What Does Leviticus 13:5 Mean?
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;
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 the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague in his sight be at a stay, and the plague spread not in the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more:THE KEY
In Hebrew, the mark “stands” in view: no spread means it is stable, but not yet gone.
THE MEANING
A visible affliction can remain present without advancing: the priest sees that it has not spread, yet it still stands in view. The person remains enclosed for seven more days, and judgment waits through another interval.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Stability does not prove that an affliction is over; the mark can stop spreading and still remain.
THE ROOT
עָמַד
ʿāmad
GROWS FROM
ע־מ־ד
ʿ-m-d
To stand, remain, or take one’s stand.
“stands” in this verse is ʿāmad. The Hebrew says the mark “stood” in the priest’s sight: it remains present even though it does not spread. This distinguishes stability from disappearance; the visible condition remains, so the person stays enclosed for further observation.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāmad: To stand; remain in place.
עָמַד
This is the verb used of the mark remaining before the priest.
ʿammūd: A pillar or standing column.
עַמּוּד
A pillar holds its place, making the root’s sense of remaining visible and concrete.
הִסְגִּירוֹ
hisgīrō
GROWS FROM
ס־ג־ר
s-g-r
To shut, close, or enclose.
“shut him up” in this verse is hisgīrō. The priest’s response is an act of enclosure: a boundary remains around the person while the condition is unresolved. The root also appears where Noah is shut inside the ark, linking the word to the physical act of closing someone within a boundary.
ALSO GROWS
sāgar: To shut; close.
סָגַר
This is the base verb behind the priest’s act of enclosing the person.
hisgīr: To shut in; confine.
הִסְגִּיר
This form describes placing someone within a boundary, as the priest does here.
נֶגַע
negaʿ
GROWS FROM
נ־ג־ע
n-g-ʿ
The root carries the sense of touching, reaching, or striking; its noun form means an affliction or lesion.
The word translated “plague” shares its root with words for touching or striking, giving the visible affliction a more concrete texture than a disease label alone. Here the priest watches the mark’s course: whether it extends, holds its place, or clears.
ALSO GROWS
nāgaʿ: To touch, reach, or strike.
נָגַע
The verb keeps the affliction linked to contact or impact.
negaʿ: A blow, affliction, lesion, or plague.
נֶגַע
This is the word for the mark the priest watches for change.
THE PATTERN
A visible condition is judged by what it does over time, not by a single moment’s appearance.
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.The one who returns a word before he hears it, folly and shame are his.And he looked up, and said, I see humankind, like trees that walk. Then he laid his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up; and he was set back in place, and saw everyone in clear light.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 Genesis phrase וַיִּסְגֹּר (wayyisgor, “and he shut”) shares root סגר (sāgar, “to shut or enclose”) with the priest’s הִסְגִּירוֹ (hisgīrō, “shut him in”). Both verses use enclosure to mark a boundary: one around a person under observation, the other around the ark.
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