What Does Leviticus 13:50 Mean?
And the priest shall look upon the stroke, and shut in the thing that 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
And the priest shall look upon the plague, and shut up it that hath the plague seven days:THE KEY
The seven days turn first sight into a bounded interval of discernment, not an instant verdict.
THE MEANING
The priest sees a real affliction and shuts away the person who bears it for seven days. The separation is real, and the condition remains under observation through that interval. The verse speaks to your present moment wherever a visible sign is still being observed rather than settled.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The first visible sign tells the whole story.
THE ROOT
וְהִסְגִּיר
wəhissgîr
GROWS FROM
סגר
s-g-r
To close, shut in, or enclose; in some forms and contexts, to hand over.
“shut in” in this verse is wəhissgîr. English can make “shut up” sound only like placement under lock; סגר carries both enclosing and handing over. Here, the seven-day limit places the enclosure within a period of examination.
ALSO GROWS
sāgar: To shut or close.
סָגַר
This is the root in its basic form: the person is placed within a boundary while the priest observes the affliction.
hisgîr: To shut in; in some contexts, to hand over.
הִסְגִּיר
The same verb appears in Psalm 31:8 for being shut into an enemy’s hand, showing how the context gives enclosure its force.
THE PATTERN
Discernment waits for the appointed interval to disclose what first sight cannot settle.
Then the priest shall go out of the house to the doorway of the house, and shut up the house seven days.And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out of the ark.Therefore, judge nothing before its season, until the Lord comes, who will light up the hidden things of darkness, and will make visible the plans of the hearts. And then the praise will come to each one from God.THE THREAD
And you do not shut me into the hand of the enemy; you make my feet stand in a broad place.The Psalm uses the same סגר (s-g-r) root for being shut into an enemy’s hand, then places that enclosure beside feet set in a large room. It makes the movement from confinement toward spaciousness audible within the language of this verse.
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