Leviticus 13:35 — Word Study
WLCוְאִם־ פָּשֹׂ֥ה יִפְשֶׂ֛ה הַנֶּ֖תֶק בָּע֑וֹר אַחֲרֵ֖י טָהֳרָתֽוֹ׃
BSAIf, howeverʼim the scaly outbreaknetheq [or scab, a skin eruption] ◂spreads furtherpâsâh [to spread out, become larger] on the skinʻôwr [human skin, the outer covering] afterʼachar his cleansingṭohŏrâh [purifying, ceremonial purification, becoming clean]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | and if | Conjunction, particle |
| פָּשֹׂ֥ה | certainly | Verb, Qal, infinitive absolute |
| יִפְשֶׂ֛ה | it will spread | Verb, Qal, imperfect third person masculine singular |
| הַנֶּ֖תֶק | the scall | Particle, noun common masculine singular absolute |
| בָּע֑וֹר | in the skin | Preposition, noun common masculine singular absolute |
| אַחֲרֵ֖י | after | Prep |
| טָהֳרָתֽוֹ׃ | purification his | Noun common feminine singular construct, suffix |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | If, however, the scaly outbreak spreads further on the skin after his cleansing, |
| KJV | But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing; |
| ASV | But if the scall spread abroad in the skin after his cleansing, |
| YLT | 'And if the scall spread greatly in the skin after his cleansing, |
| WEB | But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, |
| BBE | But if the disease in his skin becomes worse after he has been made clean, |
Where they part company is in the translation of פָּשָׂה — see How Translations Differ.
The sentence is structured around a conditional statement, with the main clause introducing the condition and additional phrases providing context.
5 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them ›
clause
verbפָּשָׂה
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Leviticus 13:35
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Laws Regarding Skin Diseasesgenerated
Leviticus 13:35 is part of a larger section that details the procedures for diagnosing and declaring individuals clean or unclean based on skin conditions. This verse specifically addresses what happens if a scaly outbreak appears to spread after a person has already been pronounced clean, indicating the ongoing nature of the priest's examination and the importance of maintaining purity in the community.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leviticus 13:7–27 | But if the rash spreads further on his skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he must present himself again to the priest. |
| 2 | 2 Timothy 2:16–17 | But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness, |
| 3 | 2 Timothy 3:13 | while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 3 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — פָּשָׂה, pa.Sohgenerated
The verb פָּשָׂה (pasah) means 'to spread' and is used here in an infinitive absolute form, indicating the action of spreading out or becoming larger. This word can describe the physical action of something extending, such as a skin condition.
In this context, it emphasizes the seriousness of the condition, as the priest must monitor any changes in the skin after the initial cleansing. The repetition of the root פָּשָׂה in both the infinitive and the imperfect form highlights the ongoing nature of the situation.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
All translations agree on the meaning of פָּשָׂה as 'to spread.' The BSB, KJV, ASV, YLT, WEB, and BBE consistently render this verb in a way that conveys the action of spreading.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The verse contains a main clause introduced by the conjunction וְאִם־ (ve.'im-), meaning 'and if.' The finite verb יִפְשֶׂ֛ה (yif.Seh), meaning 'it will spread,' is the focal point of the sentence, with several phrases providing additional information about the condition.
The structure emphasizes the conditional nature of the statement, focusing on what happens if the scaly outbreak spreads after the individual's cleansing.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates פָּשָׂה as διαξύσει, which also conveys the idea of spreading. This choice reflects a similar understanding of the action described in the Hebrew text.
The translation choice indicates a consistent interpretation of the condition being described, focusing on the physical manifestation of the skin condition.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Leviticus 13:35 explains that if a scaly outbreak spreads on the skin after a person has been declared clean, the priest must examine the individual again. This highlights the ongoing concern for purity in the community and the need for careful monitoring of skin conditions.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
It indicates that the condition may worsen, requiring further examination by the priest to determine the individual's status of cleanliness.
