Leviticus 14:1-32

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,
2 This is the custom of a leprous man, when he shall be cleansed, (that is, when he shall be pronounced clean). He shall be brought to the priest,
3 the which priest shall go out of the tents, and when he shall find that the leprosy is cleansed, (which priest shall take him away from the tents, and examine him, and if he shall find that the leprosy is healed,)
4 he shall command to the man that is (to be) cleansed, that he offer for himself two quick sparrows, which is leaveful to eat, and cedar wood, and vermilion, that is, a red thread, and hyssop. (he shall command to the man who is to be pronounced clean, that he offer for himself two living sparrows, which be lawful to eat, and cedar wood, and a red thread, and hyssop.)
5 And the priest shall command that one of the sparrows be offered in an earthen vessel upon quick waters; (And the priest shall command that one of the sparrows be offered in an earthen, or a clay, vessel filled with fresh water;)
6 soothly he shall dip the tother sparrow quick, with the cedar wood, and with the red thread, and hyssop, in the blood of the sparrow (that was) offered, (and then he shall dip the other living sparrow, and the cedar wood, and the red thread, and the hyssop, in the blood of the sparrow that was offered,)
7 with which he shall sprinkle seven times him that shall be cleansed, that he be purged rightfully; and he shall deliver the quick sparrow, that it fly [away] into the field. (with which he shall sprinkle seven times him who shall be pronounced clean, so that by this rite he be cleansed; and then he shall release the living sparrow, so that it can fly away into the field.)
8 And when the man hath washed his clothes, he shall shave all the hairs of his body, and he shall be washed in water, and he shall be cleansed, and he shall enter into the tents; so only that he dwell without his tabernacle by seven days; (And when the man hath washed his clothes, he shall shave off all the hair of his body, and he shall wash in water, and so he shall be made clean, and then he can return to the tents; but he must live outside his own tent for seven days;)
9 and that in the seventh day (and then on the seventh day), he (shall) shave (again) the hairs of the head, and his beard, and his brows, and the hairs of all his body. And when his clothes and his body be washed again,
10 in the eighth day he shall take two lambs without wem, and a sheep of one year without wem, and three dimes, or three tenth parts, of [tried] wheat flour, into sacrifice, which be sprinkled with oil, and (also take) by itself a sextary, or a pint, of oil. (on the eighth day he shall take two lambs without blemish, or without fault, and a sheep of one year without blemish, or without fault, and three tenths of an ephah of fine wheat flour for a grain offering, which shall be sprinkled with oil, and also a pint of oil.)
11 And when the priest that purgeth the man, hath set him and all his things before the Lord, in the door of the tabernacle of witnessing (at the entrance to the Tabernacle of the Witnessing),
12 he shall take a lamb, and shall offer it for trespass, and shall (also) offer the sextary of oil; and when all things be offered before the Lord, (he shall take the lamb for the trespass offering, and also the pint of oil; and when all these things be presented as a special gift before the Lord,)
13 he shall offer the lamb, where the sacrifice for sin and the burnt sacrifice is wont to be offered, that is, in the holy place; for as for sin, so and for trespass, the offering pertaineth to the priest; it is holy of holy things. (he shall offer the lamb, where the sin offering and the burnt sacrifice be offered, that is, in the holy place; for the trespass offering, like the sin offering, belongeth to the priest; it is a most holy, or sacred, thing.)
14 And the priest shall take of the blood of [the] sacrifice which is offered for trespass, and shall put on the last part of the right ear of him which is (to be) cleansed, and on the thumbs of the right hand and foot. (And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be pronounced clean, and on the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot.)
15 And he shall put (some) of the pint of oil into his (own) left hand,
16 and the priest shall dip his right finger therein, and he shall sprinkle it seven times before the Lord.
17 Soothly he shall pour that that is left of the oil in the left hand, on the last part of the right ear of him which is (to be) cleansed, and on the thumbs of the right hand and foot, and on the blood which is shed for trespass, (And he shall put some of the oil that is still in his left hand, on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be pronounced clean, and on the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the trespass offering,)
18 and (then pour the rest of the oil) on(to) his head.
19 And the priest shall pray for him before the Lord, and shall make sacrifice for sin (and shall offer the sin offering);
