What Does Leviticus 4:31 Mean?
And he turns aside all its fat, as the fat is turned aside from the sacrifice of wholeness, and the priest sends it up in smoke upon the altar as a fragrance of rest to the LORD, and the priest makes a covering for him, and it is released to him.
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 take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the LORD; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.THE KEY
The same altar pattern that serves the offering of wholeness also frames the covering that ends in pardon.
THE MEANING
The passage holds the reader inside a concrete sequence: the fat is removed, the altar receives it, and the person is pardoned. The peace offering gives this act a frame of wholeness, keeping fault and pardon within the same ritual pattern.
THE ROOT
וְכִפֶּר
ve-khipper
GROWS FROM
כפר
kaphar
cover; make a covering
“makes a covering” in this verse is ve-khipper. The verb rendered “make an atonement” grows from the root meaning cover. The verse then uses a separate root for the person’s pardon, placing the covering act and its outcome together without treating them as the same word.
ALSO GROWS
kapporet: the cover over the ark
כַּפֹּרֶת
This branch makes the root’s image of covering tangible.
kippurim: coverings; acts of atonement
כִּפֻּרִים
This related form carries the same covering language as the act named in the verse.
שְׁלָמִים
shelamim
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
be whole or complete; bring to completion
The Hebrew behind “peace offerings” comes from the root of wholeness. The fat in this offering is handled by the same pattern, so the verse places pardon within the ritual language of wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: wholeness; well-being
שָׁלוֹם
This familiar branch makes the wholeness carried by the offering explicit.
shalem: whole; complete
שָׁלֵם
This form links the offering’s name to being complete.
וְנִסְלַח לוֹ
ve-nislach lo
GROWS FROM
סלח
salach
pardon; forgive
“released” in this verse is ve-nislach lo. The final verb comes from a root distinct from the one for covering. The sequence is precise: the covering act is named first, and pardon is then stated as the person’s outcome.
ALSO GROWS
salach: to pardon; forgive
סָלַח
This is the verb root behind the verse’s declaration of forgiveness.
selichah: pardon; forgiveness
סְלִיחָה
This related noun carries the same language of pardon into a named state or act.
THE PATTERN
When what stands against a person is covered or removed, the text names pardon as a real release.
And he touched it to my mouth, and said, Look, this has touched your lips, and your crookedness turns aside, and your falling short is covered.A Psalm of David, Maschil. Flourishing is the one whose rebellion is released, whose shortcomings are covered.Now where there is release of these, there is no more offering for falling short.THE THREAD
And he touched it to my mouth, and said, Look, this has touched your lips, and your crookedness turns aside, and your falling short is covered.Isaiah uses the same covering root rendered “atonement” here when the text says the sin is “purged.” Across both verses, covering and removal meet in the movement toward pardon.
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