And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering:

LEVITICUS 14:19KJV
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Leviticus 14:19 (KJV)

What does Leviticus 14:19 mean?

Leviticus 14:19 describes how a priest must offer a sin offering to make atonement for a person being cleansed from impurity, and then, after this ritual, the priest will sacrifice the burnt offering. This verse outlines the order and purpose of sacrifices in the process of restoring someone to ritual purity.

In this chapter, God is giving Moses instructions for priests about how to help someone who has been healed from a skin disease (often called "leprosy" in older translations) return to the community. The verse shows that the process involves both a sin offering and a burnt offering, emphasizing that both forgiveness of sin and dedication to God are important for being fully restored.

The Hebrew behind Leviticus 14:19

  • חַטָּאָה (chatta'ah, "offering"): This word refers specifically to a "sin offering," which is a sacrifice meant to address impurity or wrongdoing. Its use here shows the ritual is about more than just physical healing—it also deals with spiritual or ritual impurity.
  • כִּפֶּר (kipper, "atonement"): This verb means "to make atonement" or "to cover over." In this context, it highlights that the priest’s actions are meant to restore the person’s relationship with God, not just their health.
  • יִטְהַר (yit'har, "cleansed"): This word means "to be made clean" or "purified." It shows that the goal is full restoration, both physically and spiritually.
  • טֻמְאָה (tum'ah, "uncleanness"): This term refers to ritual impurity, not necessarily moral wrongdoing. The process is about removing a state of impurity that separated the person from worship and community life.

Why Leviticus 14:19 matters

  • Leviticus 14:19 clarifies that ritual impurity was addressed through specific sacrifices, not just by waiting for physical healing, showing the importance of ritual actions in Israelite life.
  • The order of the offerings (sin offering first, then burnt offering) highlights that forgiveness and cleansing come before acts of worship and dedication.
  • This verse connects to the wider passage by showing the detailed steps required for someone to be fully welcomed back into the community, emphasizing both personal and communal restoration.

Where else these words appear

“uncleanness” Hebrew H2932 · used in 31 verses

  • Leviticus 5:3 Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.
  • Leviticus 18:19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
  • Ezra 9:11 Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.

“kill” Hebrew H7819 · used in 70 verses

  • Genesis 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
  • Leviticus 9:8 Aaron therefore went unto the altar, and slew the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself.
  • 2 Kings 10:14 And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.

“cleansed” Hebrew H2891 · used in 79 verses

  • Genesis 35:2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
  • Leviticus 14:48 And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plaistered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.
  • 2 Chronicles 34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.

“atonement” Hebrew H3722 · used in 94 verses

  • Genesis 6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
  • Leviticus 14:29 And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make an atonement for him before the LORD.
  • Numbers 28:22 And one goat for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you.