What Does Leviticus 13:31 Mean in the King James?
And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it be not in sight deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days:
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 seven-day confinement is a boundary around uncertainty: the sign is too slight to settle the case, but not enough to dismiss it.
THE MEANING
When what appears on the body remains unresolved, limited visible signs do not make the question disappear. The person is shut away for seven days while the condition is watched. The diagnosis stays open through that interval.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If a mark is not visibly deep, there is nothing more to examine.
THE ROOT
וְהִסְגִּיר
vehisgir
GROWS FROM
סגר
s-g-r
To close or enclose.
“shut up” in this verse is vehisgir. The verb carries the sense of enclosing someone within a boundary. The seven days are a period of confinement that keeps the question open while the priest observes what happens.
ALSO GROWS
sagur: Closed or shut.
סָגוּר
This form makes the enclosure in the priest’s action audible: the person is held apart for a defined interval.
misgeret: Frame or border.
מִסְגֶּרֶת
A frame marks an edge; the seven-day separation likewise sets a boundary around the unresolved condition.
עָמֹק
ʿamoq
GROWS FROM
עמק
ʿ-m-q
To be deep; depth.
“deeper” in this verse is ʿamoq. The verse measures how far the mark extends beneath the skin. This is a question of visible depth, and the lack of depth does not itself resolve the case.
ALSO GROWS
ʿemeq: Valley, a low or deep place.
עֵמֶק
The same root describes depth as a spatial form, clarifying that the priest is assessing how far the mark reaches.
heʿemiq: To deepen or make deep.
הֶעֱמִיק
This verb makes depth an extent that can increase, echoing the verse’s attention to whether the mark reaches beneath the skin.
THE PATTERN
When visible evidence leaves a matter unresolved, a defined interval of waiting can hold judgment open until more is seen.
If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days:For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.THE THREAD
And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.The verb translated “shut him in” shares the root סגר (s-g-r), meaning to close or enclose, with the priest’s action here. In Leviticus the boundary holds someone apart while the signs are watched; in Genesis it encloses Noah as the waters rise.
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