What Does Leviticus 6:22 Mean?
And the priest among his sons who is anointed in his place shall bring it near. It is a statute for the ages to the LORD. It shall be burned whole.
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 priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: it is a statute for ever unto the LORD; it shall be wholly burnt.THE KEY
The priest changes, but the offering’s whole portion still goes up to the LORD.
THE MEANING
The verse holds succession and complete dedication together: a new priest takes the prior one’s place, while the offering remains wholly directed to the LORD under an age-spanning statute. The one who carries what is set apart keeps no portion; the whole is made smoke.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the assumption that carrying a sacred offering entitles the carrier to keep part of it: here, the whole is given over.
THE ROOT
תִּקְטָר
tiqtar
GROWS FROM
קטר
qatar
To make smoke; to burn incense or an offering so its smoke rises.
The word rendered “burnt” carries the altar-action of making smoke, the same root used for incense. The verse pictures the offering as wholly turned to smoke before the LORD, with no portion kept back for eating.
ALSO GROWS
qetoret: Incense.
קְטֹרֶת
Incense shares the root of the offering’s burning, joining the grain offering to the rising smoke of incense.
qittur: Smoke or incense.
קִטּוּר
This branch makes the image explicit: the offering’s whole portion becomes smoke.
מָשִׁיחַ
mashiach
GROWS FROM
משח
mashach
To smear or apply oil; to anoint.
The priest is named by the marking that sets him into the role: the anointed one. Here, the role passes to a successor, while the offering’s direction to the LORD remains unchanged.
ALSO GROWS
mashach: To anoint or apply oil.
מָשַׁח
The verb names the act that marks the priest for his appointed service.
mishchah: Anointing; anointing oil.
מִשְׁחָה
The oil is the tangible mark carried in the word “anointed,” linking the priest’s identity to the act of setting him apart.
THE PATTERN
What is set apart for the LORD is given over whole, without a private portion kept back.
You send the whole ram up in smoke upon the altar. It is a rising offering to the LORD, a scent that settles, an offering made by fire to the LORD.For every gift for the priest shall be burned whole. It shall not be eaten.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
You send the whole ram up in smoke upon the altar. It is a rising offering to the LORD, a scent that settles, an offering made by fire to the LORD.The Hebrew root קטר (qatar, make smoke) names the burning here and in Exodus. Seeing the same action with a whole ram makes the force of “wholly” vivid: the entire offering is made smoke before the LORD.
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