The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Cleansing from Skin Diseases
Leviticus 14:1–32 — Cleansing from Skin Diseases. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1Then the LORD said to Moses,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
Yah·weh way·ḏab·bêr ’el- mō·šeh lê·mōr
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And spoke the LORD to Moses, saying,
Where the English smooths the original
The regulations for the purification of the leper are delivered to Moses alone, who is to communicate them to Aaron and his sons, whilst the rules by which the distemper is to be discerned were given both to Moses and Aaron.
The whole treatment of leprosy is parabolic. Leprosy itself is a ‘parable of death.’ The horrible loathsomeness, the contagiousness, the non-curableness, etc. So the man was shut out from camp and from sanctuary.Maclaren names the governing key for the whole chapter.
As leprosy, regarded as a decomposition of the vital juices, and as putrefaction in a living body, was an image of death, and like this introduced the same dissolution and destruction of life into the corporeal sphere which sin introduced into the spiritual
2“This is the law for the one afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing, when he is brought to the priest.
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zōṯ tih·yeh tō·w·raṯ ham·mə·ṣō·rā‘ bə·yō·wm ṭā·ho·rā·ṯōw wə·hū·ḇā ’el- hak·kō·hên
Literal — word-for-word from the original
This shall be the law of the one-being-leprous in the day of his cleansing: and-he-shall-be-brought to the priest.
Where the English smooths the original
It was this coming to the priest to which Christ referred when He said to the leper whom He had healed, “Go, show thyself to the priest, and ofter the gift that Moses commanded” ( Matthew 8:4 ).Ellicott binds the chapter forward to the Gospels.
The priest formally examined the leper outside the camp, and made up his mind that he was clean.
As the leper was an emblem of a polluted sinner, the priest was a type of Christ, to whom leprous sinners must be brought for cleansing; they cannot come of themselves to him, that is, believe in him, except it be given unto themGill reads the passive "he shall be brought" as drawing grace.
3The priest is to go outside the camp to examine him, and if the skin disease of the afflicted person has healed,
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hak·kō·hên ’el- wə·yā·ṣā mi·ḥūṣ lam·ma·ḥă·neh wə·rā·’āh hak·kō·hên wə·hin·nêh haṣ·ṣā·ra·‘aṯ min- haṣ·ṣā·rū·a‘ nir·pā ne·ḡa‘-
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-go-out the priest to outside the camp, and-shall-look the priest, and behold, the leprosy has-been-healed from the leprous one,
Where the English smooths the original
On the day of his purification the priest was to examine the leper outside the camp; and if he found the leprosy cured and gone
for God alone did heal or cleanse him really, the priest only ministerially and declarativelyPoole on the priest's certifying, not curing, office.
May we not (as Hesychius suggests) see a figure here of the compassion of our Great High Priest, who has gone forth out of heaven itself, the camp of angel hosts, and has come down to earth, not only to examine but to heal the moral leprosy of sin, 'to seek and to save the lost'The Pulpit Commentary here cites Wordsworth citing Hesychius; the going-out-of-the-camp read as the Incarnation is an ancient figural reading, not a claim of the text — weigh it as such.
4the priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed.
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hak·kō·hên wə·ṣiw·wāh šə·tê- ḥay·yō·wṯ ṭə·hō·rō·wṯ ṣip·po·rîm ’e·rez wə·‘êṣ ū·šə·nî ṯō·w·la·‘aṯ wə·’ê·zōḇ wə·lā·qaḥ lam·miṭ·ṭa·hêr
Literal — word-for-word from the original
then-shall-command the priest, and-he-shall-take for the one-being-cleansed two birds, living, clean, and-wood-of cedar, and crimson-of worm, and hyssop.
Where the English smooths the original
Cedar seems to be chosen, to denote that the leper was now freed from that corruption which his leprosy had brought upon him, that kind of wood being in a manner incorruptible. Scarlet — A thread of wool of a scarlet colour, to represent both the leper’s sinfulness, and the blood of Christ
From 1 Kings 4:33 it appears that cedar and hyssop were regarded as two extremes in respect of size among treesThe cedar–hyssop pair spans the whole vegetable kingdom.
These three substances were used as the common materials in rites of purification (compare Exodus 12:22 ; Numbers 19:8 ; Psalm 51:7 ; Hebrews 9:19 )
A stick of this shrub was bound to a bunch of hyssop by a scarlet ribbon, and the living bird was to be so attached to it, that when they dipped the branches in the water, the tail of the bird might also be moistened, but not the head nor the wings, that it might not be impeded in its flight when let loose.
5Then the priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot.
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hak·kō·hên wə·ṣiw·wāh hā·’e·ḥāṯ haṣ·ṣip·pō·wr wə·šā·ḥaṭ ’eṯ- ‘al- ḥay·yîm ma·yim ’el- ḥe·reś kə·lî-
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-command the priest, and-he-shall-slaughter the bird, the one, into a vessel-of clay over living water.
Where the English smooths the original
The two birds were symbols of the person to be cleansed. The one let loose into the open country is regarded by all the commentators as a symbolical representation of the fact, that the former leper was now imbued with new vital energy, and released from the fetters of his disease
Thus the blood of the bird and the water were mixed together, partly for the convenience of sprinkling, and partly to signify Christ, who came by water and blood, 1 John 5:6 .
the killing of this bird may have respect to the sufferings, death, and bloodshed of Christ, which were necessary for the purging and cleansing of leprous sinners, and which were endured in his human nature, comparable to an earthen vesselGill reads the clay vessel as Christ's mortal body.
6And he is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water.
