What Does Leviticus 13:4 Mean?
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;
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
If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days:THE KEY
The boundary around the person is part of the test: time reveals what a single glance cannot.
THE MEANING
A visible sign does not settle its meaning in one glance. Here judgment depends on depth, hair color, and what is seen across seven days; the enclosure holds the case open while the evidence develops. The verse meets the reader in the space between seeing a troubling mark and knowing what it means.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A white mark, by itself, always gives an immediate and final answer.
THE ROOT
וְהִסְגִּירוֹ
ve-hisgīrō
GROWS FROM
סגר
s-g-r
To close or enclose; in the causative form, to shut someone away or hand them into custody.
“shut in” in this verse is ve-hisgīrō. The verb gives the seven-day interval a physical boundary: the person is enclosed while the mark is observed. The root can also carry the sense of handing someone into custody, so the verse describes a bounded period under examination, not just a look.
ALSO GROWS
sāgar: To shut, close, or enclose.
סָגַר
This is the root’s basic action, visible in the priest’s act of shutting the person away.
hisgīr: To deliver or hand someone into custody.
הִסְגִּיר
This usage makes the enclosure a defined custodial state while the signs are assessed.
עָמֹק
ʿāmōq
GROWS FROM
עמק
ʿ-m-q
To be deep or to deepen.
“deeper” in this verse is ʿāmōq. The Hebrew root also forms the word for a valley, where depth is a visible contour rather than an abstraction. Here, the question is spatial: whether the mark’s appearance reaches below the level of the skin.
ALSO GROWS
ʿēmeq: A valley or lowland.
עֵמֶק
The valley shows depth as a shape in the land, echoing the verse’s attention to the mark’s physical level.
heʿĕmīq: To deepen or go deep.
הֶעֱמִיק
This verbal branch makes depth a movement downward, clarifying the distinction the verse draws between a surface mark and one that reaches beneath the skin.
THE PATTERN
Discernment lets evidence develop before a judgment is fixed.
And the priest shall look upon him on the seventh day; and behold, if the stroke in its sight stands, and the stroke has not spread in the skin; then the priest shall shut him in seven days more;The one who returns a word before he hears it, folly and shame are his.You will know them by their fruits. Do people gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?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.Genesis uses the same root, סגר (s-g-r), for the LORD shutting Noah inside the ark. The shared root gives closure a concrete shape, a person is set within a boundary, while the surrounding verse determines whether that boundary protects or holds someone for examination.
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