What Does Leviticus 13:54 Mean in the King James?
Then the priest shall command that they wash the thing wherein the plague is, and he shall shut it up seven days more:
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
Washing is not the verdict: the marked thing stays enclosed for seven more days, so what remains can be seen.
THE MEANING
A troubling mark does not become settled simply because the material has been washed: it remains closed away for seven more days and is examined again. The interval allows change or persistence to appear, and the verdict remains open until then.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that one cleansing proves a problem has disappeared: the material remains under examination, and the next finding can still be severe.
THE ROOT
נֶגַע
negaʿ
GROWS FROM
נגע
n-g-ʿ
Touch, reach, or strike; the noun can mean a stroke, mark, or affliction.
The noun rendered “plague” belongs to the same root as the verb “touch” and the noun “contact.” That family makes the mark a contact-like stroke upon the fabric, while the seven-day interval asks whether it remains.
ALSO GROWS
nagaʿ: To touch, reach, or strike.
נָגַע
The verb reveals the contact sense held within the word for the mark.
maggaʿ: Contact or touch.
מַגָּע
This related noun makes the shared root connection between contact and affliction visible.
וְהִסְגִּירוֹ
wəhisgîrô
GROWS FROM
סגר
s-g-r
To close, shut in, or confine.
“shut it up” in this verse is wəhisgîrô. The verb gives the uncertainty a physical boundary and an exact duration. Closure does not itself cure the fabric; it creates time for another look.
ALSO GROWS
sāgar: To shut or close.
סָגַר
The basic verb clarifies the concrete action behind “shut it up.”
səgîrāh: Closure or closing.
סְגִירָה
This noun from the same root carries the sense of a bounded period before the next examination.
וְכִבְּסוּ
wəkibbəsû
GROWS FROM
כבס
k-b-s
To launder or wash clothing.
“wash” in this verse is wəkibbəsû. This is the laundering verb used for fabric, so the action treats the thing itself rather than promising that its condition has changed. After washing, the fabric remains a subject of examination.
ALSO GROWS
kibbēs: He laundered or washed clothing.
כִּבֵּס
This verb form shows the same root as the prescribed washing of the affected thing.
kōvēs: A launderer.
כֹּבֵס
The related word for the person doing the washing confirms the root’s association with laundering.
THE PATTERN
A cleansing step does not by itself settle the condition; the affected thing or person remains in a process of examination and confirmation.
And the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed: and, behold, if the plague have not changed his colour, and the plague be not spread; it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire; it is fret inward, whether it be bare within or without.And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days.And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.THE THREAD
And the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed: and, behold, if the plague have not changed his colour, and the plague be not spread; it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire; it is fret inward, whether it be bare within or without.Leviticus 13:55 repeats נֶגַע (negaʿ, a touch or affliction), the same word translated “plague.” It shows what the waiting is for: the mark is examined after washing, and if it persists, the fabric is burned.
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