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’eṯ- yiq·qaḥ ’ō·ṯāh wə·’eṯ- ha·ḥay·yāh haṣ·ṣip·pōr hā·’e·rez wə·’eṯ- ‘êṣ šə·nî hat·tō·w·la·‘aṯ wə·’eṯ- hā·’ê·zōḇ wə·ṭā·ḇal ’ō·w·ṯām wə·’êṯ bə·ḏam haṣ·ṣip·pōr haṣ·ṣip·pōr haš·šə·ḥu·ṭāh ‘al ha·ḥay·yāh ha·ḥay·yîm ham·ma·yim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
The bird, the living one — he shall take it, and the cedar-wood, and the crimson-of-worm, and the hyssop, and he shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird, the slaughtered one, over the living water.
Where the English smooths the original
With the crimson thread the priest tied together lengthwise the bundle of hyssop and the cedar wood, extended about them the wings and the tail of the living bird, and then dipped all the four in the mixture of blood and water which was in the earthen vessel.
the dipping of this living bird in the blood of the slain one denotes the union of the two natures in Christ, divine and human, and which union remained at the death of ChristGill's reading is novel and figural — weigh it accordingly.
7Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the skin disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and release the live bird into the open field.
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še·ḇa‘ pə·‘ā·mîm wə·hiz·zāh ‘al ham·miṭ·ṭa·hêr min- haṣ·ṣā·ra·‘aṯ wə·ṭi·hă·rōw wə·šil·laḥ ’eṯ- ha·ḥay·yāh haṣ·ṣip·pōr ‘al- pə·nê haś·śā·ḏeh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-he-shall-sprinkle on the one-being-cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and-he-shall-pronounce-him-clean, and-he-shall-send-away the bird, the living one, upon the face of the field.
Where the English smooths the original
Seven times - The seal of the covenant, expressed in the number seven (compare Leviticus 14:9 ), was renewed in sprinkling him who, during his leprosy, had lived as an outcast.
The deathly and unclean state of the leper having been symbolically transferred from the dead bird to the living bird by the latter's being sprinkled in the former's blood, the living bird stands in the position of the scapegoat, on whom the sins of the people were laid.
The similarity between the two birds and the two goats brought on the Day of Atonement has been noted by Jewish and Christian commentators; it is necessary to point out the differences.Cambridge presses the differences from Lev 16, not just the likeness.
The release of the bird symbolised the freedom restored to the patient, who, like the bird, was now at liberty to go where he liked without any restraint.
8The one being cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; then he will be ceremonially clean. Afterward, he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days.
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ham·miṭ·ṭa·hêr ’eṯ- wə·ḵib·bes bə·ḡā·ḏāw wə·ḡil·laḥ ’eṯ- kāl- śə·‘ā·rōw wə·rā·ḥaṣ bam·ma·yim wə·ṭā·hêr wə·’a·ḥar yā·ḇō·w ’el- ham·ma·ḥă·neh wə·yā·šaḇ mi·ḥūṣ lə·’ā·ho·lōw šiḇ·‘aṯ yā·mîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-wash the one-being-cleansed his garments, and-shall-shave-off all his hair, and-shall-bathe in the water, and-he-shall-be-clean. And-afterward he-shall-come into the camp, but-he-shall-dwell outside his tent seven days.
Where the English smooths the original
But though permitted to return to the camp, yet he had to live the first week out of his own house.
Shave off all his hair; partly, to discover his perfect soundness; partly, to preserve him from relapse through any seeds or relics of it which might remain in his hair, or in his clothes; and partly, to teach him to put off his old lusts, and become a new man.
But he had still to remain outside his tent for seven days, not only because he did not yet feel himself at home in the congregation, or because he was still to retain the consciousness that something else was wanting before he could be fully restored
9On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean.
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haš·šə·ḇî·‘î ḇay·yō·wm wə·hā·yāh yə·ḡal·laḥ ’eṯ- kāl- śə·‘ā·rōw ’eṯ- rō·šōw wə·’eṯ- zə·qā·nōw wə·’êṯ gab·bōṯ ‘ê·nāw wə·’eṯ- kāl- śə·‘ā·rōw yə·ḡal·lê·aḥ wə·ḵib·bes ’eṯ- bə·ḡā·ḏāw wə·rā·ḥaṣ ’eṯ- bə·śā·rōw bam·ma·yim wə·ṭā·hêr
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-it-shall-be on the day, the seventh, he-shall-shave all his hair — his head, and his beard, and the brows-of his eyes, and all his hair he-shall-shave — and-he-shall-wash his garments, and-he-shall-bathe his flesh in the water, and-he-shall-be-clean.
Where the English smooths the original
The second act ( Leviticus 14:9-20 ) effected his restoration to fellowship with Jehovah, and his admission to the sanctuary. It commenced on the seventh day after the first with a fresh purification
The best of all types of the healing of the Spirit, was the healing of the leper.
He shall be clean — Legally declared so to be, so as to be readmitted both to his family and the public worship.
10On the eighth day he is to bring two unblemished male lambs, an unblemished ewe lamb a year old, a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one log of olive oil.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
haš·šə·mî·nî ū·ḇay·yō·wm yiq·qaḥ šə·nê- tə·mî·mîm ḵə·ḇā·śîm ’a·ḥaṯ tə·mî·māh wə·ḵaḇ·śāh baṯ- šə·nā·ṯāh min·ḥāh ū·šə·lō·šāh ‘eś·rō·nîm sō·leṯ bə·lū·lāh ḇaš·še·men ’e·ḥāḏ wə·lōḡ šā·men
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-on-the-day, the eighth, he-shall-take two lambs unblemished, and one ewe-lamb daughter-of-her-year unblemished, and three tenths fine-flour, a-grain-offering, mixed with the oil, and one log-of oil.
Where the English smooths the original
He was presented before the Lord by the priest that made him clean. And hence it has always been reckoned among pious people the first duty of a patient newly restored from a long and dangerous sickness to repair to the church to offer his thanksgiving
On the eighth day there followed a sacrificial expiation; and for this the person to be expiated was to bring two sheep without blemish, a ewe-lamb of a year old, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a meat-offering, and a log
Leprosy was the type of sin - or all sin whatsoever. When, therefore, the expiatory sacrifices were demanded, both kinds - the trespass offering and the sin offering - had to be offered, because expiation had to be made for the uncleanness which represented all unrighteousness - trespasses as well as sins.The Pulpit Commentary answers the puzzle of why a healed leper owes a trespass-offering: leprosy figures the whole of sin, so the full expiatory apparatus is required.
