Bible Strands
Leviticus 14:4
the priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The priest examines a healed skin disease outside the camp and issues the command to gather specific ritual materials to begin the purification ceremony.
The words — צִפֳּרִים חַיּוֹת טְהֹר֑וֹת (tzi-por-im chai-yot te-ho-rot) = two living pure birds, specifying the exact living creatures required for the rite.
The thread — The cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet materials reappear in Numbers 19:6 for the ashes of the red heifer, while Leviticus 14:6 shows the priest dipping the live bird with those items into blood, and Hebrews 9:19 references Moses using blood and water for ceremonial cleansing.
Why it lands — The text requires the priest to procure and prepare specific natural elements before any ritual action can occur, demanding precise compliance with the prescribed cleansing procedure.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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:
Cross-references
- Numbers 19:6 The priest is to take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.
- Leviticus 14:6 And he is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water.
- Hebrews 9:19 For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people,
- Exodus 12:22 Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin, and brush the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out the door of his house until morning.
- Psalms 51:7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Leviticus 1:14 If, instead, one’s offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, he is to present a turtledove or a young pigeon.
- Leviticus 5:7 If, however, he cannot afford a lamb, he may bring to the LORD as restitution for his sin two turtledoves or two young pigeons—one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.
- Leviticus 12:8 But if she cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. Then the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”
- Leviticus 14:49 He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house;
- Numbers 19:18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, all the furnishings, and the people who were there. He is also to sprinkle the one who touched a bone, a grave, or a person who has died or been slain.