What Does Leviticus 14:36 Mean in the King James?
Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house:
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
What is held inside a troubled place does not have to inherit the condition of its container.
THE MEANING
A troubled place and what it holds are not treated as one undivided thing. The contents are brought out before the house is examined, preserving them from sharing its uncleanness. The condition can be seen without letting it claim everything nearby.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that everything inside a troubled place must become unclean along with it.
THE ROOT
וּפָנוּ
ûpānû
GROWS FROM
פנה
To turn, face, or clear away.
The Hebrew word rendered “empty” comes from פנה, a root of turning and clearing. A related form, פָּנִים (pānîm), means “face” or “presence”: the house is cleared before it is faced and examined.
ALSO GROWS
pānâ: To turn toward or away; to face.
פָּנָה
The clearing is an action that turns things aside and makes room for what comes next.
pānîm: Face; presence.
פָּנִים
This related form echoes the sequence in the verse: first the house is cleared, then the priest faces it.
הַנֶּגַע
han-negaʿ
GROWS FROM
נגע
To touch, reach, or strike.
The Hebrew נֶגַע (negaʿ), rendered “plague,” belongs to a root that also means touching or striking. The verse’s concern is whether the house’s condition reaches the things still inside it.
ALSO GROWS
nāgaʿ: To touch, reach, or come into contact.
נָגַע
This verb brings contact into view where English gives only the label “plague.”
negaʿ: A stroke, affliction, or plague.
נֶגַע
The same root names the troubling mark in the house whose reach the removal is meant to prevent.
THE PATTERN
Separation contains a harmful condition by preventing everything near it from sharing in it.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.THE THREAD
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.The Hebrew command translated “Prepare” is פַּנּוּ (pannû), from פנה, the same root carried by וּפָנוּ (ûpānû), “clear” or “empty,” in this verse. In both passages, clearing comes before encounter: the house is cleared before it is examined, and the way is cleared before the LORD comes.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us