11The priest who performs the cleansing shall present the one to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
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hak·kō·hên ham·ṭa·hêr ’êṯ wə·he·‘ĕ·mîḏ hā·’îš ham·miṭ·ṭa·hêr wə·’ō·ṯām lip̄·nê Yah·weh pe·ṯaḥ ’ō·hel mō·w·‘êḏ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-present the priest, the one-cleansing, the man, the one-being-cleansed, and them, before the LORD, at the entrance of the Tent-of Meeting.
Where the English smooths the original
where his body and soul, in order to be an acceptable offering, must be presented by our great Priest, whose blood alone makes any clean.
the ceremonial cleansing or making of him clean and fit for society was an act of the priest using the rites which God had prescribed, whereby the sinner was cleansed.
12Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and present it as a guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil; and he must wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.
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hak·kō·hên ’eṯ- wə·lā·qaḥ hā·’e·ḥāḏ hak·ke·ḇeś wə·hiq·rîḇ ’ō·ṯōw lə·’ā·šām wə·’eṯ- lōḡ haš·šā·men wə·hê·nîp̄ ’ō·ṯām tə·nū·p̄āh lip̄·nê Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-take the priest the lamb, the one, and-shall-present it for a guilt-offering, and the log-of the oil, and-shall-wave them a wave-offering before the LORD.
Where the English smooths the original
both the trespass offering and the oil were waved by the priest, which did not take place on any other occasion in connection with the trespass offering and sin offering. Indeed, in no other case was the entire victim waved before the Lord.Ellicott on the rite's unique waving of the whole victim.
The one lamb was then offered by the priest as a trespass-offering, together with the log of oil; and both of these were waves by him. By the waving, which did not take place on other occasions in connection with sin-offerings and trespass-offerings, the lamb and oil were transferred symbolically to the Lord
13Then he is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy.
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wə·šā·ḥaṭ ’eṯ- hak·ke·ḇeś haq·qō·ḏeš bim·qō·wm bim·qō·wm ’ă·šer ha·ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ wə·’eṯ- hā·‘ō·lāh yiš·ḥaṭ ’eṯ- kî ka·ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ hā·’ā·šām lak·kō·hên hū qō·ḏeš qā·ḏā·šîm hū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-he-shall-slaughter the lamb in the place where he-slaughters the sin-offering and the burnt-offering, in the holy place; for like the sin-offering the guilt-offering — to the priest it is — holy-of holies it is.
Where the English smooths the original
It is most holy; both of them are equally holy, and therefore to be offered in the same place.
it is most holy; which is the reason why none else might eat of it, typical of Christ the most Holy, whose flesh is only eaten by true believers in him, made priests unto God by him.
in the place of the sanctuary ] i.e. in the court, not in the tabernacle.
14The priest is to take some of the blood from the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
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hak·kō·hên wə·lā·qaḥ mid·dam hā·’ā·šām wə·nā·ṯan hak·kō·hên ‘al- hay·mā·nîṯ ’ō·zen tə·nūḵ ham·miṭ·ṭa·hêr wə·‘al- bō·hen hay·mā·nîṯ yā·ḏōw wə·‘al- bō·hen hay·mā·nîṯ raḡ·lōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-take the priest from the blood of the guilt-offering, and-shall-put the priest upon the lobe-of the ear of the right, of the one-being-cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big-toe of his right foot.
Where the English smooths the original
the priest put some of its blood upon the tip of the right ear, the right thumb, and the great toe of the right foot of the person to be consecrated, in order that the organ of hearing, with which he hearkened to the word of the Lord, and those used in acting and walking according to His commandments, might thereby be sanctified through the power of the atoning blood of the sacrifice; just as in the dedication of the priests
the ear, the thumb, and the great toe are selected for the purpose of showing, as in the case of the consecration of the priest, that the senses and the active powers of the restored Israelite must be dedicated hence, forth to God.
In the same way, and with the same significance as in Leviticus 8:23 .
15Then the priest shall take some of the log of olive oil, pour it into his left palm,
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hak·kō·hên wə·lā·qaḥ mil·lōḡ haš·šā·men wə·yā·ṣaq ‘al- hak·kō·hên haś·śə·mā·lîṯ kap̄
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-take the priest from the log-of the oil, and-shall-pour upon the palm-of the priest, the left.
Where the English smooths the original
Wherever the blood of Christ is applied for justification, the oil of the Spirit is applied for sanctification; these two cannot be separated.Henry's note governs the whole blood-then-oil sequence of vv. 14–18.
The priest then poured some oil out of the log into the hollow of his left hand, and dipping the finger of his right hand in the oil, sprinkled it seven times before Jehovah, i.e., before the altar of burnt-offering, to consecrate the oil to God
16dip his right forefinger into the oil in his left palm, and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.
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hak·kō·hên ’eṯ- wə·ṭā·ḇal hay·mā·nîṯ ’eṣ·bā·‘ōw min- haš·še·men ’ă·šer ‘al- haś·śə·mā·lîṯ kap·pōw wə·hiz·zāh min- haš·še·men bə·’eṣ·bā·‘ōw še·ḇa‘ pə·‘ā·mîm lip̄·nê Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-dip the priest his finger, the right, from the oil that is upon his palm, the left, and-shall-sprinkle from the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.
Where the English smooths the original
the officiating priest, turning his face to the Holy of Holies, dipped his right finger in the oil, and sprinkled it seven times upon the floor of the court, which was understood to mean “before the Lord,”
dipping the finger of his right hand in the oil, sprinkled it seven times before Jehovah, i.e., before the altar of burnt-offering, to consecrate the oil to God, and sanctify it for further use.
