And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:

LEVITICUS 14:49KJV
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Leviticus 14:49 (KJV)

What does Leviticus 14:49 mean?

Leviticus 14:49 lists the things the priest must take to cleanse a house after a spreading mark has been dealt with. The verse describes a prescribed act that treats the house as clean again; it is more than an instruction to remove the visible mark.

God is giving Moses and Aaron instructions for Israel. The priest gathers two birds, cedar wood, scarlet material, and hyssop for the cleansing. These objects prepare for the actions that follow, after the priest has inspected the house.

The Hebrew behind Leviticus 14:49

  • “cleanse” — חָטָא (ḥaṭaʾ): In this form, the word can mean to purify. Here it refers to the prescribed cleansing of the house, rather than simply washing its surfaces.
  • “hyssop” — אֵזוֹב (ʾezov): The word refers to a plant used in sprinkling. Its exact modern identity is uncertain, but the passage shows how it was used with the other materials.

Why Leviticus 14:49 matters

  • The house had to be checked before this cleansing took place. Verse 48 says the priest would pronounce the house clean if the mark had not spread after the house was repaired.
  • The materials have distinct roles in the action that follows. In verse 51, the priest dips the cedar wood, hyssop, scarlet material, and living bird in blood and water, then sprinkles the house seven times.
  • The two birds do not have the same role. Verse 50 describes one bird being killed over fresh water; verse 53 says the living bird is released outside the city.

Where else these words appear

“hyssop” Hebrew H231 · used in 10 verses

  • Exodus 12:22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
  • Leviticus 14:51 And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times:
  • Numbers 19:18 And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:

“birds” Hebrew H6833 · used in 36 verses

  • Genesis 7:14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
  • Deuteronomy 14:11 Of all clean birds ye shall eat.
  • Proverbs 7:23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

“scarlet” Hebrew H8144 · used in 42 verses

  • Genesis 38:28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.
  • Exodus 35:23 And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them.
  • Exodus 39:29 And a girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, of needlework; as the LORD commanded Moses.

“scarlet” Hebrew H8438 · used in 43 verses

  • Exodus 16:20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.
  • Exodus 35:35 Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.
  • Leviticus 14:6 As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: