What Does Leviticus 9:9 Mean?
And the sons of Aaron brought the blood near to him, and he immersed his finger in the blood, and set it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the foundation of the altar.
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 sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him: and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar:THE KEY
The Hebrew word for the altar’s “bottom” means its foundation, so the blood marks both its horns and the place that establishes it.
THE MEANING
The offering’s blood is carried by hand, touched to the altar’s horns, and poured at its foundation. The act marks both the altar’s projecting points and what establishes it, keeping the rite bodily and exact.
THE ROOT
יְסוֹד
yesod
GROWS FROM
יסד
To lay a foundation; to establish.
The word rendered “bottom” is יְסוֹד (yesod), from יסד (y-s-d), to lay a foundation or establish. The root holds foundation and establishment together, so the blood reaches where the altar is grounded as well as its projecting horns.
ALSO GROWS
yasad: To found or establish.
יָסַד
The verb makes the altar’s foundation more than a location: it is the place that establishes and supports what rises above it.
mosad: Foundation; institution.
מוֹסָד
This branch carries the root’s sense of something established, deepening the image of blood poured at the altar’s grounded base.
מִזְבֵּחַ
mizbeach
GROWS FROM
זבח
To slaughter; to sacrifice.
The word מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach) carries זבח (z-b-ḥ), the root of slaughter and sacrifice, keeping the altar’s sacrificial function close to the place itself. Here that connection becomes visible as blood is carried to its horns and poured at its foundation.
ALSO GROWS
zavach: To slaughter; to sacrifice.
זָבַח
The verb names the action whose blood is brought to the altar in this verse.
zevach: A sacrifice.
זֶבַח
This branch names the offering whose blood marks the altar from its horns to its foundation.
THE PATTERN
Blood is carried to the altar as life poured out, and scripture repeatedly connects its placement with consecration or cleansing.
You take some of the blood of the young bull, and set it upon the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out all the blood at the foundation of the altar.For the living soul of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make a covering for your living souls, for it is the blood that covers the living soul.And nearly all things are cleansed in blood according to the instruction, and without the pouring out of blood, no release comes.THE THREAD
For the living soul of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make a covering for your living souls, for it is the blood that covers the living soul.Leviticus 17:11 identifies blood with the flesh’s life and says it is given upon the altar for covering. That makes this verse’s gesture concrete: what is named as life placed on the altar touches its horns and is poured at its foundation.
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