17And the priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên yit·tên ‘al- haš·še·men ’ă·šer ū·mî·ye·ṯer ‘al- kap·pōw hay·mā·nîṯ ’ō·zen tə·nūḵ ham·miṭ·ṭa·hêr wə·‘al- bō·hen hay·mā·nîṯ yā·ḏōw wə·‘al- bō·hen hay·mā·nîṯ raḡ·lōw ‘al dam hā·’ā·šām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-from the rest-of the oil that is upon his palm, the priest shall-put upon the lobe-of the ear of the right, of the one-being-cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big-toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the guilt-offering.
Where the English smooths the original
this shows that the blood of Christ, is the foundation of men's receiving the grace of the Spirit, and that it is owing to that it is bestowed upon them; the application of his grace follows redemption by the blood of Christ
the officiating priest put it on those parts of the convalescent’s body on which he had previously put blood, so that the oil now actually was “upon the blood of the trespass offering,” on the tip of the ear, the thumb, and the toe of the cleansed leper.
18The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.
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wə·han·nō·w·ṯār baš·še·men ’ă·šer ‘al- kap̄ hak·kō·hên yit·tên ‘al- rōš ham·miṭ·ṭa·hêr hak·kō·hên wə·ḵip·per ‘ā·lāw lip̄·nê Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the rest of the oil that is upon the palm-of the priest, he-shall-put upon the head of the one-being-cleansed, and-shall-make-atonement for him before the LORD.
Where the English smooths the original
According to the canons which obtained during the second Temple, it was the act of putting the oil on the several organs, but more especially on the head, which effected the atonement of the restored leper.
he then poured the remainder upon the head of the person to be consecrated, and so made atonement for him before Jehovah.
this may denote either the blessings of grace on the head of the righteous, or that a man's head should be sanctified
19Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên ’eṯ- wə·‘ā·śāh ha·ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ wə·ḵip·per ‘al- ham·miṭ·ṭa·hêr miṭ·ṭum·’ā·ṯōw wə·’a·ḥar yiš·ḥaṭ ’eṯ- hā·‘ō·lāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-perform the priest the sin-offering, and-shall-make-atonement for the one-being-cleansed from his uncleanness; and-afterward he-shall-slaughter the burnt-offering.
Where the English smooths the original
the priest could proceed to make expiation for him with the sin-offering, for which the ewe-lamb was brought, "on account of his uncleanness," i.e., on account of the sin which still adhered to him as well as to all the other members of the covenant nation, and which had come outwardly to light in the uncleanness of his leprosy
The sin offering is due, according to the regulation given in chapter Leviticus 5:3, in consequence of the man having been in a state of uncleanness. It is followed by the burnt offering and the meat offering, and then the man is restored to his state of legal cleanness, and of communion with God as well as with his fellows
20and offer it on the altar, with the grain offering, to make atonement for him, and he will be clean.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên ’eṯ- wə·he·‘ĕ·lāh hā·‘ō·lāh ham·miz·bê·ḥāh wə·’eṯ- ham·min·ḥāh hak·kō·hên wə·ḵip·per ‘ā·lāw wə·ṭā·hêr
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-offer-up the priest the burnt-offering and the grain-offering upon the altar; and-shall-make-atonement for him the priest, and-he-shall-be-clean.
Where the English smooths the original
The cleansed leper was now in a position to avail himself of the accustomed law of sacrifice as one completely restored.
he presented his burnt-offering and meat-offering, which embodied the sanctification of all his members to the service of the Lord, and the performance of works well-pleasing to Him.
and he shall be clean; in a typical and ceremonial sense.Gill is careful to bound the cleanness as "typical and ceremonial."
21If, however, the person is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’im- hū dal wə·’ên yā·ḏōw maś·śe·ḡeṯ wə·lā·qaḥ ’e·ḥāḏ ke·ḇeś ’ā·šām liṯ·nū·p̄āh lə·ḵap·pêr ‘ā·lāw wə·‘iś·śā·rō·wn sō·leṯ ’e·ḥāḏ bā·lūl baš·še·men lə·min·ḥāh wə·lōḡ šā·men
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if poor he is, and his hand cannot-reach, then-he-shall-take one lamb, a guilt-offering for waving, to make-atonement for him, and one tenth fine-flour mixed with oil for a grain-offering, and a log-of oil,
Where the English smooths the original
22and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·šə·tê ṯō·rîm ’ōw šə·nê bə·nê yō·w·nāh ’ă·šer taś·śîḡ yā·ḏōw ’e·ḥāḏ wə·hā·yāh ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ wə·hā·’e·ḥāḏ ‘ō·lāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
and two turtledoves or two sons-of a pigeon, whichever his hand can-reach, and-it-shall-be the one a sin-offering and the other a burnt-offering.
Where the English smooths the original
But though a meaner sacrifice was accepted from the poor, yet the same ceremony was used for the rich; their souls are as precious, and Christ and his gospel are the same to both.
so that the poor man had as many offerings for his atonement and cleansing as the rich, and his expiation and purgation were as complete as theirs.
23On the eighth day he is to bring them for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
haš·šə·mî·nî bay·yō·wm wə·hê·ḇî ’ō·ṯām lə·ṭā·ho·rā·ṯōw ’el- hak·kō·hên ’el- pe·ṯaḥ ’ō·hel- mō·w·‘êḏ lip̄·nê Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-he-shall-bring them on the day, the eighth, for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the Tent-of Meeting, before the LORD.
Where the English smooths the original
The blood of their smaller offering was to be applied in the same process of purification and they were as publicly and completely cleansed as those who brought a costlier offering (Ac 10:34).JFB's note spans the poor-leper section, vv. 21–32.
signifying that they are not exempt from duty, or abridged of any privilege on account of poverty; the persons and services of the people of God being equally acceptable to him, whether rich or poor.