The priest is responsible for declaring individuals clean or unclean based on the laws given in the Torah, ensuring the health and purity of the community.
If the outbreak does not spread, the individual may remain clean, as determined by the priest's examination.
This verse is part of a larger set of laws that govern how skin diseases are diagnosed and treated, emphasizing the importance of community health and purity.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- How can I apply the principles of careful examination and accountability in my own life?
- What does this passage teach about the importance of community health and purity?
- In what ways can I support those who may be struggling with visible conditions or issues?
- How does understanding the cultural context of these laws help me appreciate their significance?
Commentators on this verse — 5 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Leviticus 13:35 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleBut if the scall spread much in his skin after cleansing. After he has been declared clean by the priest; for it was possible that it might spread after this, though so much precaution had been used,
Read John Gill on Leviticus 13 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryIf a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard; a dry scall , [ neteq (H5424); Septuagint, thrausma], when the leprosy was distinguished by being in sight deeper than the skin, and the
Read Robert Jamieson on Leviticus 13 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsLeviticus 13:35 But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing;Ver. 35. After his cleansing.]
Read John Trapp on Leviticus 13 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(35, 36) But if the scall spread.—If, after the scall had remained stationary for a fortnight, and the patient had been pronounced clean, he is brought again because the scall had spread after the lapse of the two quarantines, he is to be forthwith pronounced unclean, whether it was accompanied by yellow hair or not.
Read Charles John Ellicott on Leviticus 13 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesLeprosy in the hair of the head or face (29–37) The treatment is similar to that in the preceding cases, but two periods of confinement are prescribed, and the hair is to be shaven after the first seven days.
Read Cambridge on Leviticus 13 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
If, however, the scaly outbreak spreads further on the skin after his cleansing,
But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing,
If, however, the scaly outbreak spreads further on the skin after his cleansing,
If, however, the scall spreads further on the skin after his purification,
Tyndale line
But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing;
But if the scall spread abroad in the skin after his cleansing,
But if the scall spread abroad in the skin after his cleansing;
But if the scall shall spread much in the skin after his cleansing;
But if the blacke spot growe abroad in the flesh after his clensing,
Strictly literal
But if the scall have spread much in the skin after his cleansing,
'And if the scall spread greatly in the skin after his cleansing,
And if the scale spreads greatly in the skin after his cleansing,
But if the scall should spread abroad in the skin after his being pronounced clean:
But if the itching disease has spread widely in the skin after the priest said he was clean,
From the Latin
But if after his cleansing the spot spread again in the skin,
Simplified
However, if the scabby infection has spread on the skin after having been declared clean,
But if the disease in his skin becomes worse after he has been made clean,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text is supported by the Samaritan Pentateuch, which agrees word for word with the Hebrew. The Septuagint matches six of the seven words, indicating a strong consistency across these ancient witnesses.
וְאִם־ פָּשֹׂ֥ה יִפְשֶׂ֛ה הַנֶּ֖תֶק בָּע֑וֹר אַחֲרֵ֖י טָהֳרָתֽוֹ׃
6 of the 7 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
ואם פשׂה יפשׂה הנתק בעור אחרי טהרתו
Agrees with the Masoretic Text here, word for word.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Leviticus 13:35
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
אִם (im) is a Hebrew conjunction primarily meaning 'if' and is used in various contexts, including conditional clauses and interrogative situations. It can also express negation, alternatives, or exceptions, and appears frequently in the Old Testament. The lexicons note its use in oaths and its ability to connect different clauses, sometimes altering their meanings.
אִם conj.
hypoth. part. if
Interrog. part.
base
כִּי אם־
each part. retaining its independent force, and relating to a different clause:
that if
for if
(About 140 t.) the two particles being closely conjoined, and relating to the same clause—
limiting the prec. clause, except
the if being neglected, and treated as pleonastic, so that the clause is no longer a limitation of the preceding clause but a contradiction of it: but rather, but
after an oath, surely
base
H518a אִם conj. . hypoth. part. if
. Interrog. part.
