What Does Leviticus 13:31 Mean?
And if the priest looks upon the stroke of the crust, and behold, it is not in its sight deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut in the one who has the stroke of the crust 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
And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it be not in sight deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days:THE KEY
The seven-day confinement is a boundary around uncertainty: the sign is too slight to settle the case, but not enough to dismiss it.
THE MEANING
When what appears on the body remains unresolved, limited visible signs do not make the question disappear. The person is shut away for seven days while the condition is watched. The diagnosis stays open through that interval.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If a mark is not visibly deep, there is nothing more to examine.
THE ROOT
וְהִסְגִּיר
vehisgir
GROWS FROM
סגר
s-g-r
To close or enclose.
“shut in” in this verse is vehisgir. The verb carries the sense of enclosing someone within a boundary. The seven days are a period of confinement that keeps the question open while the priest observes what happens.
ALSO GROWS
sagur: Closed or shut.
סָגוּר
This form makes the enclosure in the priest’s action audible: the person is held apart for a defined interval.
misgeret: Frame or border.
מִסְגֶּרֶת
A frame marks an edge; the seven-day separation likewise sets a boundary around the unresolved condition.
עָמֹק
ʿamoq
GROWS FROM
עמק
ʿ-m-q
To be deep; depth.
“deeper” in this verse is ʿamoq. The verse measures how far the mark extends beneath the skin. This is a question of visible depth, and the lack of depth does not itself resolve the case.
ALSO GROWS
ʿemeq: Valley, a low or deep place.
עֵמֶק
The same root describes depth as a spatial form, clarifying that the priest is assessing how far the mark reaches.
heʿemiq: To deepen or make deep.
הֶעֱמִיק
This verb makes depth an extent that can increase, echoing the verse’s attention to whether the mark reaches beneath the skin.
THE PATTERN
When visible evidence leaves a matter unresolved, a defined interval of waiting can hold judgment open until more is seen.
If the shining spot is white in the skin of his flesh, and in its sight it is not deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white; then the priest shall shut in the one who has the stroke seven days;For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and at the end it will breathe and not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it. Because it will surely come, it will not stay behind.And see, I send the promise of my Father upon you. But settle in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from the height.THE THREAD
And those who came in, male and female of all flesh, came as God had commanded him, and the LORD shut him in.The verb translated “shut him in” shares the root סגר (s-g-r), meaning to close or enclose, with the priest’s action here. In Leviticus the boundary holds someone apart while the signs are watched; in Genesis it encloses Noah as the waters rise.
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