Leviticus 14:57

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

Septuagint runs longer here — compare

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הַצָּרָֽעַת

tsâraʻath

H6883

“the · leprosy”

Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 35× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Leviticus 13:2

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H6879

TWOT: 1971a

leprosy - in people, malignant skin disease ( Lev. 13-14 ) - in clothing, a mildew or mould ( Lev 13:47-52 ) - in buildings, a mildew or mould ( Lev. 14:34-53 )

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

8: words
7: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

הַצָּרָֽעַת leprosy H6883 occurs in 33 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

1 verb
4 nouns
2 adjectives
1 pronoun

Verb forms

לְהוֹרֹ֕ת Hiphil · Infinitive Construct

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

בְּי֥וֹם day H3117 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 17 words from the Hebrew and 24 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the Septuagint runs noticeably longer here. See the side-by-side →

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 8 Hebrew tokens and 15 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Leviticus 14:57 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Leviticus 10:10 and that you are to make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;
Jeremiah 15:19 Therefore thus says Yahweh, If you return, then will I bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take forth the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth: they shall return to you, but you shall not return to them.
Ezekiel 44:23 They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
Deuteronomy 24:8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that you observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so you shall observe to do.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

Here the Septuagint runs noticeably longer than the Hebrew — LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) 24 words vs World English Bible 17. A rough length comparison of the two English translations, not a word-level alignment — read both below.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Leviticus 14:57 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

לְהוֹרֹ֕ת בְּי֥וֹם הַטָּמֵ֖א וּבְי֣וֹם הַטָּהֹ֑ר זֹ֥את תּוֹרַ֖ת הַצָּרָֽעַת

to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Leviticus 14:57 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ὁ ἐκἡγέομαι ὅς ἡμέρα ἀκάθαρτος καί ὅς ἡμέρα καθαρίζω οὗτος ὁ νόμος ὁ λέπρα

and of declaring in what day it is unclean, and in what day it shall be purged: this is the law of the leprosy.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

לְאַלָפָא בְּיוֹמָא מְסָאָבָא וּבְיוֹמָא דַכְיָא דָא אוֹרַיְתָא דִסְגִירוּתָא

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

לְמַלְפָא כַהֲנָא לְעַמָא בֵּין יוֹמָא קְבִילָא דְלָא לְמֵיחְמֵי בֵּיהּ מַכְתְּשָׁא לְבֵין יוֹמָא נְהִירָא וּבֵין בַּר נְשָׁא מְסָאָבָא לְבֵין בַּר נְשָׁא דַכְיָא דָא תֶהֱוֵי גְזֵירַת אַחְוַיַית מַכְתַּשׁ צוֹרְעָתָא

That the priest may teach the people to discern between the day of darkness in which they may not be able to see the plague, and the day of light; and between a man who is unclean and a man who is clean. This shall be the decree of instruction for the leprosy.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Leviticus 14:57 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Lev 14:57. To teach when it is unclean and when it is clean — To direct the priest when to pronounce a person or house clean or unclean. Upon the whole, we may see in these laws the religious care we ought to take of ourselves to keep our minds from the dominion of all sinful affections and dispositions, which are both their disease and their defilement, that we may be fit for the service of God. We ought also to avoid all bad company, and, as much as may be, coming within the danger of being affected by it. Touch not the unclean thing, saith the Lord, and I will receive you.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Hebrew, in the day of the unclean, and in the day of the clean.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(57) To teach when it is unclean.—This verse is intimately connected with Lev_14:54, viz.: “This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy . . . to afford instruction in the day of uncleanness, and in the day of cleanness:” that is, to furnish them with instructions against the time when they would have to deal with these cases in taking possession of the promised land. The ancient authorities, however, insisted upon the literal rendering which is substantially exhibited in the Margin of the Authorised Version, viz., “To teach concerning the day of uncleanness and concerning the day of cleanness: i.e., to instruct the people on which days this distemper may be examined and decided. Hence the ancient Chaldee Version of Jonathan renders it, “That the priests may teach the people to discern between the dark days, when his leprosy is to be examined, and between the bright days.” (See Lev_13:2.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Be known when. Hebrew, "to teach in what day, &c.....This is the law of leprosy." (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

To teach; to direct the priest when to pronounce a person or house clean or unclean. So it was not left to the priest’s power or will, but they were tied to plain rules, such as the people might discern no less than the priest.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

To teach - To direct the priest when to pronounce a person or house clean or unclean. So it was not left to the priests power or will, but they were tied to plain rules, such as the people might discern no less than the priest.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

להורת ביום הטמא — This may be translated: TO GIVE INSTRUCTION "CONCERNING" THE DAY OF ITS BEING UNCLEAN, i. e. which day renders it clean and which day renders it unclean (to point out that particular day on which, according to circumstances, a house or a garment or a person is to be declared clean or unclean).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Leviticus, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 8 words (7 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is tsâraʻath (“leprosy”). The Greek Septuagint runs longer here. A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “leprosy” (tsâraʻath) contribute to the verse as a whole?
How does Leviticus 13:2, which shares the word «leprosy», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “day” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
The Septuagint runs longer here than the Hebrew. What might account for the difference?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
«לְהוֹרֹ֕ת» is a Hiphil Infinitive Construct verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Joseph Benson's Commentary and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 8 Hebrew ↔ 15 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 10 words in this verse.
“day” occurs 2× in this single verse.
7 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 8 words in this verse.