H518b כִּי אם־ . each part. retaining its independent force, and relating to a different clause: . that if
. for if
. (About 140 t.) the two particles being closely conjoined, and relating to the same clause— . limiting the prec. clause, except
. the if being neglected, and treated as pleonastic, so that the clause is no longer a limitation of the preceding clause but a contradiction of it: but rather, but
. after an oath, surely
518 'im eem
a primitive particle; used very widely as demonstrative, lo!;
interrog., whether?; or conditional, if, although; also Oh
that!, when; hence, as a negative, not:--(and, can-,
doubtless, if, that) (not), + but, either, + except, +
more(-over if, than), neither, nevertheless, nor, oh that, or,
+ save (only, -ing), seeing, since, sith, + surely (no more,
none, not), though, + of a truth, + unless, + verily, when,
whereas, whether, while, + yet.
אִם (im) — if.
: if/whether_or/though
1) if
1a) conditional clauses
1a1) of possible situations
1a2) of impossible situations
1b) oath contexts
1b1) no, not
1c) if...if, whether...or, whether...or...or
1d) when, whenever
1e) since
1f) interrogative particle
1g) but rather
[כִּי] אם (ki im) — if: except.
1) except if
1a) but if
אִם (im) — if: surely no.
: surely_no
1) if
1a) conditional clauses
1a1) of possible situations
1a2) of impossible situations
1b) oath contexts
1b1) no, not
1c) if...if, whether...or, whether...or...or
1d) when, whenever
1e) since
1f) interrogative particle
1g) but rather
אִם (im) — if: surely yes.
: surely_yes
1) if
1a) conditional clauses
1a1) of possible situations
1a2) of impossible situations
1b) oath contexts
1b1) no, not
1c) if...if, whether...or, whether...or...or
1d) when, whenever
1e) since
1f) interrogative particle
1g) but rather
אִם (im) — if: until.
: until/except
Conj | Conj — Conjunction · particleHC/Tc
פָּשָׂה (pasah) is a primitive root meaning 'to spread.' The entries indicate that it is used intransitively, focusing on the action of spreading without specifying an object. The Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon notes it as a verb, while Strong's and the Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon confirm the same meaning.
פָּשָׂה 21 vb. spread, intrans.
base
H6581 פָּשָׂה
6581 pasah paw-saw'
a primitive root; to spread:--spread.
פָּשָׂה (pa.sah) — to spread.
(Qal) to spread
V-Qal-Ptc — Verb · Qal · infinitive absoluteHVqaa
פָּשָׂה (pasah) is a primitive root meaning 'to spread.' The entries indicate that it is used intransitively, focusing on the action of spreading without specifying an object. The Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon notes it as a verb, while Strong's and the Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon confirm the same meaning.
פָּשָׂה 21 vb. spread, intrans.
base
H6581 פָּשָׂה
6581 pasah paw-saw'
a primitive root; to spread:--spread.
פָּשָׂה (pa.sah) — to spread.
(Qal) to spread
HVqi3ms — Verb · Qal · imperfect third person masculine singularHVqi3ms
נֶ֫תֶק (netheq) refers to a scab or skin eruption, particularly one that may raise concerns about leprosy. It is derived from a root meaning 'to tear off.' The term is used in contexts related to skin conditions, especially on the head or beard.
נֶ֫תֶק n.m. scab, an eruption of skin, on head or in beard, causing suspicion of leprosy (lit. a tearing off)
base
H5424 נֶ֫תֶק
5424 netheq neh'-thek
from 5423; scurf:--(dry) scall.
see HEBREW for 05423
נֶ֫תֶק (ne.teq) — scab.
scab, skin eruption, scall (of leprosy)
Art | N-ms — Particle · noun common masculine singular absoluteHTd/Ncmsa
skol (netheq; thrausma): This only occurs in Leviticus 13 and 14 where it is used 14 times to describe bald or scaly patches of eruption on the skin. Such patches are generally the result of the action of parasitic organisms. The common form known now as scalled head is produced by a microscopic plant, Achorion schoenleinii. In Old and Middle English, scall was used for scabbiness of the head (Chaucer and Spenser). See also Skeat, Concise Etymol. Dict. of English Language.
