What Does Leviticus 14:2 Mean in the King James?
This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto 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
Cleansing reaches a threshold here: the person is brought before the priest, where his return can be witnessed.
THE MEANING
Your cleansing is not an isolated status; on its day, you are brought before the priest. The verse places the passage from cleansing toward recognized return in another person’s presence.
THE ROOT
טָהֳרָתוֹ
tahorato
GROWS FROM
טהר
ṭ-h-r
Be clean or pure; cleanse.
The same root holds purification and cleanness together: the day is named by the process, and the priest later uses this root to declare the person clean. What English separates into cleansing and being clean belongs to one unfolding passage.
ALSO GROWS
tahor: Clean, pure
טָהוֹר
This is the clean state named by the same root, connecting the day of cleansing to the state that is declared.
tiher: Cleansed, purified
טִהֵר
This verbal form appears in the rite’s declaration, carrying the same root from the process of purification into its recognized outcome.
וְהוּבָא
wehuva
GROWS FROM
בוא
b-w-ʾ
Come, enter; bring into or cause to enter.
The Hebrew form carries the root of coming or entering in a passive construction: he is caused to enter the priest’s presence. The English “brought” makes the escort clear; the root also lets the moment read as entry across a threshold.
ALSO GROWS
bo: Come, enter
בּוֹא
The root’s basic movement is toward arrival, giving “brought unto the priest” the sense of an entry.
mavo: Entrance, entry
מָבוֹא
This noun from the same root evokes the threshold crossed as the person enters the priest’s presence.
THE PATTERN
Cleansing becomes a passage toward shared life through a visible transition.
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;Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.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
And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.The same טהר (ṭ-h-r) root names the cleansing day here and the priest’s act of declaring the person clean there. The rite then sends the living bird into the open field, making release part of the visible passage.
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