Leviticus 13:52 kjv
He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woolen or in linen, or any thing of skin, wherein the plague is: for it is a fretting leprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire.
Leviticus 13:52 nkjv
He shall therefore burn that garment in which is the plague, whether warp or woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of leather, for it is an active leprosy; the garment shall be burned in the fire.
Leviticus 13:52 niv
He must burn the fabric, the woven or knitted material of wool or linen, or any leather article that has been spoiled; because the defiling mold is persistent, the article must be burned.
Leviticus 13:52 esv
And he shall burn the garment, or the warp or the woof, the wool or the linen, or any article made of skin that is diseased, for it is a persistent leprous disease. It shall be burned in the fire.
Leviticus 13:52 nlt
The priest must burn the item ? the clothing, the woolen or linen fabric, or piece of leather ? for it has been contaminated by a serious mildew. It must be completely destroyed by fire.
Leviticus 13 52 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference Note |
|---|---|---|
| Lev 13:47-59 | "If a garment, wool or linen, or in warp or woof, or of any article of leather, has a leprous disease..." | Broader context of rules for object tzara'at. |
| Lev 14:38, 45 | "the priest shall command that the stones be torn out... and the house be torn down... for purification." | Similar destruction for widespread tzara'at in houses. |
| Deut 7:25-26 | "You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire... you shall not bring an abomination into your house..." | Burning as radical removal of idolatry and defilement. |
| Num 31:23 | "Everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through fire, and it will be clean..." | Fire as a means of purifying objects after defilement. |
| Exod 32:20 | "He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder..." | Destruction of defiling idolatry (golden calf). |
| Heb 12:29 | "for our God is a consuming fire." | God's inherent holiness demands the consumption of sin and impurity. |
| Heb 9:10 | "concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation." | External purity laws, points to the need for Christ's internal cleansing. |
| 2 Cor 7:1 | "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit..." | Spiritual parallel: necessity of purging internal defilement. |
| 1 Cor 5:7-8 | "Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump... For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed." | Spiritual removal of sin (leaven) from the Christian community. |
| Gal 5:9 | "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." | The pervasive nature of corruption or false teaching. |
| Matt 3:12 | "but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." | Burning as divine judgment for spiritual worthlessness. |
| Mal 3:2 | "But who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap." | God's purifying work, often involving intense heat or judgment. |
| Rev 20:9 | "And fire came down from heaven and consumed them." | Ultimate divine judgment and consumption of the wicked. |
| Exod 12:15 | "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread... on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses..." | Removing a defiling element (leaven) for purity. |
| Lev 11:24-25 | "And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening." | General laws of uncleanness showing defilement by contact. |
| Num 5:2 | "Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, and everyone having a discharge, and everyone who is unclean through contact with a dead body." | Removing sources of severe defilement from the communal presence. |
| Josh 7:15, 25 | "He who is taken with the devoted thing shall be burned with fire... So they burned them with fire..." | Punishment for bringing accursed, defiling things into the community. |
| Zech 13:9 | "And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested." | Refining through trials, akin to purging impurities for purification. |
| Ezek 36:25 | "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you." | Promise of cleansing from sin and uncleanness in the New Covenant. |
| 1 Pet 1:7 | "so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire..." | Faith refined by trials, burning away impurities. |
| Isa 33:14 | "The sinners in Zion are terrified... Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?" | God's consuming holiness and the fear of impurity before Him. |
| 2 Thes 1:7-9 | "...when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God..." | Divine judgment consuming the disobedient with fire. |
Leviticus 13 verses
Leviticus 13 52 Meaning
Leviticus 13:52 prescribes the immediate and complete destruction by fire of any garment, fabric component (specifically warp or woof), or leather article that is found to be pervasively infected with tzara'at. This command is given because the defilement is deemed a "virulent mildew" that has spread aggressively, rendering the item irrecoverably unclean and incurable, thereby requiring its total incineration to prevent the further spread of impurity and maintain ritual holiness.
Leviticus 13 52 Context
Leviticus chapter 13, leading into chapter 14, provides detailed Mosaic laws concerning tzara'at, a term commonly translated as "leprosy," but which biblical scholars often interpret more broadly as various skin diseases for humans and specific types of mold, mildew, or fungal infections for inanimate objects and houses. These regulations were foundational to Israel's communal and spiritual hygiene, underscoring God's meticulous concern for purity among His people. In an ancient world that often lacked comprehensive sanitation practices and attributed illnesses to arbitrary divine whims or sorcery, Israel's laws stood out by directly connecting physical cleanliness to ritual purity and divine holiness. The specific command in verse 52 addresses a scenario where tzara'at on an item has spread extensively and uncontrollably, indicating a severe, ingrained defilement. This deep-seated impurity necessitated radical destruction by fire to prevent its proliferation and to teach the Israelites the pervasive nature of contamination and the definitive measures sometimes required to maintain God's demanded holiness within the community.
