What Does Leviticus 13:35 Mean?
But if the crust spreads far in the skin after his cleansing;
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 scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing;THE KEY
The Hebrew says, almost literally, “spreading, it spreads”, cleansing does not erase new evidence.
THE MEANING
A clean state and a later change can both be true. When what was examined begins to spread after cleansing, the new evidence matters; the earlier clean judgment does not make the spreading disappear.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A past declaration of cleanliness means no later change deserves attention.
THE ROOT
פָּשֹׂה תִּפְשֶׂה
pāśōh tiphśeh
GROWS FROM
פשה
pāśâ
Spread or extend.
The Hebrew repeats the root in two forms: “spreading, it spreads.” The KJV’s “spread much” conveys the force, while the repeated sound makes the ongoing spread audible.
ALSO GROWS
pāśōh: spreading
פָּשֹׂה
This form comes first and sets up the repeated action.
tiphśeh: it spreads
תִּפְשֶׂה
The same root follows as the action itself, intensifying the sense of continued spread.
הִטַּהֲרוֹ
hittahăro
GROWS FROM
טהר
ṭāhēr
Be clean or cleanse.
The verse names a real state of cleansing, then gives equal attention to what becomes visible afterward. A clean judgment and later spread are both held in view.
ALSO GROWS
ṭāhôr: clean
טָהוֹר
The adjective from this root names the clean state that the verse says has already been reached.
ṭihēr: he cleansed
טִהֵר
This verbal form shares the root and makes the cleansing an action, alongside the later change the verse observes.
THE PATTERN
A prior judgment does not cancel the need to respond to what can now be observed and tested.
And the priest shall see him again on the seventh day; and behold, if the stroke is somewhat dim, and the stroke has not spread in the skin, the priest shall declare him clean; it is only a scab; and he shall wash his garments, and be clean.And the judges shall search well; and, behold, if the witness is a witness of lies, and has answered a lie against his brother;Test everything, and hold fast to what is good.THE THREAD
But if the scab spreads far in the skin, after he has been seen by the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again;The same root פשה (pāśâ, spread) appears again in “spread much abroad.” The next verse makes explicit what this one leaves pending: continued spread leads to another examination.
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