What Does Numbers 18:9 Mean?
This shall be yours of the most set-apart things, kept from the fire. Every drawing near of theirs, every gift of theirs, and every offering for the falling short of theirs, and every guilt offering of theirs, which they bring back to me, shall be most set apart for you and for your sons.
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
This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.THE KEY
The offering that draws near to God is also set apart from the fire as a holy portion for the priests and their sons.
THE MEANING
The verse holds two movements together: an offering draws near to God, and a portion is reserved from the fire for the priests and their sons. Its sacred designation stays with the share they receive, so provision and holiness occupy the same portion.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the assumption that what is given to God disappears entirely in the fire: a portion remains set apart for the priests and their sons.
THE ROOT
קָרְבָּן
qorbān
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־ב
q-r-b
To approach or draw near.
“drawing near of theirs” in this verse is qorbān. The Hebrew word rendered “oblation” is korban, a thing brought near. The verse presents the offering as movement toward nearness, and the portion reserved from the fire carries that dedicated nearness into the priests’ share.
ALSO GROWS
qārab: to approach, draw near
קָרַב
This verb names the movement held inside korban: the offering is something brought near.
qārōb: near, close
קָרוֹב
This branch makes the root’s spatial sense visible: the offering belongs to a language of closeness.
qorbān: an offering, something brought near
קָרְבָּן
This is the word in the verse; its root lets “oblation” carry the meaning of approach as well as gift.
קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים
qōdesh qodāshīm
GROWS FROM
ק־ד־שׁ
q-d-sh
To set apart, mark as belonging to a sacred purpose.
“most set-apart things” in this verse is qōdesh qodāshīm. The phrase literally intensifies the idea of what is set apart: “holy of holies.” That status applies to the portion assigned to the priests and their sons, so receiving it does not make it ordinary.
ALSO GROWS
qādōsh: set apart, holy
קָדוֹשׁ
This describes the set-apart quality that remains attached to the portion.
miqdāsh: sanctuary, a set-apart place
מִקְדָּשׁ
The sanctuary branch shows how the root can mark a place as set apart, just as this verse marks a portion.
qiddēsh: to set apart, consecrate
קִדֵּשׁ
This verb expresses the act behind the designation: the share is assigned a distinct sacred status.
THE PATTERN
What is set apart for sacred service can also become provision for those who serve.
The priests, the Levites, all the tribe of Levi, have no portion nor inheritance with Israel; they eat the LORD's offerings of fire, and his inheritance.Do you not know that those who serve the set-apart things eat from the temple, and those who sit beside the altar share with the altar?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.“Oblation” is korban, from the root qarab, “to draw near”; Psalm 73:28 uses that same root for drawing near to God. The root shows the offering’s movement toward nearness, while Numbers names the set-apart share that comes with 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