24The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên ’eṯ- wə·lā·qaḥ ke·ḇeś hā·’ā·šām wə·’eṯ- lōḡ haš·šā·men wə·hê·nîp̄ ’ō·ṯām hak·kō·hên tə·nū·p̄āh lip̄·nê Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-take the priest the lamb-of the guilt-offering and the log-of the oil, and-shall-wave them the priest a wave-offering before the LORD.
Where the English smooths the original
The ritual for the poor man’s sacrifices, however, is the same as that which is prescribed for the rich man. The solemnity and imposing nature of the service is not diminished, as both rich and poor are alike in the presence of the Lord.
the priest shall {h} wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: (h) Or, shall offer them as the offering that is shaken to and fro.Geneva's marginal gloss on the wave offering.
25And after he slaughters the lamb for the guilt offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·šā·ḥaṭ ’eṯ- ke·ḇeś hā·’ā·šām hak·kō·hên wə·lā·qaḥ mid·dam hā·’ā·šām wə·nā·ṯan ‘al- hay·mā·nîṯ tə·nūḵ ’ō·zen- ham·miṭ·ṭa·hêr wə·‘al- bō·hen hay·mā·nîṯ yā·ḏōw wə·‘al- bō·hen hay·mā·nîṯ raḡ·lōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-he-shall-slaughter the lamb-of the guilt-offering, and-shall-take the priest from the blood of the guilt-offering, and-shall-put upon the lobe-of the ear of the right, of the one-being-cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big-toe of his right foot.
Where the English smooths the original
That blood seems to have been a token of forgiveness, the oil of healing; for God first forgiveth our iniquities, and then healeth our diseases. When the leper was anointed, the oil was to have blood under it, to signify that all the graces and comforts of the Spirit, all his sanctifying influences, are owing to the death of Christ.Benson on the order: forgiveness (blood) beneath healing (oil).
the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot
26Then the priest is to pour some of the oil into his left palm
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên yi·ṣōq ū·min- haš·še·men ‘al- hak·kō·hên haś·śə·mā·lîṯ kap̄
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-from the oil the priest shall-pour upon the palm-of the priest, the left.
Where the English smooths the original
27and sprinkle with his right forefinger some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên wə·hiz·zāh hay·mā·nîṯ bə·’eṣ·bā·‘ōw min- haš·še·men ’ă·šer ‘al- haś·śə·mā·lîṯ kap·pōw še·ḇa‘ pə·‘ā·mîm lip̄·nê Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-sprinkle the priest with his finger, the right, from the oil that is upon his palm, the left, seven times before the LORD.
Where the English smooths the original
In cases of poverty on the part of the person to be consecrated, the burnt-offering and sin-offering were reduced to a pair of turtle-doves or young pigeons, and the meat-offering to a tenth of an ephah of meal and oilKeil names exactly which offerings the poverty-clause reduces — and, by omission, which it does not (the trespass-lamb and log of oil).
And the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the LORD
28The priest shall also put some of the oil in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot—on the same places as the blood of the guilt offering.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên wə·nā·ṯan min- haš·še·men ’ă·šer ‘al- kap·pōw ‘al- hay·mā·nîṯ tə·nūḵ ’ō·zen ham·miṭ·ṭa·hêr wə·‘al- bō·hen hay·mā·nîṯ yā·ḏōw wə·‘al- bō·hen hay·mā·nîṯ raḡ·lōw ‘al- mə·qō·wm dam hā·’ā·šām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-shall-put the priest from the oil that is upon his palm upon the lobe-of the ear of the right, of the one-being-cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big-toe of his right foot, upon the place-of the blood of the guilt-offering.
Where the English smooths the original
29The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·han·nō·w·ṯār min- haš·še·men ’ă·šer ‘al- kap̄ hak·kō·hên yit·tên ‘al- rōš ham·miṭ·ṭa·hêr lə·ḵap·pêr ‘ā·lāw lip̄·nê Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the rest of the oil that is upon the palm-of the priest, he-shall-put upon the head of the one-being-cleansed, to make-atonement for him before the LORD.
Where the English smooths the original
The ewe lamb was now offered in his behalf as a sin-offering, one of the young rams as a burnt-offering, and the fine flour mingled with oil as a meat-offering.
And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make an atonement for him before the LORD.
30Then he must sacrifice the turtledoves or young pigeons, whichever he can afford,
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·‘ā·śāh ’eṯ- hā·’e·ḥāḏ min- hat·tō·rîm ’ōw min- bə·nê hay·yō·w·nāh mê·’ă·šer taś·śîḡ yā·ḏōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-he-shall-perform the one of the turtledoves, or of the sons-of the pigeon, from-whichever his hand can-reach,
Where the English smooths the original
31one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the LORD for the one to be cleansed.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’êṯ ’ă·šer- taś·śîḡ yā·ḏōw ’eṯ- hā·’e·ḥāḏ ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ wə·’eṯ- hā·’e·ḥāḏ ‘ō·lāh ‘al- ham·min·ḥāh hak·kō·hên wə·ḵip·per lip̄·nê Yah·weh ‘al ham·miṭ·ṭa·hêr
Literal — word-for-word from the original
whichever his hand can-reach — the one a sin-offering and the other a burnt-offering, together-with the grain-offering; and-shall-make-atonement the priest for the one-being-cleansed before the LORD.
Where the English smooths the original
32This is the law for someone who has a skin disease and cannot afford the cost of his cleansing.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
zōṯ tō·w·raṯ ’ă·šer- bōw ne·ḡa‘ ṣā·rā·‘aṯ ’ă·šer lō- ṯaś·śîḡ yā·ḏōw bə·ṭā·ho·rā·ṯōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
This is the law of the one in whom is the plague-of leprosy, whose hand cannot-reach regarding his cleansing.
