Discovery BoxLeviticus 14:30-57
Context14:30 “He will then make one of the turtledoves 1 or young pigeons, which are within his means, 2 14:31 a sin offering and the other a burnt offering along with the grain offering. 3 So the priest is to make atonement for the one being cleansed before the Lord. 14:32 This is the law of the one in whom there is a diseased infection, 4 who does not have sufficient means for his purification.” 5
14:33 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 14:34 “When you enter the land of Canaan which I am about to give 6 to you for a possession, and I put 7 a diseased infection in a house in the land you are to possess, 8 14:35 then whoever owns the house 9 must come and declare to the priest, ‘Something like an infection is visible to me in the house.’ 14:36 Then the priest will command that the house be cleared 10 before the priest enters to examine the infection 11 so that everything in the house 12 does not become unclean, 13 and afterward 14 the priest will enter to examine the house. 14:37 He is to examine the infection, and if 15 the infection in the walls of the house consists of yellowish green or reddish eruptions, 16 and it appears to be deeper than the surface of the wall, 17 14:38 then the priest is to go out of the house to the doorway of the house and quarantine the house for seven days. 18 14:39 The priest must return on the seventh day and examine it, and if 19 the infection has spread in the walls of the house, 14:40 then the priest is to command that the stones that had the infection in them be pulled and thrown 20 outside the city 21 into an unclean place. 14:41 Then he is to have the house scraped 22 all around on the inside, 23 and the plaster 24 which is scraped off 25 must be dumped outside the city 26 into an unclean place. 14:42 They are then to take other stones and replace those stones, 27 and he is to take other plaster and replaster the house.
14:43 “If the infection returns and breaks out in the house after he has pulled out the stones, scraped the house, and it is replastered, 28 14:44 the priest is to come and examine it, and if 29 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, 30 its stones, its wood, and all the plaster of the house, and bring all of it 31 outside the city to an unclean place. 14:46 Anyone who enters 32 the house all the days the priest 33 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 34 and examines it, and the 35 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 36 is to take two birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric, and some twigs of hyssop 37 to decontaminate 38 the house, 14:50 and he is to slaughter one bird into a clay vessel over fresh water. 39 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 40 into the open countryside. So he is to make atonement for the house and it will be clean.
14:54 “This is the law for all diseased infections, for scall, 41 14:55 for the diseased garment, 42 for the house, 43 14:56 for the swelling, 44 for the scab, 45 and for the bright spot, 46 14:57 to teach when something is unclean and when it is clean. 47 This is the law for dealing with infectious disease.” 48
[14:30] 1 tn Heb “the one from the turtledoves.”
[14:30] 2 tc Heb “from which his hand reaches.” The repetition of virtually the same expression at the beginning of v. 31 in the MT is probably due to dittography (cf. the LXX and Syriac). However, the MT may be retained if it is understood as “one of the turtledoves or young pigeons that are within his means – whichever he can afford” (see J. Milgrom’s translation in Leviticus [AB], 1:828, contra his commentary, 862; cf. REB).
[14:31] 3 tn Heb “and the one a burnt offering on the grain offering.”
[14:32] 4 tn Heb “This is the law of who in him [is] a diseased infection.”
[14:32] 5 tn Heb “who his hand does not reach in his purification”; NASB “whose means are limited for his cleansing”; NIV “who cannot afford the regular offerings for his cleansing.”
[14:34] 6 tn Heb “which I am giving” (so NAB, NIV).
[14:34] 8 tn Heb “in the house of the land of your possession” (KJV and ASV both similar).
[14:35] 9 tn Heb “who to him the house.”
[14:36] 10 tn Heb “And the priest shall command and they shall clear the house.” The second verb (“and they shall clear”) states the thrust of the priest’s command, which suggests the translation “that they clear” (cf. also vv. 4a and 5a above), and for the impersonal passive rendering of the active verb (“that the house be cleared”) see the note on v. 4 above.
[14:36] 11 tn Heb “to see the infection”; KJV “to see the plague”; NASB “to look at the mark (mildew NCV).”
[14:36] 12 tn Heb “all which [is] in the house.”
