What Does Numbers 7:48 Mean?
On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, lifted one of the children of Ephraim, 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 seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, offered:THE KEY
The Hebrew verb translated “offered” means “brought near,” so the gift is also an act of approach.
THE MEANING
The verse presents an offering as an arrival: what is given is brought near. Elishama’s name means “God has heard,” setting hearing beside approach, the one who comes near and the One who hears.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It loosens the belief that an offering is merely something handed over: the verb also carries the sense of bringing near.
THE ROOT
הִקְרִיב
hiqriv
GROWS FROM
קרב
q-r-b
Approach; come near.
“brought near his offering” in this verse is hiqriv. The verb is a causative form of this root: Elishama brings the gift near. The Hebrew word for an offering grows from the same root, joining the act and the gift in one idea of approach.
ALSO GROWS
qārab: To come near or draw near.
קָרַב
This is the root’s basic movement, which the offering enacts.
qorbān: An offering; something brought near.
קָרְבָּן
The noun for the gift shares the verb’s root, so offering and approach belong to the same word-family.
אֱלִישָׁמָע
ʾElīšāmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
š-m-ʿ
Hear; listen; respond to what is heard.
Elishama’s name carries the words “God has heard.” Beside the gift being brought near, the name makes hearing part of the scene: approach meets the assurance of being heard.
ALSO GROWS
šāmaʿ: To hear or listen.
שָׁמַע
This verb gives Elishama’s name its sense of hearing.
shemaʿ: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
The name’s root can hold hearing that receives and answers, echoing the offering’s movement toward God.
נָשִׂיא
nāśîʾ
GROWS FROM
נשׂא
n-ś-ʾ
Lift; carry; take up.
“lifted one” in this verse is nāśîʾ. The title comes from a root of lifting and carrying, giving leadership a concrete shape. Here the one elevated among the people stands beside the act of bringing an offering near.
ALSO GROWS
nāśāʾ: To lift, carry, or take up.
נָשָׂא
This is the action-root behind the title, suggesting a leader who bears responsibility.
maśśāʾ: A load or burden.
מַשָּׂא
This related word makes the root’s carrying sense visible alongside the prince’s role.
THE PATTERN
Drawing near to God takes shape as an approach, whether a gift is brought or a person comes near with heart and body.
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
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.The Hebrew for “offered” in Numbers and “bring an offering” in Leviticus share the root of coming near. The repeated offerings become repeated approaches, rather than disconnected entries in a list.
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