Leviticus 14:4 (KJV)
Then shall the priest commandto takefor him that is to be cleansed two birds aliveand cleanand cedar woodand scarletand hyssop
Cross-references
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. Le 1:14 Le 5:7 Le 12:8
cedar. Le 14:6 Le 14:49-52 Nu 19:6
scarlet. Heb 9:19
hyssop. Ex 12:22 Nu 19:18 Ps 51:7
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