What Does Leviticus 9:17 Mean?
And he brought near the gift, and filled his hand from it, and sent it up in smoke upon the altar, beside the rising offering of the morning.
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 meat offering, and took an handful thereof, and burnt it upon the altar, beside the burnt sacrifice of the morning.THE KEY
The morning “burnt sacrifice” is an ascent by name, and the handful joins that rising as its own offering.
THE MEANING
You see the grain offering brought to the altar, a handful taken and burned beside the morning burnt sacrifice. The verse holds two forms together: the grain gift joins the morning offering without becoming the same gift. Its placement makes this a scene of addition within a continuing rhythm of approach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the idea that a new offering must replace what is already given: the grain gift is placed beside the morning offering.
THE ROOT
עֹלָה
ʿōlāh
GROWS FROM
עלה
ʿ-l-h
To go up, rise, or ascend.
“rising offering of the morning” in this verse is ʿōlāh. The Hebrew word עֹלָה (ʿōlāh, “ascending offering”) names the morning sacrifice through the movement of rising. The handful is burned beside that ascent, so the verse places a distinct grain gift within the same movement of approach.
ALSO GROWS
ʿālāh: to go up, rise, ascend
עָלָה
This verb shares the offering’s root and makes its upward sense audible.
maʿălâ: ascent, rising; also a step
מַעֲלָה
This noun carries the root’s movement into the idea of an ascent or step upward.
מִזְבֵּחַ
mizbēaḥ
GROWS FROM
זבח
z-b-ḥ
To slaughter or sacrifice.
The altar’s name grows from the act of sacrifice. The verse’s altar is therefore not just a surface where the handful is burned; its name itself carries the action performed there.
ALSO GROWS
zāḇaḥ: to slaughter, sacrifice
זָבַח
The verb names the sacrificial action from which the altar’s name derives.
zeḇaḥ: a sacrifice, sacrificial meal
זֶבַח
This noun shows the same root naming the offering as well as the place associated with sacrifice.
קֹמֶץ
qōmeṣ
GROWS FROM
קמץ
q-m-ṣ
To grasp or close the hand around a portion.
The handful is a grasped portion, not the whole grain gift. The verse focuses the offering into what the hand takes and places on the altar.
ALSO GROWS
qāmaṣ: to take or grasp a handful
קָמַץ
The verb describes the action that produces the portion burned on the altar.
qōmeṣ: a handful, a closed hand’s portion
קֹמֶץ
The noun names the measured portion selected from the larger gift.
THE PATTERN
An offering joins an ongoing pattern of approach while keeping its distinct form.
And the other lamb you offer at evening, and you do with it according to the gift of the morning, and according to its poured offering, for a scent that settles, an offering made by fire to the LORD.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.Through him, then, let us always carry up a sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.THE THREAD
And Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean beast and of every clean bird, and sent up rising offerings on the altar.Genesis uses the same Hebrew word עֹלָה (ʿōlāh, “ascending offering”) for the burnt offerings placed on an altar. That shared root lets you hear the morning sacrifice here as an ascent, with the handful set beside it.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us