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Leviticus 14:33-57
New Living Translation

Treatment of Contaminated Houses

33 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 34 “When you arrive in Canaan, the land I am giving you as your own possession, I may contaminate some of the houses in your land with mildew.[a] 35 The owner of such a house must then go to the priest and say, ‘It appears that my house has some kind of mildew.’ 36 Before the priest goes in to inspect the house, he must have the house emptied so nothing inside will be pronounced ceremonially unclean. 37 Then the priest will go in and examine the mildew on the walls. If he finds greenish or reddish streaks and the contamination appears to go deeper than the wall’s surface, 38 the priest will step outside the door and put the house in quarantine for seven days. 39 On the seventh day the priest must return for another inspection. If he finds that the mildew on the walls of the house has spread, 40 the priest must order that the stones from those areas be removed. The contaminated material will then be taken outside the town to an area designated as ceremonially unclean. 41 Next the inside walls of the entire house must be scraped thoroughly and the scrapings dumped in the unclean place outside the town. 42 Other stones will be brought in to replace the ones that were removed, and the walls will be replastered.

43 “But if the mildew reappears after all the stones have been replaced and the house has been scraped and replastered, 44 the priest must return and inspect the house again. If he finds that the mildew has spread, the walls are clearly contaminated with a serious mildew, and the house is defiled. 45 It must be torn down, and all its stones, timbers, and plaster must be carried out of town to the place designated as ceremonially unclean. 46 Those who enter the house during the period of quarantine will be ceremonially unclean until evening, 47 and all who sleep or eat in the house must wash their clothing.

48 “But if the priest returns for his inspection and finds that the mildew has not reappeared in the house after the fresh plastering, he will pronounce it clean because the mildew is clearly gone. 49 To purify the house the priest must take two birds, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch. 50 He will slaughter one of the birds over a clay pot filled with fresh water. 51 He will take the cedar stick, the hyssop branch, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, and dip them into the blood of the slaughtered bird and into the fresh water. Then he will sprinkle the house seven times. 52 When the priest has purified the house in exactly this way, 53 he will release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. Through this process, the priest will purify the house, and it will be ceremonially clean.

54 “These are the instructions for dealing with serious skin diseases,[b] including scabby sores; 55 and mildew,[c] whether on clothing or in a house; 56 and a swelling on the skin, a rash, or discolored skin. 57 This procedure will determine whether a person or object is ceremonially clean or unclean.

“These are the instructions regarding skin diseases and mildew.”

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Footnotes

  1. 14:34 Traditionally rendered leprosy; see note on 13:47.
  2. 14:54 Traditionally rendered leprosy; see note on 13:2a.
  3. 14:55 Traditionally rendered leprosy; see note on 13:47.
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Leviticus 14:33-57
New English Translation

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[a] to you for a possession, and I put[b] a diseased infection in a house in the land you are to possess,[c] 35 then whoever owns the house[d] must come and declare to the priest, ‘Something like an infection is visible to me in the house.’ 36 Then the priest will command that the house be cleared[e] before the priest enters to examine the infection[f] so that everything in the house[g] does not become unclean,[h] and afterward[i] the priest will enter to examine the house. 37 He is to examine the infection, and if[j] the infection in the walls of the house consists of yellowish green or reddish eruptions,[k] and it appears to be deeper than the surface of the wall,[l] 38 then the priest is to go out of the house to the doorway of the house and quarantine the house for seven days.[m] 39 The priest must return on the seventh day and examine it, and if[n] the infection has spread in the walls of the house, 40 then the priest is to command that the stones that had the infection in them be pulled and thrown[o] outside the city into an unclean place. 41 Then they shall scrape[p] the house all around on the inside,[q] and the plaster[r] which they have scraped off[s] must be dumped outside the city into an unclean place. 42 They are then to take other stones and replace those stones,[t] 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,[u] 44 the priest is to come and examine it, and if[v] the infection has spread in the house, it is a malignant disease in the house. It is unclean. 45 He must tear down the house,[w] its stones, its wood, and all the plaster of the house, and bring all of it[x] outside the city to an unclean place. 46 Anyone who enters[y] the house all the days the priest[z] has quarantined it will be unclean until evening. 47 Anyone 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[aa] and examines it, and the[ab] 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. 49 Then he[ac] is to take two birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric, and some twigs of hyssop[ad] to purify[ae] the house, 50 and he is to slaughter one bird into a clay vessel over fresh water.[af] 51 He 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. 52 So he is to purify 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, 53 and he is to send the live bird away outside the city[ag] into the open countryside. So he is to make atonement for the house and it will be clean.

