What Does Leviticus 9:5 Mean?
And they brought what Moses commanded before the tent of meeting, and all the assembly drew near and stood before the LORD.
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 they brought that which Moses commanded before the tabernacle of the congregation: and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD.THE KEY
The congregation’s “drawing near” shares its root with “offering”: both carry the movement of coming near.
THE MEANING
The whole assembly draws near and stands before the LORD; the verse places everyone in that movement together. Approaching is more than reaching a place, it is the congregation turning toward presence as one.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that nearness belongs only to the officiant: the whole congregation draws near and stands before the LORD.
THE ROOT
וַיִּקְרְבוּ
wayyiqrevu
GROWS FROM
קָרַב
q-r-b
to approach, come near
The Hebrew verb for “drew near” shares its root with the word for “offering.” The assembly’s approach and the offering thus carry the same movement: coming near.
ALSO GROWS
qorbān: offering; that which is brought near
קָרְבָּן
The shared root links what the people bring before the LORD with the congregation’s own approach.
qarov: near, close
קָרוֹב
This branch shows that nearness belongs to the same family of meaning as the assembly’s movement toward the LORD.
מֹשֶׁה
Mosheh
GROWS FROM
מָשָׁה
m-sh-h
to draw out, especially from water
Moses’ name carries the image of one drawn out of water. Here his command names what the assembly brings into the LORD’s presence, echoing that movement of being drawn out and brought forward.
ALSO GROWS
meshithihu: I drew him out
מְשִׁיתִהוּ
This verb form makes concrete the drawing-out meaning carried by Moses’ name.
Mosheh: Moses; drawn out
מֹשֶׁה
The name’s meaning adds a note of movement to the verse: the one named “drawn out” commands the gathered people as they draw near.
THE PATTERN
Approach to divine presence is shared movement: people come before the LORD together.
And Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mount.Serve the LORD with gladness; come before his face with a ringing cry.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.“Bring an offering” uses forms from the same root as “drew near” in this verse; the Hebrew word for offering, qorban, shares that root too. What is brought near and the act of drawing near belong to one movement.
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