What Does Leviticus 13:11 Mean in the King James?
It is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not shut him up: for he is unclean.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew word for “old” shares its root with “sleep,” marking this condition as long-established enough to name without another period of confinement.
THE MEANING
The condition is already established: the priest names the person unclean and does not keep him shut away for another inspection. The ruling recognizes what is present rather than making it so.
THE ROOT
נוֹשֶׁנֶת
noshenet
GROWS FROM
ישן
To sleep; to be or become old, long-standing.
The Hebrew for “old” belongs to the same root as a word for “sleep.” Here it marks the condition as long-established, not something still awaiting another period of observation.
ALSO GROWS
yāshēn: Sleeping.
יָשֵׁן
This branch shares the root behind “old,” keeping the Hebrew’s connection between sleep and age audible.
yāshān: Old or long-established.
יָשָׁן
This branch clarifies that the condition is described as established over time.
יַסְגִּרֶנּוּ
yasgirennu
GROWS FROM
סגר
To close, shut, or enclose.
“shut him up” in this verse is yasgirennu. The same root can describe closing someone in or holding them under observation. The verse distinguishes that confinement from the act of naming a condition that is already clear.
ALSO GROWS
sāgar: To shut or close.
סָגַר
The basic sense makes the verse’s image of keeping someone enclosed concrete.
hisgîr: To confine or shut someone in.
הִסְגִּיר
This form is used for the priest’s period of observation in this chapter; here, that confinement is not continued.
THE PATTERN
When signs are fully manifest, the condition can be named by what is already visible.
And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.THE THREAD
I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.“Slept” translates וָאִישָׁנָה (wāʾîšānāh, “I slept”), from the same root as “old” in Leviticus. The shared root holds both sleeping and being long-established, revealing a connection English leaves hidden.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us