Where the English smooths the original
that which is laid down in Leviticus 14:21-31 constitutes the law for the restored leper who is too poor to offer the sacrifices prescribed in Leviticus 14:10-20 .
in consideration of his povertyA pointed excerpt from Gill's longer survey of the rich/poor leper canons.
On account of the importance of all the details of this law, every point is repeated a second time in Leviticus 14:21-32 .
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens not on a cure but on its aftermath: tôrat ham·mə·ṣō·rā‘, "the law of the one-being-struck" (v. 2), the Pual participle naming leprosy as a blow inflicted. Maclaren states the governing key plainly — "The whole treatment of leprosy is parabolic. Leprosy itself is a ‘parable of death.’" Keil & Delitzsch press the same theology from the Hebrew: leprosy "was an image of death, and like this introduced the same dissolution and destruction of life into the corporeal sphere which sin introduced into the spiritual." Crucially, the verbs are passive. The man is brought (wə·hū·ḇā, Hofal, v. 2); the disease has been healed (nir·pā, Niphal, v. 3) before the priest ever arrives. Matthew Henry's blunt summary holds the whole chapter together: "The priests could not cleanse the lepers; but when the Lord removed the plague," the rite of return began. The priest certifies; he does not cure. He even goes out (wə·yā·ṣā, v. 3) beyond the wall of the camp to the one excluded.
The first rite is performed entirely outside the camp, with no altar and no priestly blood-sprinkling — which is why the commentators are careful to call it symbol, not sacrifice. Two clean, living birds (the word ḥay, v. 4, drives the whole figure); one is slaughtered into a clay vessel over living water (v. 5), and the other is dipped in its blood — bound to cedar, scarlet, and hyssop — sprinkled on the man seven times, then released alive "upon the face of the field" (v. 7). Keil & Delitzsch read both birds as "symbols of the person to be cleansed," the freed one signing "new vital energy," the slain one showing the leper "would necessarily have suffered death on account of his uncleanness." The Pulpit Commentary and Cambridge both note the likeness to the two goats of the Day of Atonement (Lev 16) — and Cambridge insists "it is necessary to point out the differences": here an ordinary priest, no sin-offering, no blood brought to the altar. The blood-and-water mixture drew the early readers irresistibly to 1 John 5:6: "he came by water and blood" (Benson, Poole). These are the tool's voices reading figurally; weigh them against the text's own silence about Christ.
Now the man acts: the Hitpael ham·miṭ·ṭa·hêr, "the one cleansing himself" (v. 8), takes up his own washing, shaving, and bathing after the priest's work upon him is done. Poole hears the moral note in the razor — it teaches him "to put off his old lusts, and become a new man." Yet restoration is staged: readmitted to the camp, he must "dwell outside his tent seven days" (v. 8), neither wholly out nor wholly home. Keil & Delitzsch mark the two acts precisely: the first (vv. 2–8) restores him "into the fellowship of the living members of the covenant nation"; the second (vv. 9–20) "effected his restoration to fellowship with Jehovah, and his admission to the sanctuary." The doubled shaving on the seventh day leaves nothing of the old growth; the man is stripped twice before he may approach the altar.
On the eighth day the rite turns sacrificial. The healed leper is set to stand (wə·he·‘ĕ·mîḏ, v. 11, Hiphil) "before the face of the LORD" — the very place from which leprosy had exiled him. Then comes the chapter's most arresting detail: blood from the guilt-offering is daubed on the tip of his right ear, his right thumb, and his right big toe (v. 14), using two rare words — tᵉnûk ("lobe," 7 occurrences) and bōhen ("thumb/toe," 9 occurrences) — found almost nowhere but the ordination of priests (Lev 8:23–24; Exod 29:20). Keil & Delitzsch and The Pulpit Commentary both see it: ear, hand, and foot — "the senses and the active powers" — are consecrated, "just as in the dedication of the priests." Then oil is poured into the priest's left palm, sprinkled seven times before the LORD (v. 16), and placed on the blood, at the same points (v. 17), the remnant poured on the head (v. 18). Matthew Henry draws the whole sequence into a single line: "Wherever the blood of Christ is applied for justification, the oil of the Spirit is applied for sanctification; these two cannot be separated." The man once struck on the head (13:44) is anointed on the head; the chapter's verb kâphar, "make atonement," sounds three times (vv. 18, 19, 20) before the closing word: "and he shall be clean."
The Hebrew turns on a single word: dal, "poor, low" (v. 21), and the bodily idiom that recurs three times — his hand cannot reach (vv. 21, 22, 30). For the poor, three lambs become one lamb and two small birds; three-tenths of flour become one-tenth. Yet — and the commentators seize on this — the trespass-lamb and the log of oil are not reduced. Keil & Delitzsch: "no diminution was allowed in the trespass-offering... since this was the conditio sine qua non of reinstatement in full covenant rights." Every blood-daubing, oil-sprinkling, and head-anointing is repeated word-for-word (the Geneva notes and Barnes mark the exact parallel), so that Jamieson, Fausset & Brown can say the poor "were as publicly and completely cleansed as those who brought a costlier offering (Acts 10:34)." Matthew Henry: "The poor are as welcome to God's altar as the rich... their souls are as precious, and Christ and his gospel are the same to both." The unit closes (v. 32) with the same words it opened (v. 2) — zōṯ tôrat, "this is the law" — an envelope sealing the whole as one teaching, and ending, deliberately, on the poor man's short-reaching hand.
