And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.

LEVITICUS 14:7KJV
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Leviticus 14:7 (KJV)

What does Leviticus 14:7 mean?

Leviticus 14:7 describes how a priest was to sprinkle a person who was being cleansed from leprosy seven times, then declare the person clean, and finally release a living bird into an open field as part of the ritual. This verse outlines a specific step in the ancient Israelite process for restoring someone who had been afflicted with leprosy back into the community.

In this passage, God is giving Moses instructions for the priests about how to handle cases of leprosy, which was a serious skin disease in ancient times. The ritual involved both symbolic actions and spoken declarations, showing both a physical and spiritual restoration. The release of the living bird was a visible sign that the person was now free from the disease and its social consequences.

The Hebrew behind Leviticus 14:7

  • "Sprinkle" (נָזָה, nazah) means to scatter or spatter liquid, often used in ritual contexts for purification. Here, it emphasizes the act of cleansing as something done by the priest, not the person themselves.
  • "Cleansed" (טָהֵר, taher) means to be made clean or pure, not just physically but also in terms of ritual status. This word shows that the ritual had both health and spiritual dimensions.
  • "Leprosy" (צָרַעַת, tsara‘at) refers to a range of skin diseases, not just what we call leprosy today. Understanding this helps clarify that the ritual addressed various conditions that made someone ritually unclean.
  • "Living" (חַי, chai) and "bird" (צִפּוֹר, tsippor) together highlight that the bird released was alive and not sacrificed, symbolizing freedom and new life for the cleansed person.

Why Leviticus 14:7 matters

  • Leviticus 14:7 clarifies that cleansing from leprosy was not just a medical matter but involved a public, ritual process led by a priest, restoring a person’s place in the community.
  • The verse emphasizes the importance of ritual purity in ancient Israel and how physical health and spiritual status were closely linked.
  • The release of the living bird is a vivid symbol of being set free from both disease and isolation, connecting this ritual to broader biblical themes of restoration and renewal.

Where else these words appear

“sprinkle” Hebrew H5137 · used in 22 verses

  • Exodus 29:21 And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him.
  • Leviticus 14:16 And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD:
  • Numbers 19:4 And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:

“leprosy” Hebrew H6883 · used in 33 verses

  • Leviticus 13:2 When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:
  • Leviticus 13:27 And the priest shall look upon him the seventh day: and if it be spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.
  • Leviticus 14:34 When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;

“bird” 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.

“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.