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Leviticus 14:5

in Leviticus 14

Then the priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

and the priest shall command to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water.

KJV

And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:

This verse in Leviticus 14

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Over running water - Literally, living, that is, spring water. The meaning appears to be this: Some water (about a quarter of a log, an eggshell and a half full, according to the rabbins) was taken from a spring, and put into a clean earthen vessel, and they killed the bird over this water, that the blood might drop into it; and in this blood and water mixed, they dipped the instrument before described, and sprinkled it seven times upon the person who was to be cleansed.

This site's exposition

two birds alive and clean

on Leviticus 14:4-5

The priest calls for two birds alive and clean, cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop, and those last three appear together again at Numbers 19:6, cast into the fire of the red heifer. One bird is killed in an earthen vessel over running water, water the Hebrew calls living, so blood and spring water are mixed before anything is sprinkled. Hyssop is what Israel used to put the passover blood on the door posts at Exodus 12:22, and it is the plant David asks for at Psalm 51:7.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

In an earthen-vessel - That is, over running water put in an earthen-vessel - Thus the blood of the bird and the water were mixed together, partly for the conveniency of sprinkling, and partly to signify Christ, who came by water and blood, 1 John v, 6.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), when he was anointed the oil must have blood under it, to signify that all the graces and comforts of the Spirit, all his purifying dignifying influences, are owing to the death of Christ: it is by his blood alone that we are sanctified.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The chief of these analogies is that as it was only when a leper exhibited a certain change of state that orders were given by the priest for a sacrifice, so a sinner must be in the exercise of faith and penitence ere the benefits of the gospel remedy can be enjoyed by him.
Running water - literally, living water, i. e. water fresh from the spring Gen 26:19; Num 19:17.

The words behind it

12 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְצִוָּה֙and he will command

    vetzivahH6680494 times

  • הַכֹּהֵ֔ןthe priest

    hakohenH3548750 times

  • וְשָׁחַ֖טand someone will cut [the] throat of

    veshachatH781981 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • הַצִּפּ֣וֹרthe bird

    hatziporH683340 times

  • הָאֶחָ֑ת<the> one

    haechatH259971 times

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • כְּלִי־a vessel of

    keli-H3627325 times

  • חֶ֖רֶשׂearthenware

    cheresH278917 times

  • עַל־over

    ʾal-H59215755 times

  • מַ֥יִםwater

    mayimH4325581 times

  • חַיִּֽים׃living

    chaiyimH2416498 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Hebrews 2:14

    Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,

    it leads to

    • 2 Timothy 1:10

      And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel,

    • Romans 8:3

      For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin.…

  • Through

    2 Corinthians 4:7

    Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.

    it leads to

    • 2 Corinthians 5:1

      Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

    • 2 Corinthians 3:5–6

      Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.

    • Ephesians 2:8–9

      For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,

    • 1 Corinthians 1:28

      He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,

    • Colossians 2:3

      in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

  • Through

    2 Corinthians 5:1

    Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

    it leads to

    • Job 19:25–26

      But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Leviticus

Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.