Leviticus 14:7
in Leviticus 14Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the skin disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and release the live bird into the open field.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let go the living bird into the open field.
KJV
And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.
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This verse in Leviticus 14
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThough hyssop is a tiny plant, its roots are said to penetrate the heart of rocks. It is also known to be good for a person's internal wounds. In Leviticus it was dipped in sacrificial blood and sprinkled seven times on the body of a …
This site's exposition
As for the living bird
on Leviticus 14:6-7
The living bird is dipped in the blood of the dead one and let loose into the open field, and the man is sprinkled seven times and pronounced clean. One creature dies and the other carries the mark of that death away alive, which is the shape of the two goats at 16:8-22 in miniature. Adam Clarke calls the released bird a scape-bird on that ground. All of it happens outside the camp, before the man has leave to walk back in.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The cedar the stateliest plant, and hyssop the meanest, are here used together in this service (see 1 Kings iv. 33 ); for those of the lowest rank in the church may be of use in their place, as well as those that are most eminent, 1 Cor. xii. Some make the slain bird to typify Christ dying for our sins, and the living bird Christ rising again for our justification.
And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Seven times - The seal of the covenant, expressed in the number seven (compare Lev 14:9), was renewed in sprinkling him who, during his leprosy, had lived as an outcast. The details of a restoration to health and freedom appear to be well expressed in the whole ceremony. Each of the birds represented the leper. They were to be of a clean kind, because they stood for one of the chosen race. The death-like state of the leper during his exclusion from the camp was expressed by killing one of the birds.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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.
Shall let the living bird loose - The Jews teach that wild birds were employed on this occasion, no tame or domestic animal was used. Mr. Ainsworth piously conjectures that the living and dead birds were intended to represent the death and resurrection of Christ, by which an atonement was made to purify the soul from its spiritual leprosy. The bird let loose bears a near analogy to the scapegoat. See Leviticus 16.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהִזָּ֗ה | vehizah | and he will spatter [it] | H5137 → | 24 times |
| עַ֧ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַמִּטַּהֵ֛ר | hamitaher | the [one] purifying himself | H2891 → | 94 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַצָּרַ֖עַת | hatzaraat | the serious skin disease | H6883 → | 35 times |
| שֶׁ֣בַע | sheva' | seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| פְּעָמִ֑ים | peamim | times | H6471 → | 118 times |
| וְטִ֣הֲר֔וֹ | vetiharo | and he will declare pure him | H2891 → | 94 times |
| וְשִׁלַּ֛ח | veshilach | and he will let go | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַצִּפֹּ֥ר | hatzipor | the bird | H6833 → | 40 times |
| הַֽחַיָּ֖ה | hachaiyah | <the> living | H2416 → | 498 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵ֥י | penei | [the] surface of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַשָּׂדֶֽה׃ | hasadeh | the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
וְהִזָּ֗הand he will spatter [it]
vehizahH5137 →24 times
עַ֧לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
הַמִּטַּהֵ֛רthe [one] purifying himself
hamitaherH2891 →94 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַצָּרַ֖עַתthe serious skin disease
hatzaraatH6883 →35 times
שֶׁ֣בַעseven
sheva'H7651 →394 times
פְּעָמִ֑יםtimes
peamimH6471 →118 times
וְטִ֣הֲר֔וֹand he will declare pure him
vetiharoH2891 →94 times
וְשִׁלַּ֛חand he will let go
veshilachH7971 →845 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַצִּפֹּ֥רthe bird
hatziporH6833 →40 times
הַֽחַיָּ֖ה<the> living
hachaiyahH2416 →498 times
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵ֥י[the] surface of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
הַשָּׂדֶֽה׃the field
hasadehH7704 →334 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Ezekiel 36:25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
- John 3:5
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
- Jeremiah 33:8
And I will cleanse them from all the iniquity they have committed against Me, and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against Me.
- 1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- Titus 3:5–6
He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
- Hebrews 10:22
Through
1 Peter 1:2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
it leads to
- 2 Thessalonians 2:13
But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by…
- Ephesians 1:4–5
For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love
- Hebrews 12:24
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 50:9; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.