Text -- Leviticus 14:44-57 (NET)

14:44 the priest is to come and examine it, and if the infection has spread in the house, it is a malignant disease in the house. It is unclean. 14:45 He must tear down the house, its stones, its wood, and all the plaster of the house, and bring all of it outside the city to an unclean place. 14:46 Anyone who enters the house all the days the priest has quarantined it will be unclean until evening. 14:47 Anyone who lies down in the house must wash his clothes. Anyone who eats in the house must wash his clothes. 14:48 “If, however, the priest enters and examines it, and the infection has not spread in the house after the house has been replastered, then the priest is to pronounce the house clean because the infection has been healed. 14:49 Then he is to take two birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric, and some twigs of hyssop to decontaminate the house, 14:50 and he is to slaughter one bird into a clay vessel over fresh water. 14:51 He must then take the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, the scrap of crimson fabric, and the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 14:52 So he is to decontaminate the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, and the scrap of crimson fabric, 14:53 and he is to send the live bird away outside the city into the open countryside. So he is to make atonement for the house and it will be clean.

Summary of Purification Regulations for Infections

14:54 “This is the law for all diseased infections, for scall, 14:55 for the diseased garment, for the house, 14:56 for the swelling, for the scab, and for the bright spot, 14:57 to teach when something is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law for dealing with infectious disease.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Lev 14:44

¹ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “If he sees that the mark has indeed spread.”

NET Notes: Lev 14:45

¹ tn Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have the plural verb, perhaps suggesting a passive translation, “The house…shall be torn down” (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT, and see the note on v. 4b above).

² tn Once again, Smr, LXX, and Syriac have the plural verb, perhaps to be rendered passive, “shall be brought.”

NET Notes: Lev 14:46

¹ tn Heb “the one who comes into.”

² tn Heb “he,” referring to the priest (see v. 38). The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Lev 14:48

¹ tn Heb “And if the priest entering [infinitive absolute] enters [finite verb]” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.

² tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “and the mark has not indeed spread.”

NET Notes: Lev 14:49

¹ tn The pronoun “he” refers to the priest mentioned in the previous verse.

² tn Regarding these ritual materials, see the note on v. 4 above.

³ tn Regarding the Piel of חָטָא (khata’, cf. v. 52) meaning to “decontaminate” or “perform a decontamination,” see the notes on Lev 8:15 and 9:15.

sn In Lev 8:15, for example, the “sin offering” is used to “decontaminate” the burnt offering altar. As argued above (see the note on v. 7 above), these ritual materials and the procedures performed with them do not constitute a “sin offering” (contrast vv. 19 and 31 above). In fact, no sin offering was required for the purification of a house.

NET Notes: Lev 14:50

¹ tn See the note on v. 5 above.

NET Notes: Lev 14:53

¹ tn Heb “to from outside to the city.”

NET Notes: Lev 14:54

¹ tn Heb “and for the scall”; NASB “a scale”; NIV “any infectious skin disease.” Cf. Lev 13:29-37.

NET Notes: Lev 14:55

¹ sn Cf. Lev 13:47-59.

² sn Cf. Lev 14:33-53.

NET Notes: Lev 14:56

¹ sn Cf. Lev 13:9-28, 43.

² sn Cf. Lev 13:2.

³ sn Cf. Lev 13:4, 18-28, 38-39. For explanations of all these terms for disease in Lev 14:56 see 13:2.

NET Notes: Lev 14:57

¹ tn Heb “to teach in the day of the unclean and in the day of the clean.”

² tn Heb “This is the law of the disease.” Some English versions specify this as “skin disease” (e.g., NIV, NLT), but then have to add “and (+ infectious NLT) mildew” (so NIV) because a house would not be infected with a skin disease.

sn For an explanation of the term “disease” see Lev 13:2.