What Does Leviticus 4:35 Mean?
And he turns aside all its fat, as the lamb's fat is turned aside from the sacrifice of wholeness, and the priest makes them rise in smoke upon the altar, according to the offerings of fire to the LORD, and the priest makes a covering for him concerning what he has missed, 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 of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.THE KEY
Here, “atonement” names the covering of the wrong, while “forgiveness” names the release that follows.
THE MEANING
The verse gives the rite a clear movement: the fat is removed and burned; the priest makes covering for the wrong the man has committed, and he is released. The wrong remains named in the sentence, while release is its ending.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that a wrong I have committed leaves me permanently bound to it.
THE ROOT
וְכִפֶּר
ve-khipper
GROWS FROM
כפר
Cover; make a covering.
“makes a covering” in this verse is ve-khipper. The verb behind “atonement” carries the sense of making a covering. The verse’s covering is followed by a separate word for release, so the two movements remain visible.
ALSO GROWS
khipper: Cover; make atonement.
כִּפֶּר
This is the verb used in the verse for the priest’s action.
kapporet: The cover over the ark.
כַּפֹּרֶת
This branch makes the root’s sense of covering concrete.
kopher: Ransom; payment to avert loss.
כֹּפֶר
The root also names a payment that intervenes on someone’s behalf.
וְנִסְלַח
ve-nislach
GROWS FROM
סלח
Release; pardon.
“released” in this verse is ve-nislach. The word rendered “forgiven” carries the sense of release. The verse does not stop at covering the wrong: its final movement lets the person go.
ALSO GROWS
salach: Forgive; release.
סָלַח
This is the verb’s root form and names the release stated at the verse’s end.
selichah: Forgiveness; pardon.
סְלִיחָה
This noun carries the same root’s sense of release into the idea of forgiveness.
חַטָּאתוֹ
chatta'to
GROWS FROM
חטא
Miss; go wrong.
“missed” in this verse is chatta'to. The root gives “sin” the concrete sense of missing the mark. The related word חַטָּאת (chatta’t, sin or sin offering) can name both the wrong and an offering associated with it, linking what is addressed to the rite that addresses it.
ALSO GROWS
chata: Miss; sin.
חָטָא
This verb names the act behind the “sin” identified in the verse.
chatta't: Sin; sin offering.
חַטָּאת
The same word can name the wrong or the offering associated with it.
chote: One who sins; one who misses.
חוֹטֵא
This branch names the person through the same root’s action.
THE PATTERN
The text names wrongdoing and makes release its stated outcome.
And he makes the second into an ascending offering, according to the judgment; and the priest makes a covering for him from his falling short in which he has missed the mark, and it is released to him.Who releases all your crookedness; who heals all your sicknesses.If we speak our shortcomings into the open, he is steady and aligned, to release our shortcomings, and to cleanse us from all crookedness.THE THREAD
Who releases all your crookedness; who heals all your sicknesses.The word translated “forgiveth” comes from the same root סלח (salach, release or forgive) as “it shall be forgiven” here. The psalm places that release beside healing, opening this verse’s ending onto a line where release and healing stand side by side.
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