[14:36] 13 sn Once the priest pronounced the house “unclean” everything in it was also officially unclean. Therefore, if they emptied the house of its furniture, etc. before the official pronouncement by the priest those possessions would thereby remain officially “clean” and avoid destruction or purification procedures.
[14:36] 14 tn Heb “and after thus.”
[14:37] 15 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
[14:37] 16 tn For “yellowish green and reddish” see Lev 13:49. The Hebrew term translated “eruptions” occurs only here and its meaning is uncertain. For a detailed summary of the issues and views see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:870. The suggestions include, among others: (1) “depressions” from Hebrew שׁקע (“sink”) or קער as the root of the Hebrew term for “bowl” (LXX, Targums, NAB, NASB, NIV; see also B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 90), (2) “streaks” (ASV, NJPS), (3) and “eruptions” as a loan-word from Egyptian sqr r rwtj (“eruption; rash”); cf. Milgrom, 870; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 198-99. The latter view is taken here.
[14:37] 17 tn The Hebrew term קִיר (qir,“wall”) refers to the surface of the wall in this case, which normally consisted of a coating of plaster made of limestone and sand (see HALOT 1099 s.v. קִיר 1.a; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:871; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 199).
[14:38] 18 tn Heb “and he shall shut up the house seven days.”
[14:39] 19 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “If the mark has indeed spread.”
[14:40] 20 tn Heb “and the priest shall command and they shall pull out the stones which in them is the infection, and they shall cast them.” The second and third verbs (“they shall pull out” and “they shall throw”) state the thrust of the priest’s command, which suggests the translation “that they pull out…and throw” (cf. also vv. 4a, 5a, and 36a above), and for the impersonal passive rendering of the active verb (“be pulled and thrown”) see the note on v. 4 above.
[14:40] 21 tn Heb “into from outside to the city.”
[14:41] 22 tn Or, according to the plurality of the verb in Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Targums, “Then the house shall be scraped” (cf. NAB, NLT, and the note on v. 40).
[14:41] 23 tn Heb “from house all around.”
[14:41] 24 tn Heb “dust” (so KJV) or “rubble”; NIV “the material”; NLT “the scrapings.”
[14:41] 25 tn Heb “which they have scraped off.” The MT term קִיר (qir, “wall” from קָצָה, qatsah, “to cut off”; BDB 892), the original Greek does not have this clause, Smr has הקיצו (with uncertain meaning), and the BHS editors and HALOT 1123-24 s.v. I קצע hif.a suggest emending the verb to הִקְצִעוּ (hiqtsi’u, see the same verb at the beginning of this verse; cf. some Greek
[14:41] 26 tn Heb “into from outside to the city.”
[14:42] 27 tn Heb “and bring into under the stones.”
[14:43] 28 tn Heb “after he has pulled out the stones, and after scraping (variant form of the Hiphil infinitive construct, GKC 531) the house, and after being replastered (Niphal infinitive construct).”
[14:44] 29 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “If he sees that the mark has indeed spread.”
[14:45] 30 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).
[14:45] 31 tn Once again, Smr, LXX, and Syriac have the plural verb, perhaps to be rendered passive, “shall be brought.”
[14:46] 32 tn Heb “the one who comes into.”
[14:46] 33 tn Heb “he,” referring to the priest (see v. 38). The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:48] 34 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.
[14:48] 35 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “and the mark has not indeed spread.”
[14:49] 36 tn The pronoun “he” refers to the priest mentioned in the previous verse.
[14:49] 37 tn Regarding these ritual materials, see the note on v. 4 above.
[14:49] 38 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.
[14:50] 39 tn See the note on v. 5 above.
[14:53] 40 tn Heb “to from outside to the city.”
[14:54] 41 tn Heb “and for the scall”; NASB “a scale”; NIV “any infectious skin disease.” Cf. Lev 13:29-37.
[14:55] 42 sn Cf. Lev 13:47-59.
[14:55] 43 sn Cf. Lev 14:33-53.
[14:56] 44 sn Cf. Lev 13:9-28, 43.
[14:56] 46 sn Cf. Lev 13:4, 18-28, 38-39. For explanations of all these terms for disease in Lev 14:56 see 13:2.
[14:57] 47 tn Heb “to teach in the day of the unclean and in the day of the clean.”
[14:57] 48 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.
