What Does Leviticus 3:4 Mean?
And the two kidneys, and the fat upon them that lies by the flanks, and the lobe above the liver, along with the kidneys, he turns them aside.
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 two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.THE KEY
The same Hebrew word translated here as “kidneys” appears elsewhere as “reins,” letting a hidden organ name the inward self.
THE MEANING
The offering’s hidden interior is named precisely: both kidneys, the fat over them, and the lobe above the liver are taken away. What lies beneath the visible surface is part of the act itself.
THE ROOT
כְּלָיוֹת
kelayot
GROWS FROM
כ־ל־י
k-l-y
Kidney or reins: the hidden inner organs, which biblical poetry also uses for the inward self.
English separates “kidneys” from “reins,” but both render the Hebrew word kelayot. The verse names literal organs while carrying a second resonance: what is concealed within is named as part of the offering.
ALSO GROWS
kilyah: Kidney; the singular form of the organ named here in the plural.
כִּלְיָה
It anchors the verse’s plural “kidneys” in a specific, physical part of the body.
kelayot: Kidneys; rendered “reins” in biblical poetry.
כִּלְיוֹת
In Psalm 139:13, this same word names the inward parts that God possesses and covers in the womb.
THE PATTERN
What is offered or known reaches inward, beyond what is visible on the surface.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward parts; and in the sealed place you make me perceive wisdom.Therefore I urge you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to set your bodies beside God as a living sacrifice, set apart, well-pleasing to him, which is your true service.THE THREAD
For you take hold of my kidneys; you weave me in my mother's womb.The “kidneys” in Leviticus and the “reins” in this Psalm translate the same Hebrew word, kelayot. The offering names those hidden organs; the Psalm speaks of those same inward parts as held by God and covered in the womb.
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