What Does Leviticus 13:26 Mean?
But if the priest looks upon it, and behold, there is no white hair in the shining spot, and it is no lower than the other skin, but is somewhat dim; then the priest shall shut him in seven days;
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hair in the bright spot, and it be no lower than the other skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days:THE KEY
The mark is still uncertain, but the response is not neutral: the person is confined for seven days while it is watched.
THE MEANING
The verse meets you where the evidence is incomplete: a mark is visible, but there is no white hair or sinking below the surrounding skin, only dimness. Still, the person carrying it is shut away for seven days. The interval leaves judgment open while making confinement real.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that an uncertain sign has no consequence: here the determination remains pending, yet confinement begins immediately.
THE ROOT
וְהִסְגִּירוֹ
wəhisgîrô
GROWS FROM
סגר
To close, shut, or enclose; in this form, to confine.
The verb translated “shut him up” makes the waiting physical: the person is enclosed while the priest watches. A related Hebrew noun means “prison,” so the root keeps the cost of this interval in view.
ALSO GROWS
sāgar: to shut or close
סָגַר
This base form reveals the closing action inside the priest’s confinement of the person.
masgēr: an enclosure or prison
מַסְגֵּר
This related word appears as “prison” in Isaiah 24:22, showing how the root’s act of closing becomes a place of confinement.
כֵּהָה
kēhāh
GROWS FROM
כהה
To grow dim, faint, or weak.
The Hebrew does more than name a color: כהה carries the sense of becoming dim or faint. The same root appears where Isaiah says the servant “shall not fail,” letting the mark’s dimness echo the language of fading without making its meaning certain.
ALSO GROWS
kēhāh: dim or muted
כֵּהָה
This is the word describing the mark, whose dimness remains one part of an unsettled assessment.
yikhheh: grow dim; translated “fail” in Isaiah 42:4
יִכְהֶה
This form carries the same root into a statement about not fading, joining visible dimness with the language of weakening.
THE PATTERN
When the evidence is incomplete, judgment is held open through a defined interval of listening or watching.
The one who returns a word before he hears it, folly and shame are his.But he answered him, "Lord, let it go this year also, until I dig around it and throw dung on it."Therefore, judge nothing before its season, until the Lord comes, who will light up the hidden things of darkness, and will make visible the plans of the hearts. And then the praise will come to each one from God.THE THREAD
He will not burn dim, nor be crushed, until he has set judgment in the earth. The coastlands will wait for his instruction.Isaiah’s “He shall not fail” translates a form of כהה, the same root behind “somewhat dark” here. English separates the two shades, but Hebrew lets a dim mark and the language of not fading share one seed.
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