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 he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,THE KEY
The Hebrew root behind “offer” also names the “inwards,” joining what is brought near to what lies within.
THE MEANING
Wholeness reaches the inward life: what is brought near includes the fat covering the inner parts. The Hebrew links “offer” and “inwards” through the same root, giving nearness an inward dimension. What is within belongs in the movement toward wholeness.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that closeness to God concerns only outward display: its language of offering reaches to the inner parts.
THE ROOT
הִקְרִיב
hiqriv
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־ב
q-r-b
Draw near, approach; bring near.
“brings near” in this verse is hiqriv. English separates “offer” from “inwards,” but Hebrew joins both under the root q-r-b. The verse ties the act of bringing near to the interior itself.
ALSO GROWS
hiqriv: Bring near; offer.
הִקְרִיב
The verb translated “offer” describes an act of drawing near.
qerev: Interior; inward parts.
קֶרֶב
The same root names what lies within, joining nearness with the inner parts.
qorban: Offering, something brought near.
קָרְבָּן
This related word preserves the root’s sense of an offering as something brought near.
שְׁלָמִים
shelamim
GROWS FROM
ש־ל־ם
sh-l-m
Be whole or complete; bring to wholeness.
“wholeness offering” in this verse is shelamim. The Hebrew behind “peace offering” belongs to the root of wholeness and completeness. That root frames the offering as an expression of wholeness, while the q-r-b root links it to what lies within.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness; well-being.
שָׁלוֹם
This familiar branch makes the root’s wider sense of wholeness audible in the offering’s name.
shalem: Whole; complete.
שָׁלֵם
This branch carries the same sense of completeness present in the name of the offering.
THE PATTERN
Drawing near to God includes what is inward, making wholeness more than an outward display.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward parts; and in the sealed place you make me perceive wisdom.But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have pushed him away. The LORD does not see as the human sees. The human sees what is outside, but the LORD sees the heart.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.The Hebrew behind “draw near” shares its root with Leviticus’s “offer.” Since that same root also names the “inwards,” the connection opens the offering as an inward movement of nearness.
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