What Does Leviticus 13:7 Mean?
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;
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 scab spread much abroad in the skin, after that he hath been seen of the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen of the priest again:THE KEY
When the mark keeps spreading, an earlier examination cannot close the question.
THE MEANING
When the mark on your skin continues to spread after a first examination, the matter remains open. You are seen again in relation to your cleansing; the changing surface still matters.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The first examination settles everything, even when the condition changes.
THE ROOT
פָּשֹׂה תִּפְשֶׂה
pāsōh tipśeh
GROWS FROM
פשה
Spread, extend outward.
“spread” in this verse is pāsōh tipśeh. The Hebrew pairs two forms of the same root, intensifying the sense of spreading. The mark is not simply present; it is extending, and that movement changes what can be concluded from the earlier examination.
ALSO GROWS
pāsōh: Spreading; an infinitive absolute form.
פָּשֹׂה
It pairs with the next form from the same root to emphasize the spread.
tipśeh: It spreads; an imperfect verb form.
תִּפְשֶׂה
Its shared root with פָּשֹׂה makes the continuing outward movement prominent.
הֵרָאֹתוֹ
herāʾōtō
GROWS FROM
ראה
See, look, appear.
The same seeing root appears in the first examination and the renewed appearance before the priest. Its word family also includes appearance, joining what is seen with the act of seeing it.
ALSO GROWS
ra'ah: See or look.
רָאָה
This is the root behind both examinations in the verse.
mar'eh: Appearance or visible aspect.
מַרְאֶה
The root links the act of seeing with what becomes visible.
ro'eh: One who sees; a seer.
רֹאֶה
This branch keeps the one who sees within the same word family.
לְטָהֳרָתוֹ
leṭāhorātō
GROWS FROM
טהר
Be clean or pure; cleanse.
The word for cleansing belongs to a family that names both cleanness and the act of cleansing. The repeated seeing remains oriented toward cleanness while the spreading mark keeps the matter open.
ALSO GROWS
tahor: Clean or pure.
טָהוֹר
It names the state associated with the cleansing in the verse.
taharah: Cleanness or cleansing.
טָהֳרָה
It is the noun form of the same root used for the person’s cleansing.
tiher: Cleansed or purified.
טִהֵר
This verb form makes the cleansing action explicit within the same word family.
THE PATTERN
A judgment remains open when later evidence can change what is seen.
The aligned one at the head of his own contention seems straight, but his neighbor comes and searches him out.For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.Test everything, and hold fast to what is good.THE THREAD
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 same spread root is measured by its opposite: the mark is at a stay and has not spread, so observation continues. Read beside verse 7, the two verses track the mark’s direction over time, stopped spread and renewed spread lead to different assessments.
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