What Does Leviticus 13:43 Mean?
Then the priest shall look upon it; and behold, if the lifting of the stroke is white-reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the striking appears in the skin of the flesh;
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
Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the rising of the sore be white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh;THE KEY
The Hebrew repeats the root ראה in both “look” and “appearance,” tying the priest’s act of seeing to the mark’s visible form.
THE MEANING
The verse focuses attention on a raised mark, its white-reddish color, and its resemblance to a lesion on the skin of the flesh. The signs are considered in their visible particulars before their meaning is named.
THE ROOT
רָאָה
ra’ah
GROWS FROM
ראה
To see or perceive; from this root comes the word for visible appearance.
“look / appeareth” in this verse is ra’ah. The verse says וְרָאָה (ve-ra’ah, sees) and then describes the mark כְּמַרְאֵה (ke-mar’eh, according to the appearance) of a skin lesion. English uses different words, while Hebrew repeats one root, joining the act of seeing to the form being seen.
ALSO GROWS
mar’eh: Appearance, sight, or vision.
מַרְאֶה
This is the word behind “appeareth,” linking the visible form of the mark to the priest’s act of looking.
ro’eh: One who sees; a seer.
רֹאֶה
It carries the same root into the person doing the seeing, making perception central to the examination.
שְׂאֵת
se’et
GROWS FROM
נשא
To lift, carry, or raise.
“lifting” in this verse is se’et. The word for the rising is שְׂאֵת (se’et, elevation or swelling), from the root נשא (nasa, lift or carry). Its root holds the mark’s physical elevation together with the broader sense of something lifted up; here, that raised form is one of the features examined.
ALSO GROWS
nasa: To lift or carry.
נָשָׂא
It makes the word “rising” part of a family that describes lifting, echoing the mark’s elevated shape.
massa: A load or burden.
מַשָּׂא
This branch shows how the same root can name what is carried, while the verse uses its lifting sense for a bodily elevation.
THE PATTERN
Visible signs call for close comparison, while appearance alone does not disclose the whole.
And he shall look on the stroke, and see, if the stroke is in the walls of the house, with sunken streaks, greenish or reddish, which to sight sink lower than the wall.But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have pushed him away. The LORD does not see as the human sees. The human sees what is outside, but the LORD sees the heart.Do not judge by what the eye sees, but judge the judgment of alignment.THE THREAD
But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have pushed him away. The LORD does not see as the human sees. The human sees what is outside, but the LORD sees the heart.Leviticus joins רָאָה (ra’ah, seeing) to מַרְאֶה (mar’eh, appearance), and this verse repeats the same seeing-root while distinguishing outward appearance from the heart. Together, they show that sight can register a visible sign without making it the whole of a person.
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