What Does Leviticus 13:17 Mean in the King James?
And the priest shall see him: and, behold, if the plague be turned into white; then the priest shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: he is clean.
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 mark does not disappear in the verse; it changes, and that visible turn changes the person’s status.
THE MEANING
When the affliction turns white, the priest sees the changed sign and pronounces you clean. The verse holds that declaration beside the condition itself: cleanness is named as what is true of you now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Once marked unclean, you must remain defined by that mark; here, its changed condition changes the verdict.
THE ROOT
נֶהְפַּךְ
nehpakh
GROWS FROM
הפך
to turn, change, or overturn
The Hebrew says the affliction itself is turned, locating the change in the visible condition. The root can name a complete reversal, giving “turned” more force than a surface change of appearance.
ALSO GROWS
haphakh: turn, change, transform
הָפַךְ
This verbal form names the condition’s change directly.
mahpekah: overthrow, upheaval
מַהְפֵּכָה
This noun shows the root can describe a decisive reversal of state.
לָבָן
lavan
GROWS FROM
לבן
to be white or become white
The verse does not say the mark vanishes; it says it turns white. The root names both whiteness and the process of whitening, so the visible change is carried in the word-family itself.
ALSO GROWS
lebanah: the moon, literally “the white one”
לְבָנָה
This related form carries the same root’s association with visible whiteness.
hilbin: make or become white
הִלְבִּין
This verb names whitening as a change, echoing the affliction’s changed appearance.
טָהוֹר
tahor
GROWS FROM
טהר
to be clean or pure
The priest’s action and the person’s condition come from the same root: he pronounces the person clean, and the verse then says, “clean he is.” The word-family holds the declaration beside the state it names.
ALSO GROWS
tiher: cleanse, purify, declare clean
טִהֵר
This verb describes the priest’s act of pronouncing the person clean.
tohorah: cleanness, purity
טָהֳרָה
This noun carries the same root from the act of cleansing into the resulting state.
THE PATTERN
Cleanness becomes visible through a changed condition and is then spoken as a state.
And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper;Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.THE THREAD
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.This verse pairs the same Hebrew roots for “clean” (טהר) and “white” (לבן) that appear in Leviticus 13:17. Together, the verses link a changed visible condition with the naming of cleanness.
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