What Does Leviticus 7:38 Mean?
Which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to bring their drawing near to the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai.
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
Which the LORD commanded Moses in mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations unto the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai.THE KEY
The Hebrew word behind “oblations” is built from the root for drawing near, so the offering is an approach as well as a gift.
THE MEANING
The verse holds instruction, approach, and wilderness together: nearness to the LORD is not limited to settled or complete circumstances. The offering has a given shape, making drawing near tangible even in an exposed place.
THE ROOT
קָרְבָּן
qorbān
GROWS FROM
ק-ר-ב
q-r-b
Approach, come near, bring near.
“to bring” in this verse is qorbān. The noun translated “oblations” is qorbān, built from the root of nearness and approach. The verse’s verb for offering and its noun for offerings share that root: the act is bringing near, and the offering is what is brought near. The English leaves that shared motion mostly hidden.
ALSO GROWS
lehaqriv: To bring near; to offer.
לְהַקְרִיב
This is the verse’s act of offering, formed from the same root as qorbān: the action and the offering carry one motion.
qārōb: Near; close.
קָרוֹב
This branch names the nearness that the offering enacts, linking the presented gift with approach to the LORD.
THE PATTERN
Approach to God takes concrete form as what is brought near and as the act of drawing near.
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, If anyone of you brings near a drawing near to the LORD, you shall bring near your drawing near from the cattle, from the herd and from the flock.But for me, drawing near to God is good; I have set my shelter in the Lord LORD, to recount all your works.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” comes from the same q-r-b root as qorbān, the offering named in Leviticus 7:38. Psalm makes the root’s direction explicit: the offering’s motion is nearness to God.
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