What Does Leviticus 14:17 Mean?
And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand the priest shall set upon the tip of the right ear of the one being cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the repayment offering.
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 of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering:THE KEY
Cleansing is layered: the remaining oil is placed on the same right ear, hand, and foot already marked by blood.
THE MEANING
The right ear, thumb, and great toe that bear the blood of the trespass offering now receive oil in those same places. Cleansing reaches hearing, grasping, and movement through the body’s actual points of contact.
THE ROOT
יִתֵּן
yitten
GROWS FROM
נתן
Give, set, place.
The Hebrew verb translated “put” comes from נתן (natan), a root that also means “give” and “set.” English makes the act sound like neutral placement, while the Hebrew holds giving and placing together as the oil is set on these specific points.
ALSO GROWS
natan: Give, set, place
נָתַן
This is the verb used for placing the oil on the ear, thumb, and toe.
mattanah: Gift, present
מַתָּנָה
This noun shares the root’s sense of giving, revealing how the same word family spans an act of placing and something given.
הַשֶּׁמֶן
ha-shemen
GROWS FROM
שׁמן
Be fat or rich; שֶׁמֶן (shemen) means oil.
The Hebrew word for oil belongs to a root family that also describes fatness and richness. That root sense sits beneath the concrete oil placed over the blood mark.
ALSO GROWS
shemen: Oil
שֶׁמֶן
This is the substance held in the priest’s hand and placed over the blood.
shamen: Fat, rich
שָׁמֵן
This related form shows the root’s wider sense of richness beneath the word for oil.
בֹּהֶן
bohen
GROWS FROM
בהן
Thumb or great toe; the same Hebrew noun names either body part.
“thumb / great toe” in this verse is bohen. English uses separate words for “thumb” and “great toe,” but Hebrew repeats בֹּהֶן (bohen) for both. The same word links the hand and foot in the verse’s paired placements.
ALSO GROWS
bohen yad: Thumb of the hand
בֹּהֶן יָד
This is the hand placement named in the verse.
bohen regel: Great toe of the foot
בֹּהֶן רֶגֶל
The same noun appears again for the foot placement.
THE PATTERN
Scripture makes restoration bodily: substances associated with cleansing and healing are placed directly on the person.
And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and set it on the tip of the right ear of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot.Is anyone among you without strength? Let him call to himself the older ones of the assembly, and let them pray over him, rubbing him with oil in the nature of the LORD.And they cast out many demons, and rubbed with oil many who were without strength, and healed them.THE THREAD
And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and set it on the tip of the right ear of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot.This verse shows what the oil in Leviticus 14:17 lands upon: blood has already been set on the ear, thumb, and toe. Both actions use נתן (natan), “give, set, place,” so the oil repeats the same placement across the same points.
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