⚙ A fallible reading, offered to be tested. Leviticus 14 is built as a passage from outside to before the face. The man begins beyond the camp's wall, treated as one dead (vv. 2–3); he ends standing before the LORD at the door of the Tent of Meeting, anointed on the head, pronounced clean (vv. 18–20). The grammar carries the gospel before any commentator does: the leper is the object of every verb in the first rite (he is brought, the disease is healed, he is sprinkled), and only becomes the subject once cleansing has been received (he washes, he shaves, he brings his offering, vv. 8, 23). Restoration is never self-generated; it is received, then worked out. The chapter's two stunning borrowings — the ear-thumb-toe blood of priestly ordination (v. 14), and the oil laid directly on the blood (v. 17) — say in ceremony what the New Testament says in word: the one cleansed is not merely readmitted but consecrated, and the Spirit's anointing rests precisely on the ground the blood has already claimed. That the same rite, undiminished at its heart, is granted to the man whose hand cannot reach (vv. 21–32) is not an afterthought but the point: the cost scales to the giver; the cleansing does not scale at all. None of this carries authority because the tool has said it — test it against the text, against the whole counsel of Scripture, and against the silence the passage itself keeps about the One it may foreshadow.
The leper is the object of every verb until he is clean — then, and only then, he becomes the one who brings the offering.
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The daubing of guilt-offering blood on the right ear-lobe, right thumb, and right big toe (Lev 14:14, 25) reproduces, word for word, the consecration of Aaron and his sons at the ram of ordination. The Verifier finds the rare lexemes tᵉnûk (H8571, "ear-lobe," in only 7 verses) and bōhen (H931, "thumb/toe," in only 9 verses) shared across these texts — a low-frequency verbal fingerprint, not a common motif. Keil & Delitzsch and The Pulpit Commentary both read the restored leper as consecrated, his senses and active powers dedicated to God "just as in the dedication of the priests." The cleansed man is not merely let back in; he is set apart.
Leviticus 14:14 · Leviticus 8:23 · Leviticus 8:24 · Exodus 29:20
basis: Rare shared lexemes confirmed by Verifier across Lev 14:14, Lev 8:23–24, Exod 29:20: H8571 tᵉnûk (ear-lobe, in 7 vv) and H931 bôhen (thumb/toe, in 9 vv), with H3233 yᵉmânîy (right, in 17 vv) and H241 ʼôzen (ear); the low frequency of tᵉnûk and bōhen makes this a verbal, not merely thematic, link.
The triad cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop (Lev 14:4, 6) recurs in the leprous-house rite later in this same chapter (14:49–52) and, most significantly, in the water of purification made from the red heifer (Num 19). Albert Barnes lists the cluster as "the common materials in rites of purification (compare Exodus 12:22; Numbers 19:8; Psalm 51:7; Hebrews 9:19)." The Verifier confirms a verbal link to Numbers 19:18 on the rare lexeme ʼêzôwb (H231, hyssop, in only 10 verses) together with ṭâhôwr (clean) and lâqach (take), and to Lev 14:51 on hyssop, scarlet-grub, and bird. Hyssop's rarity makes the link verbal; the shared apparatus of cleansing binds the leper's rite to the whole purification system.
Leviticus 14:4 · Numbers 19:18 · Leviticus 14:51
basis: Verifier-confirmed shared lexemes Lev 14:4 ↔ Num 19:18: H231 ʼêzôwb (hyssop, in 10 vv), H2889 ṭâhôwr (clean, in 87 vv), H3947 lâqach (take); and Lev 14:4 ↔ Lev 14:51: H231 ʼêzôwb, H8438 tôwlâʻ (crimson-grub, in 43 vv), H6833 tsippôwr (bird, in 36 vv). The low frequency of hyssop (10 vv) anchors the verbal tie.
When Hebrews recalls the inauguration of the first covenant, it names the very apparatus of Leviticus 14: Moses took "water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people" (Heb 9:19) — the same scarlet (shânîy) and hyssop (ʼêzôwb) that bind the leper's bird-rite (Lev 14:4, 6). Albert Barnes already lists the cluster as "the common materials in rites of purification (compare Exodus 12:22 ; Numbers 19:8 ; Psalm 51:7 ; Hebrews 9:19 )". Because this is a Greek text echoing a Hebrew rite, no shared Strong's lexeme can bridge the two languages, so the link cannot be tiered verbal; it is the New Testament itself recalling the OT purification kit and reading it toward the blood that "cleanses the conscience" (Heb 9:14) — a structural and typological tie, argued from the shared apparatus, not asserted from a lexeme.
Leviticus 14:4 · Leviticus 14:6 · Hebrews 9:19
basis: Cross-Testament (Hebrew ↔ Greek): no shared Strong's number is possible, so this is not a verbal link. Heb 9:19 explicitly names the same purification materials (scarlet wool, hyssop, water, sprinkling) as Lev 14:4–6; the basis is the shared ritual apparatus the NT author deliberately recalls, recorded as structural/typological per the cross-Testament rule. Verifier on Lev 14:4 ↔ Heb 9:19 returns no shared lexeme, as expected.
The sprinkling-verb nâzâh (H5137, in only 22 verses) governs both the blood-water sprinkled on the leper seven times (14:7) and the oil sprinkled seven times before the LORD (14:16, 27). The Verifier finds this same rare verb, with ʼetsbaʻ (finger) and the sevenfold count, shared with Leviticus 16:19 — the cleansing of the altar on the Day of Atonement. Cambridge draws the parallel between the two birds and the two goats while pressing the differences. The shared sprinkling-gesture is a real verbal link within the Levitical purification system; it is not a quotation claim, so it is tiered structural where the count and motif dominate, verbal where nâzâh itself carries it.
Leviticus 14:7 · Leviticus 14:16 · Leviticus 16:19
basis: Verifier-confirmed shared lexemes Lev 14:7 ↔ Lev 16:19: H5137 nâzâh (sprinkle, in 22 vv), H2891 ṭâhêr (be clean, in 79 vv), H6471 paʻam (times, in 108 vv), H7651 shebaʻ (seven, in 343 vv). The shared sevenfold sprinkling motif within Leviticus' purification system is structural; nâzâh's low frequency strengthens it toward verbal at Lev 14:16.
