What Does Numbers 7:42 Mean?
On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, lifted one of the children of Gad, brought near his offering.
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
On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered:THE KEY
The verse’s gift is a drawing near, while its “prince” is a raised one whose root also means to bear.
THE MEANING
This verse gives nearness a concrete shape: the offering comes through a representative named for the people. The title “prince” carries both the sense of being raised and of bearing, so the approach unfolds within a shared life.
THE ROOT
קָרְבָּנוֹ
qorbānō
GROWS FROM
קרב
Draw near; approach.
“brought near his offering” in this verse is qorbānō. The Hebrew noun for “his offering” appears in the next line, where the KJV’s “offered” anticipates it. Its root makes the gift itself an approach: what is brought carries nearness in its name.
ALSO GROWS
qarav: Draw near; approach.
קָרַב
This verb names the movement held inside the offering.
qarov: Near; close.
קָרוֹב
The same root links the act of bringing an offering with the state of being near.
qorbān: Offering; that which is brought near.
קָרְבָּן
This is the noun behind the offering in the following line.
נְשִׂיא
nasi
GROWS FROM
נשא
Lift, carry, bear.
“lifted one” in this verse is nasi. The title translated “prince” comes from a root that also means to lift and bear. English preserves the elevated rank; the root also lets the title open toward the weight carried within leadership.
ALSO GROWS
nasa: Lift, carry, bear.
נָשָׂא
This root gives the title “prince” its sense of being raised and bearing.
massa: A load or burden.
מַשָּׂא
This branch makes the root’s sense of bearing tangible.
THE PATTERN
Scripture uses nearness both for the gift brought toward God and for the person approaching God.
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.But for me, drawing near to God is good; I have set my shelter in the Lord LORD, to recount all your works.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
But for me, drawing near to God is good; I have set my shelter in the Lord LORD, to recount all your works.The Hebrew word for “draw near” here and the word for offering grow from the same root, קרב. The shared seed holds the gift and the movement of approaching together.
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