Leviticus 14 · Verse 4

Leviticus 14:4

Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:

Leviticus 14:4, King James Version

Leviticus 14:4 in other translations

BSB	the priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed.
WEB	then the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.
ASV	then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
YLT	and the priest hath commanded, and he hath taken for him who is to be cleansed, two clean living birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.
DARBY	then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two clean living birds, and cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.
BBE	Then the priest is to give orders to take, for him who is to be made clean, two living clean birds and some cedar wood and red thread and hyssop.
Webster	Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive, and clean, and cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.

What does Leviticus 14:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

4. two birds--literally, "sparrows." The Septuagint, however, renders the expression "little birds"; and it is evident that it is to be taken in this generic sense from their being specified as "clean"--a condition which would have been altogether superfluous to mention in reference to sparrows. In all the offerings prescribed in the law, Moses ordered only common and accessible birds; and hence we may presume that he points here to such birds as sparrows or pigeons, as in the desert it might have been very difficult to procure wild birds alive. cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hyssop--The cedar here meant was certainly not the famous tree of Lebanon, and it is generally supposed to have been the juniper, as several varieties of that shrub are found growing abundantly in the clefts and crevices of the Sinaitic mountains. A stick of this shrub was bound to a bunch of hyssop by a scarlet ribbon, and the living bird was to be so attached to it, that when they dipped the branches in the water, the tail of the bird might also be moistened, but not the head nor the wings, that it might not be impeded in its flight when let loose.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 4 Two birds alive and clean, etc. - Whether these birds were sparrows, or turtledoves, or pigeons, we know not; probably any kind of clean bird, or bird proper to be eaten, might be used on this occasion, though it is more likely that turtle-doves or pigeons were employed, because these appear to have been the only birds offered in sacrifice. Of the cedarwood, hyssop, clean bird, and scarlet wool or fillet, were made an aspergillum, or instrument to sprinkle with. The cedar-wood served for the handle, the hyssop and living bird were attached to it by means of the scarlet wool or crimson fillet. The bird was so bound to this handle as that its tail should be downwards, in order to be dipped into the blood of the bird that had been killed. The whole of this made an instrument for the sprinkling of this blood, and when this business was done, the living bird was let loose, and permitted to go whithersoever it would. In this ceremony, according to some rabbins, "the living bird signified that the dead flesh of the leper was restored to soundness; the cedar-wood, which is not easily corrupted, that he was healed of his putrefaction; the scarlet thread, wool, or fillet, that he was restored to his good complexion; and the hyssop, which was purgative and odoriferous, that the disease was completely removed, and the bad scent that accompanied it entirely gone." Ainsworth, Dodd, and others, have given many of these rabbinical conceits. Of all these purifications, and their accompanying circumstances, we may safely say, because authorized by the New Testament so to do, that they pointed out the purification of the soul through the atonement and Spirit of Christ; but to run analogies between the type and the thing typified is difficult, and precarious. The general meaning and design we sufficiently understand; the particulars are not readily ascertainable, and consequently of little importance; had they been otherwise, they would have been pointed out.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Leviticus 14:1-9

The priests could not cleanse the lepers; but when the Lord removed the plague, various rules were to be observed in admitting them again to the ordinances of God, and the society of his people. They represent many duties and exercises of truly repenting sinners, and the duties of ministers respecting them. If we apply this to the spiritual leprosy of sin, it intimates that when we withdraw from those who walk…

Read the full comment on Leviticus 14:1-9 →

Leviticus 14:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְצִוָּה֙ve.tzi.Vahand he will commandH6680

הַכֹּהֵ֔ןha.ko.Henthe priestH3548

וְלָקַ֧חve.la.Kachand someone will takeH3947

לַמִּטַּהֵ֛רla.mi.ta.Herfor the [one] purifying himselfH2891

שְׁתֵּֽי\־she.tei-twoH8147

צִפֳּרִ֥יםtzi.po.RimbirdsH6833

חַיּ֖וֹתchai.YotlivingH2416

טְהֹר֑וֹתte.ho.RotpureH2889

וְעֵ֣ץve.'Etzand wood ofH6086

אֶ֔רֶז'E.rezcedarH730

וּשְׁנִ֥יu.she.Niand scarlet ofH8144

תוֹלַ֖עַתto.La.'ata wormH8438

וְאֵזֹֽב\׃ve.'e.Zoand hyssopH231

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Leviticus 14:4

Numbers 19:6
And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
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:
Hebrews 9:19
For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
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.
Psalms 51:7
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Leviticus 14:49-52
And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: 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: And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet:
Leviticus 12:8
And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.
Leviticus 5:7
And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the Lord; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.
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:
Leviticus 1:14
And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.

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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

two birds. or, sparrows.The word {tzippor,} from the Arabic {zaphara,} to fly, is used in the Scriptures to denote birds of every species, particularly small birds. But it is often used in a more restricted sense, as the Hebrew writers assert, to signify the sparrow. Aquinas says the same; and Jerome renders it here the sparrow. So the Greek [strouthia,] in Matthew and Luke, which signifies a sparrow, is rendered by the Syriac translator {tzipparin}, the same as the Hebrew {tzipporim}. Nor is it peculiar to the Hebrews to give the same name to the sparrow and to fowls of the largest size; for Nicander calls the hen [strouthos katoikados,] the domestic sparrow, and both Plautus and Ausonius call the ostrich, {passer marinus,} "the marine sparrow." It is evident, however, that the word in this passage signifies birds in general; for if the sparrow was a clean bird, there was no necessity for commanding a clean one to be taken, since every one of the species was ceremonially clean; but if it was unclean, then it could not be called clean.
1:14; 5:7; 12:8
cedar.
6,49-52; Nu 19:6
scarlet.
Heb 9:19
hyssop.
Ex 12:22; Nu 19:18; Ps 51:7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Leviticus 14:3
And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper;
Leviticus 14:4
Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
Leviticus 14:5
And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:

Read all of Leviticus 14

Leviticus 14:4 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	El sacerdote mandará luego que se tomen para el que se purifica dos avecillas vivas, limpias, y palo de cedro, y grana, é hisopo;
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	alors le sacrificateur commandera qu’on prenne, pour celui qui doit être purifié, deux oiseaux vivants et purs, et du bois de cèdre, et de l’écarlate, et de l’hysope;
German Elberfelder 1871	so soll der Priester gebieten, daß man für den, der zu reinigen ist, zwei lebendige, reine Vögel nehme und Cedernholz und Karmesin und Ysop.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	præcipiet ei, qui purificatur, ut offerat duos passeres vivos pro se, quibus vesci licitum est, et lignum cedrinum, vermiculumque et hyssopum.