→ A form of leprosy Le 13:30
→ See LEPROSY
עוֹר (owr) means skin or hide, specifically referring to the skin of humans and the hides of animals. It is derived from a root that implies nakedness. The term appears frequently in the Old Testament, with 55 occurrences related to human skin and 44 to animal hides.
עוֹר 99 n.m. skin
of men (55 t.)
hide of animals (44 t.)
base
H5785 עוֹר skin . of men (55 t.)
. hide of men (44 t.)
5785 `owr ore
from 5783; skin (as naked); by implication, hide,
leather:--hide, leather, skin.
see HEBREW for 05783
עוֹר (or) — skin.
1) skin, hide
1a) skin (of men)
1b) hide (of animals)
Prep | N-ms — Preposition · noun common masculine singular absoluteHRd/Ncmsa
(`or, geledh, "human skin" (Job 16:15), basar, "flesh," in the sense of "nakedness" (Ps 102:5 the King James Version); derma):
Literal:
The word `or designates the skin of both men and animals, the latter both raw and in tanned condition: "Yahweh God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins (`or), and clothed them" (Ge 3:21); "She put the skins (`or) of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck" (Ge 27:16); "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" (Jer 13:23). The Hebrew geledh is found in the sense of human skin: "I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and have laid…
The Hebrew word אַחַר (*achar*) primarily denotes the concept of 'after' or 'behind' in both spatial and temporal contexts. It functions as a substantive, adverb, preposition, and conjunction, indicating a following part or time. The related form אַחֲרַי (*acharai*) refers to a person who turns backwards. There is a reference to Proverbs 28:23 in relation to the latter.
אַחַר prop. subst. the hinder or following part
adv.
of place, behind
of time, afterwards
prep.
of place, behind, after
of time, after
conj. after that.
H310a אַחַר prop. subst. the hinder or following part . adv. . of place, behind
. of time, afterwards
. prep. . of place, behind, after
. of time, after
. conj. after that.
H310b אַחֲרַי a man that turneth backwards.
310 'achar akh-ar'
from 309; properly, the hind part; generally used as an
adverb or conjunction, after (in various senses):--after
(that, -ward), again, at, away from, back (from, -side),
behind, beside, by, follow (after, -ing), forasmuch, from,
hereafter, hinder end, + out (over) live, + persecute,
posterity, pursuing, remnant, seeing, since, thence(-forth),
when, with.
see HEBREW for 0309
אַחַר (a.char) — after.
1) after the following part, behind (of place), hinder, afterwards (of time)
1a) as an adverb
1a1) behind (of place)
1a2) afterwards (of time)
1b) as a preposition
1b1) behind, after (of place)
1b2) after (of time)
1b3) besides
1c) as a conjunction
1c) after that
1d) as a substantive
1d1) hinder part
1e) with other prepositions
1e1) from behind
1e2) from following after
אַחֲרַי (a.cha.ray) — backwards.
backwards (of a man that turns backwards)
Prep — PrepHAcmpc
טָֽהֳרָה (tohorah) is a feminine noun derived from טָהוֹר (tahor), meaning ceremonial purification or moral purity. It encompasses concepts of cleansing and purity, including specific references to menstruation. The entries consistently emphasize its relation to purification and cleansing.
טָֽהֳרָה n.f. purifying, cleansing
purifying, menstruation
cleansing, purification
base
H2893 טָֽהֳרָה
2893 tohorah toh-or-aw'
feminine of 2892; ceremonial purification; moral purity:--X
is cleansed, cleansing, purification(-fying).
see HEBREW for 02892
טׇהֳרָה (to.ho.rah) — purifying.
1) purifying, cleansing, purification, purity, cleanness
1a) purifying, menstruation
1b) cleansing, purification
N-cs | Suff — Noun common feminine singular construct · suffixHNcfsc/Sp3ms