Leviticus 13 52 Word analysis
- and he shall burn: Hebrew: וְשָׂרַף (vᵉsarap). The verb sarap (שָׂרַף) means "to burn," signifying a complete and irreversible destruction by fire. In the Mosaic law, fire is a symbol of absolute removal, judgment, and sometimes purification. Here, it denotes eradication of the severe impurity, leaving no residue capable of further defilement.
- the garment: Hebrew: הַבֶּגֶד (habeged). Beged (בֶּגֶד) is a general term for any piece of clothing. Its inclusion emphasizes that the law applies to common, everyday textiles.
- or the warp: Hebrew: אֶת־הַשְׁתִי (et-hashtiy). Sheti (שְׁתִי) refers to the longitudinal threads in woven fabric. This specific detail highlights that the tzara'at could permeate the very structural components of the cloth.
- or the woof: Hebrew: וְאֶת־הָעֵרֶב (vᵉ'et-ha'erev). Erev (עֵרֶב) refers to the transverse threads, or weft, in a woven material. Specifying both warp and woof underlines the complete saturation of the fabric with the defilement, implying no part of it is free from the plague.
- or any article of leather: Hebrew: אוֹ־כְלִי־עוֹר (o-khli-or). Kli (כְּלִי) means "vessel" or "article," and or (עוֹר) means "skin" or "leather." This extends the scope of potential tzara'at infection beyond woven goods to all objects made from animal hides, showing the breadth of materials susceptible to this specific defilement.
- in which the plague has spread: Hebrew: אֲשֶׁר־פָּשְׂתָה בּוֹ (asher-pas’tah bo). Pasah (פָשָׂה) means "to spread," "to increase," indicating an aggressive and expanding growth of the contamination within the material. This phrase is critical as it delineates the severity that mandates destruction—not merely present, but actively proliferating.
- for it is a virulent mildew: Hebrew: כִּי־צָרַעַת מַמְאֶרֶת הִוא (ki-tzara'at mam’eret hi). Ki (כִּי) functions as "for" or "because," giving the reason. Tzara'at (צָרַעַת) here refers to the specific "leprous disease" or "mildew" detailed in this chapter. Mam'ereth (מַמְאֶרֶת) derives from a root meaning "to fester," "to be virulent," or "chronic." This description signifies an intractable, deep-seated, and aggressively spreading form of contamination, implying that washing or minor intervention would be ineffective. It emphasizes the irremediable nature of the object's condition.
- it shall be burned in the fire: Hebrew: בָּאֵשׁ תִּשְׂרָפֶנָּה (ba'esh tisrafennah). This phrase reiterates the command for destruction, adding ba'esh (בָּאֵשׁ), "in the fire." The emphatic repetition solidifies that this is the non-negotiable and final act for such severe defilement. This total destruction removes any possibility of lingering impurity or transfer.
Leviticus 13 52 Bonus section
The extreme detail in specifying "warp" and "woof" (the constituent threads of woven material) indicates the understanding that the tzara'at in this severe form was not superficial but had deeply penetrated the very fibers of the item. This precision reinforces the absolute necessity of destruction over attempted cleansing, as the contamination was intrinsic to the object's structure. Furthermore, the practice of burning served a dual symbolic purpose: it signified both the consuming nature of divine judgment against impurity and the process of purification. This Old Testament physical law of immediate and complete destruction provides a shadow of the New Testament principle that deeply rooted sin or spiritual corruption may necessitate radical cutting off or purging (cf. Matt 5:29-30) to preserve spiritual health and holiness in a believer's life and within the body of Christ.
Leviticus 13 52 Commentary
Leviticus 13:52 serves as a stringent command for handling deeply infected objects under the Mosaic Law concerning tzara'at. This "virulent mildew," distinct from modern leprosy, signifies an incurable, widespread contamination within fabrics or leather. The divine directive to burn these items underscores several crucial principles: the severity of impurity, the holiness of God that cannot tolerate contamination, and the necessity of radical removal to protect the community. This act was both a practical public health measure and a powerful spiritual object lesson for Israel, teaching them about the pervasive and corrupting nature of sin. Just as the physical "mildew" had to be utterly consumed to prevent its spread and re-infection, spiritual impurities and deeply entrenched sin often require a complete, definitive purging from one's life or the community, symbolizing God's purifying judgment and absolute demand for holiness.