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to determine when something is clean or unclean. This is the law regarding skin diseases and mildew.”
Leviticus 14:57 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.
  • KJV To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy.
  • ESV to show when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law for leprous disease.
  • NKJV to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.”
  • NASB to teach when they are unclean and when they are clean. This is the law of leprosy.
  • NLT This procedure will determine whether a person or object is ceremonially clean or unclean. “These are the instructions regarding skin diseases and mildew.”

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The purpose of these laws was to teach Israel to distinguish the unclean from the clean; this concludes the law of leprosy. It underscores that God's people must learn to tell holy from defiled.

Overview

This closing statement gives the aim of the whole section: instruction in discerning clean from unclean. Israel's life with a holy God required constant attention to what defiles and what restores. The principle endures for believers, who are called to discernment and purity, and it points forward to Christ, whose cleansing makes the unclean fit to dwell with God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 4

  • Lev 10:10You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean,
  • Jer 15:19Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.
  • Ezek 44:23They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.
  • Deut 24:8In cases of infectious skin diseases, be careful to diligently follow everything the Levitical priests instruct you. Be careful to do as I have commanded them.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Leviticus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Leviticus 14:57YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LeviticusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.

How Leviticus 14:57 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.