What Does Leviticus 9:16 Mean?
And he brought near the rising offering, and made it according to the judgment laid down.
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 brought the burnt offering, and offered it according to the manner.THE KEY
The offering is both brought near and named for rising, so the verse frames approach as a movement given a form.
THE MEANING
Nearness takes a form here: what is brought close is also named for its movement upward, and the act follows a defined order. The verse speaks now of approach as a concrete movement with shape and measure.
THE ROOT
וַיַּקְרֵב
wayyaqrev
GROWS FROM
קרב
to draw near, approach
“brought near” in this verse is wayyaqrev. The verb carries the sense of bringing something near. Its root also forms the Hebrew word for an offering, so the action and the gift share the same language of nearness.
ALSO GROWS
qorban: offering; that which is brought near
קָרְבָּן
The offering’s name comes from the same root as “brought,” joining the gift to the movement of approach.
qarov: near
קָרוֹב
This branch makes the root’s spatial sense plain: to bring is to move something toward nearness.
הָעֹלָה
ha'olah
GROWS FROM
עלה
to go up, rise, ascend
“rising offering” in this verse is ha'olah. Alongside the English emphasis on burning, the Hebrew name carries the movement of rising. What is brought near is also described by its upward motion.
ALSO GROWS
aliyah: ascent; going up
עֲלִיָּה
This branch preserves the same upward movement named in the offering.
ma'alah: ascent, step, or degree
מַעֲלָה
The root also describes a rising by stages, giving the offering’s upward motion a concrete shape.
כַּמִּשְׁפָּט
kamishpat
GROWS FROM
שפט
to judge, decide, govern
“judgment laid down” in this verse is kamishpat. The word rendered “manner” is mishpat, also used for judgment or ordinance. The act of approach is presented as taking a defined form, shaped by an order.
ALSO GROWS
shofet: judge
שֹׁפֵט
This branch carries the root’s sense of discernment and decision into the verse’s ordered action.
mishpatim: judgments, ordinances
מִשְׁפָּטִים
These are defined rulings or measures, clarifying the sense of the act being performed according to its order.
THE PATTERN
Approach is pictured as something brought near, rising, and taking a defined form.
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.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.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
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.In the Hebrew, both the verb קָרַב (qarav, draw near) behind “bring” and the noun קָרְבָּן (qorban, offering brought near) come from the root קרב. The offering itself is joined to the movement of approach, opening the nearness held inside Leviticus 9:16.
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