The concession for the poor leper (Lev 14:21–32) — two turtledoves or two young pigeons in place of lambs — echoes the parallel concession for the poor woman after childbirth (Lev 12:8), which is the very offering Mary brought for Jesus (Luke 2:24). The Verifier confirms a thematic link to Lev 12:8 on the shared atonement-and-taking vocabulary (kâphar, lâqach, ʼechâd, the conditional ʼim). These are common words, so the tie is structural, not verbal: the same legislative pattern — God scaling the cost of access to the worshipper's means while never lowering the rite's essential demand. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown cite Acts 10:34, "God is no respecter of persons."
Leviticus 14:21 · Leviticus 12:8 · Leviticus 14:22
basis: Verifier-confirmed shared lexemes Lev 14:21 ↔ Lev 12:8 are high-frequency (H3722 kâphar in 94 vv, H259 ʼechâd in 739 vv, H3947 lâqach in 909 vv, H518 ʼim in 931 vv) — common words, so the link is the shared legislative pattern of a poverty-concession, not a verbal quotation.
The slain bird's blood drains into living water in an earthen vessel (14:5), and the man is purified by the mixture. The Verifier links this to Numbers 19:18, where hyssop and the ash-water in a vessel purify the unclean, on shared kᵉlîy (vessel) and mayim (water) — both high-frequency, so the tie is thematic. Benson and Poole heard in the blood-and-water a foreshadow of 1 John 5:6, "he came by water and blood" — a cross-Testament, figural reading the tool records but does not confirm, since no Strong's lexeme can bridge Hebrew and Greek.
Leviticus 14:5 · Numbers 19:18
basis: Verifier-confirmed shared lexemes Lev 14:5 ↔ Num 19:18: H3627 kᵉlîy (vessel, in 276 vv) and H4325 mayim (water, in 522 vv) — both high-frequency, so the recorded basis is the shared purification-by-water-in-a-vessel pattern, a thematic not verbal link.
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Jesus repeatedly healed lepers and then sent them to the priest "to offer for the cleansing those things which Moses commanded" (Matt 8:4; Mark 1:44; Luke 5:14), the very rite of Leviticus 14. Albert Barnes notes that when the Son of God "proved His divine mission by healing the lepers," He still directed them to the Levitical ceremony "for a testimony." Ellicott ties v. 2 forward to Matt 8:4 directly. The healing the priest could only certify (Lev 14:3; Henry: "The priests could not cleanse the lepers") is the healing Christ performs at a word. This is an attested New Testament use of the chapter, not a novel typology — though the precise figural readings of the two birds remain the commentators' inference, marked ⚙.
Leviticus 14:2 · Leviticus 14:3 · Matthew 8:4 · Mark 1:44 · Luke 5:14
From the Reformation commentators forward, the slain bird and the bird released alive were read as the death and resurrection of Christ. Matthew Henry: the two birds "may signify Christ shedding his blood for sinners, and rising and ascending into heaven." Benson and Poole agree almost verbatim — one bird "to represent Christ as dying for his sins, the other to represent him as rising again for his justification" (cf. Rom 4:25). The honest note: this is a typological, figural reading, not a New Testament citation. The text itself makes no such claim, and Cambridge warns the rite is "antique in character." It is offered as widely-held within the Christian tradition, but it is the interpreters' construction, weighed accordingly.
Leviticus 14:4 · Leviticus 14:6 · Leviticus 14:7
The chapter's deliberate sequence — guilt-offering blood placed on ear, thumb, and toe (v. 14), then oil placed on the very blood, at the same points, with the remnant poured on the head (vv. 17–18) — was read by Matthew Henry as the inseparable pair of the gospel: "Wherever the blood of Christ is applied for justification, the oil of the Spirit is applied for sanctification; these two cannot be separated." Gill reads the oil-on-blood as showing "the gifts and graces of the Spirit are bestowed in consequence of the blood of Christ." That oil anointed king and priest, and that the same Spirit "anointed" Jesus (Acts 10:38, the very passage JFB cites at v. 31), makes this a reading the tradition holds widely — yet the typological connection of the leper's oil to the Spirit is the interpreters' inference, marked ⚙ and to be tested.
Leviticus 14:14 · Leviticus 14:17 · Leviticus 14:18
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
On the figural readings. Every christological and typological claim above (the two birds as death/resurrection, the oil as the Spirit, the clay vessel as Christ's body) belongs to the commentators — Henry, Gill, Benson, Poole — not to the text of Leviticus 14, which makes no such claim and whose own register is, as Cambridge stresses, archaic and ritual. These are recorded as the interpreters' fallible inferences (⚙), and where a reading is one author's novel figure (e.g., Gill on the dipped living bird as "the union of the two natures in Christ") it is flagged in the verse note as novel.
On the cross-references. The strongest thread — blood on ear, thumb, and toe linking the leper's restoration to priestly ordination (Lev 8; Exod 29) — rests on genuinely rare shared lexemes (tᵉnûk, 7 verses; bōhen, 9 verses) and is tiered verbal with confidence. The hyssop link to Numbers 19 is likewise verbal on a rare word. The Day-of-Atonement and poor-offering links rest partly on high-frequency words and are tiered structural / thematic, deliberately under-claimed. No cross-Testament link (e.g. blood-and-water → 1 John 5:6, or the bird-rite → the cross) can be confirmed by shared Strong's numbers, since Hebrew and Greek lexemes do not bridge; those are recorded as figural and tiered no higher than the tradition warrants.
On the slaughter that is not a sacrifice. The first rite (vv. 4–7) has no altar and no sprinkling of blood toward God; Keil, Cambridge, and the Pulpit Commentary all insist it is symbol, not sacrifice. The parses (Berean/Strong's) are authoritative for morphology and lexis; the synthesis above does not contradict them. Where the Hebrew is genuinely ambiguous — chiefly who performs the killing in vv. 4–5 (priest, leper, or attendant) — the divergence notes record the ambiguity rather than resolving it.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)