20 then the priest shall offer the burnt sacrifice, and he shall put it in the altar with his flowing sacrifices, and the man shall be cleansed rightfully. (then the priest shall offer the burnt sacrifice, and he shall put it on the altar with the grain offering, and by this rite the man shall be made clean.)
21 That if he is poor, and his hand may not find those things that be said, he shall take for his trespass a lamb to [the] offering, that the priest pray for him, and the tenth part of [tried] wheat flour sprinkled (al)together with oil, into sacrifice, and a sextary of oil, (But if he is poor, and his hand cannot find those things that be said above, he shall take a lamb for his trespass offering, as a special gift to the Lord, for the priest who shall pray for him, and the tenth part of an ephah of fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil, for the grain offering, and a pint of oil,)
22 and two turtles, either two culver birds, of which one shall be for sin, and the tother into burnt sacrifice; (and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, of which one shall be for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt sacrifice;)
23 and he shall offer those in the eighth day of his cleansing to the priest, at the door of the tabernacle of witnessing, before the Lord. (and he shall bring them on the eighth day of his cleansing to the priest, at the entrance to the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, before the Lord.)
24 And the priest shall take the lamb offered for trespass, and the sextary of oil, and shall raise (them up) together; (And the priest shall take the lamb for the trespass offering, and the pint of oil, and shall raise them up as a special gift before the Lord;)
25 and when the lamb is offered, he shall put of the blood thereof on the last part of the right ear of him that is (to be) cleansed, and on the thumbs of his right hand and foot. (and when the lamb is offered, he shall put some of its blood on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be pronounced clean, and on the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot.)
26 Soothly the priest (shall) put the part of (the) oil into his own left hand, (Then the priest shall put some of the oil into his own left hand,)
27 in which he shall dip the finger of his right hand, and he shall sprinkle it seven times against the Lord (and he shall sprinkle it seven times before the Lord);
28 and the priest shall touch the last part of the right ear of him that is (to be) cleansed, and the thumbs of the right hand and foot, in the place of [the] blood which is shed out for trespass. (and the priest shall put some of the oil on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be pronounced clean, and on the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot, that is, where the blood for the trespass offering was put.)
29 Soothly the priest shall put the tother part of [the] oil, that is in his left hand, upon the head of the man that is (to be) cleansed, that he please the Lord for him. (And the priest shall put the rest of the oil, that is in his left hand, on the head of the man that is to be pronounced clean, so that he be made clean before the Lord.)
30 And he shall offer a turtle, or a culver bird, (And he shall offer a turtledove, or a young pigeon,)
31 one for trespass, and the tother into burnt sacrifice, with their flowing offerings. (one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt sacrifice, with the grain offering.)
32 This is the sacrifice of a leprous man, that may not have all things into the cleansing of himself. (This is the law for a leprous man, who may not have all the things needed for the offering for his cleansing.)

Leviticus 14:1-32 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 14

This chapter treats of the purification of lepers, and the rules to be observed therein; and first what the priest was to do for his cleansing when brought to him, by making use of two birds, with cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop, as directed, Le 14:1-7; what he was to do for himself, shaving off all his hair, and washing his flesh and clothes in water, Le 14:8,9; the offerings to be offered up for him, two he lambs and one ewe lamb, and a meat offering, with a particular account of the use of the blood of the trespass offering, and of oil put upon the tip of his right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot, Le 14:10-20; but if poor, only one lamb was required, a meat offering of one tenth deal, and two turtle doves or two young pigeons, and blood and oil used as before, Le 14:21-32; next follow an account of leprosy in an house, and the signs of it, and the rules to judge of it, Le 14:33-48; and the manner of cleansing from it, Le 14:49-53; and the chapter is closed with a recapitulation of the several laws concerning the various sorts of leprosy in this and the preceding chapter, Le 14:54-57.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.