And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water:

LEVITICUS 14:50KJV
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Leviticus 14:50 (KJV)

What does Leviticus 14:50 mean?

Leviticus 14:50 gives a priest an instruction for a house being declared clean after a spreading mark has been dealt with. The priest is to kill one of two birds over fresh water in a clay container. The bird’s blood and the water are then used in the ceremony for the house.

The instruction comes from God’s directions to Moses and Aaron (Leviticus 14:33). The vessel provides a place for the water and blood to be held together, ready for the action described in the next verse.

The Hebrew behind Leviticus 14:50

  • “running” — חַי (ḥay): This word means “living.” With “water,” the phrase refers to fresh water, such as water from a flowing source, rather than water that has been standing.
  • “earthen” — חֶרֶשׂ (ḥeres): This word refers to clay or pottery. The verse pictures an ordinary container made from fired clay.

Why Leviticus 14:50 matters

  • The ceremony concerns a house, not a person. The directions beginning in verse 49 are for the house after the priest has examined the spreading mark.
  • The two birds have different roles. Verse 50 calls for one bird to be killed; verse 51 uses the live bird, along with other materials, to sprinkle the house.
  • The water and blood are part of a visible act involving the house. Verse 51 directs the priest to sprinkle the house seven times, connecting the preparation in verse 50 with what follows.

Where else these words appear

“earthen” Hebrew H2789 · used in 16 verses

  • Leviticus 6:28 But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brasen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water.
  • Job 2:8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
  • Isaiah 45:9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

“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.

“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.