Imamat 14:49-53

14:49 Then he ¹  is to take two birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric, and some twigs of hyssop ²  to decontaminate ³  the house, 14:50 and he is to slaughter one bird into a clay vessel over fresh water. ⁴  14:51 He must then take the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, the scrap of crimson fabric, and the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 14:52 So he is to decontaminate the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, and the scrap of crimson fabric, 14:53 and he is to send the live bird away outside the city ⁵  into the open countryside. So he is to make atonement for the house and it will be clean.

[14:49]  ¹ tn The pronoun “he” refers to the priest mentioned in the previous verse.

[14:49]  ² tn Regarding these ritual materials, see the note on v. 4 above.

[14:49]  ³ tn Regarding the Piel of חָטָא (khata’, cf. v. 52) meaning to “decontaminate” or “perform a decontamination,” see the notes on Lev 8:15 and 9:15.

[14:49]  sn In Lev 8:15, for example, the “sin offering” is used to “decontaminate” the burnt offering altar. As argued above (see the note on v. 7 above), these ritual materials and the procedures performed with them do not constitute a “sin offering” (contrast vv. 19 and 31 above). In fact, no sin offering was required for the purification of a house.

[14:50]  ⁴ tn See the note on v. 5 above.

[14:53]  ⁵ tn Heb “to from outside to the city.”