Summary of Purification Regulations for Infections

54 “This is the law for all diseased infections, for scall,[ah] 55 for the diseased garment,[ai] for the house,[aj] 56 for the swelling,[ak] for the scab,[al] and for the bright spot,[am] 57 to teach when something is unclean and when it is clean.[an] This is the law for dealing with infectious disease.”[ao]

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 14:34 tn Heb “which I am giving” (so NAB, NIV).
  2. Leviticus 14:34 tn Heb “give.”
  3. Leviticus 14:34 tn Heb “in the house of the land of your possession” (KJV and ASV both similar).
  4. Leviticus 14:35 tn Heb “who to him the house.”
  5. Leviticus 14:36 tn 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.
  6. Leviticus 14:36 tn Heb “to see the infection”; KJV “to see the plague”; NASB “to look at the mark (mildew NCV).”
  7. Leviticus 14:36 tn Heb “all which [is] in the house.”
  8. Leviticus 14:36 sn 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.
  9. Leviticus 14:36 tn Heb “and after thus.”
  10. Leviticus 14:37 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
  11. Leviticus 14:37 tn 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 שָׁקַע (shaqaʿ, “sink”) or קָעַר (qaʾar) 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.
  12. Leviticus 14:37 tn 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).
  13. Leviticus 14:38 tn Heb “and he shall shut up the house seven days.”
  14. Leviticus 14:39 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “If the mark has indeed spread.”
  15. Leviticus 14:40 tn 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.
  16. Leviticus 14:41 tc The MT reads “he shall scrape” or possibly “he shall have [it] scraped.” The Sam. Pentateuch, LXX, Syriac, and Targums read the plural.
  17. Leviticus 14:41 tn Heb “from house all around.”
  18. Leviticus 14:41 tn Heb “dust” (so KJV) or “rubble”; NIV “the material”; NLT “the scrapings.”
  19. Leviticus 14:41 tc The MT reads הִקְצוּ (hiqtsu, possibly “they caused to be cut off”) seemingly from קָצָה, (qatsah “to cut off”; HALOT 1120 s.v. קָצָה 1). The original Greek does not have this clause. The Sam. Pentateuch has הקיצו (with uncertain meaning). The BHS editors and HALOT 1123-24 s.v. I קצע hif.a suggest emending the verb to הִקְצִעוּ (hiqtsiʿu, adding the ע (ʿayin) to match 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”).
  20. Leviticus 14:42 tn Heb “and bring into under the stones.”
  21. Leviticus 14:43 tn 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).”
  22. Leviticus 14:44 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “If he sees that the mark has indeed spread.”
  23. Leviticus 14:45 tn Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have the plural verb, perhaps suggesting a passive translation, “The house…shall be torn down” (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT, and see the note on v. 4b above).
  24. Leviticus 14:45 tn Once again, Smr, LXX, and Syriac have the plural verb, perhaps to be rendered passive, “shall be brought.”
  25. Leviticus 14:46 tn Heb “the one who comes into.”
  26. Leviticus 14:46 tn Heb “he,” referring to the priest (see v. 38). The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  27. Leviticus 14:48 tn 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.
  28. Leviticus 14:48 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “and the mark has not indeed spread.”
  29. Leviticus 14:49 tn The pronoun “he” refers to the priest mentioned in the previous verse.
  30. Leviticus 14:49 tn Regarding these ritual materials, see the note on v. 4 above.
  31. Leviticus 14:49 tn Regarding the Piel of חָטָא (khataʾ, cf. v. 52) meaning to “purify” or “decontaminate,” see the notes on Lev 8:15 and 9:15. sn In Lev 8:15, for example, the “sin offering” is used to “purify” 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.
  32. Leviticus 14:50 tn See the note on v. 5 above.
  33. Leviticus 14:53 tn Heb “to from outside to the city.”
  34. Leviticus 14:54 tn Heb “and for the scall”; NASB “a scale”; NIV “any infectious skin disease.” Cf. Lev 13:29-37.
  35. Leviticus 14:55 sn Cf. Lev 13:47-59.
  36. Leviticus 14:55 sn Cf. Lev 14:33-53.
  37. Leviticus 14:56 sn Cf. Lev 13:9-28, 43.
  38. Leviticus 14:56 sn Cf. Lev 13:2.
  39. Leviticus 14:56 sn Cf. Lev 13:4, 18-28, 38-39. For explanations of all these terms for disease in Lev 14:56 see 13:2.
  40. Leviticus 14:57 tn Heb “to teach in the day of the unclean and in the day of the clean.”
  41. Leviticus 14:57 tn Heb “This is the law of the disease.” Some English versions specify this as “skin disease” (e.g., NIV, NLT), but then have to add “and mildew” (NIV) or “and infectious mildew” (NLT) because a house would not be infected with a skin disease.sn For an explanation of the term “disease” see Lev 13:2.
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