Leviticus 14:33-53
Purification of Disease-Infected Houses
33 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 34“When you enter the land of Canaan which I am about to give ▼▼ Heb “which I am giving” (so NAB, NIV).
to you for a possession, and I put ▼▼ Heb “give.”
a diseased infection in a house in the land you are to possess, ▼▼ Heb “in the house of the land of your possession” (KJV and ASV both similar).
35then whoever owns the house ▼▼ Heb “who to him the house.”
must come and declare to the priest, ‘Something like an infection is visible to me in the house.’ 36Then the priest will command that the house be cleared ▼▼ Heb “And the priest shall command and they shall clear the house.” The second verb (“and they shall clear”) states the thrust of the priest’s command, which suggests the translation “that they clear” (cf. also vv. 4a and 5a above), and for the impersonal passive rendering of the active verb (“that the house be cleared”) see the note on v. 4 above.
before the priest enters to examine the infection ▼▼ Heb “to see the infection”; KJV “to see the plague”; NASB “to look at the mark (mildew NCV).”
so that everything in the house ▼▼ Heb “all which [is] in the house.”
does not become unclean, ▼▼ Once the priest pronounced the house “unclean” everything in it was also officially unclean. Therefore, if they emptied the house of its furniture, etc. before the official pronouncement by the priest those possessions would thereby remain officially “clean” and avoid destruction or purification procedures.
and afterward ▼▼ Heb “and after thus.”
the priest will enter to examine the house. 37He is to examine the infection, and if ▼▼ Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
the infection in the walls of the house consists of yellowish green or reddish eruptions, ▼▼ For “yellowish green and reddish” see Lev 13:49. The Hebrew term translated “eruptions” occurs only here and its meaning is uncertain. For a detailed summary of the issues and views see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:870. The suggestions include, among others: (1) “depressions” from Hebrew שׁקע (“sink”) or קער as the root of the Hebrew term for “bowl” (LXX, Targums, NAB, NASB, NIV; see also B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 90), (2) “streaks” (ASV, NJPS), (3) and “eruptions” as a loan-word from Egyptian sqr r rwtj (“eruption; rash”); cf. Milgrom, 870; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 198-99. The latter view is taken here.
and it appears to be deeper than the surface of the wall, ▼▼ The Hebrew term קִיר (qir,“wall”) refers to the surface of the wall in this case, which normally consisted of a coating of plaster made of limestone and sand (see HALOT 1099 s.v. קִיר 1.a; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:871; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 199).
38then the priest is to go out of the house to the doorway of the house and quarantine the house for seven days. ▼▼ Heb “and he shall shut up the house seven days.”
39The priest must return on the seventh day and examine it, and if ▼▼ Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “If the mark has indeed spread.”
the infection has spread in the walls of the house, 40then the priest is to command that the stones that had the infection in them be pulled and thrown ▼▼ Heb “and the priest shall command and they shall pull out the stones which in them is the infection, and they shall cast them.” The second and third verbs (“they shall pull out” and “they shall throw”) state the thrust of the priest’s command, which suggests the translation “that they pull out…and throw” (cf. also vv. 4a, 5a, and 36a above), and for the impersonal passive rendering of the active verb (“be pulled and thrown”) see the note on v. 4 above.
outside the city ▼▼ Heb “into from outside to the city.”
into an unclean place. 41Then he is to have the house scraped ▼ all around on the inside, ▼▼ Heb “from house all around.”
and the plaster ▼▼ Heb “dust” (so KJV) or “rubble”; NIV “the material”; NLT “the scrapings.”
which is scraped off ▼▼ Heb “which they have scraped off.” The MT term קִיר (qir, “wall” from קָצָה, qatsah, “to cut off”; BDB 892), the original Greek does not have this clause, Smr has הקיצו (with uncertain meaning), and the BHS editors and HALOT 1123-24 s.v. I קצע hif.a suggest emending the verb to הִקְצִעוּ (hiqtsi’u, see the same verb at the beginning of this verse; cf. some Greek mss, Syriac, and the Targums). The emendation seems reasonable and is accepted by many commentators, but the root קָצָה (qatsah, “to cut off”) does occur in the Bible (2 Kgs 10:32; Hab 2:10) and in postbiblical Hebrew (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 179, notes 41c and 43d; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:873; cf. also קָצַץ, qatsats, “to cut off”).
must be dumped outside the city ▼▼ Heb “into from outside to the city.”
into an unclean place. 42They are then to take other stones and replace those stones, ▼▼ Heb “and bring into under the stones.”
and he is to take other plaster and replaster the house. 43 “If the infection returns and breaks out in the house after he has pulled out the stones, scraped the house, and it is replastered, ▼
▼ Heb “after he has pulled out the stones, and after scraping (variant form of the Hiphil infinitive construct, GKC 531) the house, and after being replastered (Niphal infinitive construct).”
44the priest is to come and examine it, and if ▼▼ Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “If he sees that the mark has indeed spread.”
the infection has spread in the house, it is a malignant disease in the house. It is unclean. 45He must tear down the house, ▼ its stones, its wood, and all the plaster of the house, and bring all of it ▼▼ Once again, Smr, LXX, and Syriac have the plural verb, perhaps to be rendered passive, “shall be brought.”
outside the city to an unclean place. 46Anyone who enters ▼▼ Heb “the one who comes into.”
the house all the days the priest ▼ has quarantined it will be unclean until evening. 47Anyone who lies down in the house must wash his clothes. Anyone who eats in the house must wash his clothes. 48 “If, however, the priest enters ▼
▼ Heb “And if the priest entering [infinitive absolute] enters [finite verb]” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 #113.p.
and examines it, and the ▼▼ Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “and the mark has not indeed spread.”
infection has not spread in the house after the house has been replastered, then the priest is to pronounce the house clean because the infection has been healed. 49Then he ▼▼ The pronoun “he” refers to the priest mentioned in the previous verse.
is to take two birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric, and some twigs of hyssop ▼ to decontaminate ▼ ▼▼ In Lev 8:15, for example, the “sin offering” is used to “decontaminate” the burnt offering altar. As argued above (see the note on v. 7 above), these ritual materials and the procedures performed with them do not constitute a “sin offering” (contrast vv. 19 and 31 above). In fact, no sin offering was required for the purification of a house.
the house, 50and he is to slaughter one bird into a clay vessel over fresh water. ▼ 51He must then take the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, the scrap of crimson fabric, and the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52So he is to decontaminate the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, and the scrap of crimson fabric, 53and he is to send the live bird away outside the city ▼▼ Heb “to from outside to the city.”
into the open countryside. So he is to make atonement for the house and it will be clean.
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