What Does Leviticus 13:19 Mean in the King James?
And in the place of the boil there be a white rising, or a bright spot, white, and somewhat reddish, and it be shewed to the priest;
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 place of the boil does not disappear from attention when the boil does: a new rise there becomes a sign to be seen.
THE MEANING
The verse names the change at the boil’s place by elevation and color: a white swelling, or a white spot with a reddish cast, appears for the priest to see. Its place, shape, and color are visible facts before any judgment follows.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that a former boil explains every later mark in the same place; a new swelling or spot still receives attention.
THE ROOT
שְׂאֵת
se’et
GROWS FROM
נָשָׂא
nasaʾ
to lift, carry, or bear
The KJV’s “rising” translates שְׂאֵת (se’et), a bodily elevation from נָשָׂא (nasaʾ), “lift” or “carry.” That same seed gives מַשָּׂא (massaʾ), a load carried; here the word remains literal, naming what is raised on the skin.
ALSO GROWS
nasaʾ: to lift, carry, or bear
נָשָׂא
The root’s lifting sense gives the swelling its shape: something raised at the skin’s surface.
massaʾ: a burden or load
מַשָּׂא
The same root family holds lifting and carrying together, while this verse uses the raised sense physically.
וְנִרְאָה
we-nir’ah
GROWS FROM
רָאָה
ra’ah
to see, look, or perceive; to appear
“be shewed” in this verse is we-nir’ah. The Hebrew נִרְאָה (nir’ah) can mean “appears” or “is seen,” keeping the mark’s appearing and its being seen within one visual root. The changed skin enters the priest’s sight as something observable.
ALSO GROWS
ro’eh: a seer; one who sees
רֹאֶה
The priest’s role in the verse is to look at the visible sign.
mar’eh: appearance or vision
מַרְאֶה
The sign’s appearance is what comes before the priest’s eyes.
THE PATTERN
A bodily condition enters shared discernment through what can be seen and examined.
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;And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.THE THREAD
When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:Leviticus 13:2 uses the same שְׂאֵת (se’et, “rising”) for the first item in a list of skin signs and brings the person to the priest. The shared word joins this verse’s specific color description to that earlier named sign.
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