What Does Leviticus 22:5 Mean in the King James?

Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;

Leviticus 22:5 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Impurity is not sealed inside its carrier; touch makes it transferable.

THE MEANING

This verse meets the reader with a porous boundary: uncleanness can be acquired through contact, from a creeping thing or another person. Whatever uncleanness the person bears is part of what the contact carries.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that uncleanness stays sealed inside the person carrying it.

THE ROOT

יִטְמָא

yiṭmāʾ

GROWS FROM

טמא

ṭ-m-ʾ

to be or become unclean; to defile

“be made unclean” in this verse is yiṭmāʾ. This root names both a condition and its movement: a person can become unclean, and uncleanness can be imparted. English repeats “unclean” and “uncleanness,” while Hebrew ties being defiled, making something defiled, and impurity itself to the same root.

ALSO GROWS

tumʾāh: uncleanness, impurity

טֻמְאָה

This noun names the condition the person carries and that another can receive through contact.

ṭimmēʾ: to make unclean, defile

טִמֵּא

This verb expresses the transition the verse describes: contact makes uncleanness transferable.

THE PATTERN

Contact is a point of transfer: uncleanness can spread through touch, while cleansing can reach the unclean through touch.

And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even.

Leviticus 11:24 · KJVTouching the carcass carries uncleanness to the person who touches it.

And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.

Numbers 19:22 · KJVThe contact chain continues: the unclean person makes what is touched unclean, and another touch carries the condition onward.

And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.

Mark 1:41 · KJVHere contact reaches the unclean man with cleansing rather than carrying uncleanness to the one who touches him.

THE THREAD

Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.

Haggai 2:13 · KJV

Haggai uses the same ⁨טמא⁩ root family to make the transfer explicit: contact passes uncleanness from the person to what is touched. Leviticus 22:5 names a person as a carrier too, extending the same chain.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us