1 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
2 If a man has on his skin a growth or a mark or a white place, and it becomes the disease of a leper, let him be taken to Aaron the priest, or to one of the priests, his sons;
3 And if, when the priest sees the mark on his skin, the hair on the place is turned white and the mark seems to go deeper than the skin, it is the mark of a leper: and the priest, after looking at him, will say that he is unclean.
4 But if the mark on his skin is white, and does not seem to go deeper than the skin, and the hair on it is not turned white, then the priest will keep him shut up for seven days;
5 And the priest is to see him on the seventh day; and if, in his opinion, the place on his skin has not become worse and is not increased in size, then the priest will keep him shut up for seven days more:
6 And the priest is to see him again on the seventh day; and if the mark is less bright and is not increased on his skin, then let the priest say that he is clean: it is only a skin-mark, and after his clothing has been washed he will be clean.
7 But if the size of the mark on his skin is increased after he has been seen by the priest, let him go to the priest again:
8 And if, after looking at him, he sees that the mark is increased in his skin, let the priest say that he is unclean; he is a leper.
9 When the disease of a leper is seen on a man, let him be taken to the priest;
10 And if the priest sees that there is a white growth on the skin, and the hair is turned white, and there is diseased flesh in the growth,
11 It is an old disease in the skin of his flesh, and the priest will say that he is unclean; he will not have to be shut up, for he is clearly unclean.
12 And if the disease comes out all over his skin, from his head to his feet, as far as the priest is able to see,
13 And if the priest sees that all his flesh is covered with the leper's disease, the priest will say that he is clean: it is all turned white, he is clean.
14 But whenever diseased flesh is seen on him, he will be unclean.
15 And when the priest sees the diseased flesh he will say that he is unclean; the diseased flesh is unclean, he is a leper.
16 Or if the diseased flesh is turned again and changed to white then he is to come to the priest,
17 And the priest will see him: and if the place is turned white, then the priest will say that he is free from the disease.
18 And if a bad place has come out on the skin and is well again,
19 And on the same place there is a white growth of a bright mark, red and white, then let the priest see it;
20 And after looking at it, if it seems to go deeper than the skin, and the hair on it is turned white, then the priest will say that the man is unclean: it is the leper's disease, it has come out in the bad place.
21 But if, after looking at it, he sees that there are no white hairs on it, and it is not deeper than the skin, and it is not very bright, then let the priest keep him shut up for seven days:
22 And if it is increasing on the skin, the priest will say that he is unclean: it is a disease.
23 But if the bright mark keeps in the same place and gets no greater, it is the mark of the old wound, and the priest will say that he is clean.
24 Or if there is a burn on the skin of the flesh, and if the diseased flesh in the burn becomes a bright place, red and white or white,
25 The priest is to see it: and if the hair on the bright place is turned white and it seems to go deeper than the skin, he is a leper: it has come out in the burn, and the priest will say that he is unclean: it is the leper's disease.
26 But if, after looking at it, the priest sees that there is no white hair on the bright place, and it is not deeper than the skin, and is not very bright, then let the priest keep him shut up for seven days:
27 And the priest is to see him again on the seventh day; if it is increased in the skin, then the priest will say that he is unclean: it is the leper's disease.
28 And if the bright place keeps the same size and gets no greater on the skin, but is less bright, it is the effect of the burn, and the priest will say that he is clean: it is the mark of the burn.
29 And when a man or a woman has a disease on the head, or in the hair of the chin,
30 Then the priest is to see the diseased place: and if it seems to go deeper than the skin, and if there is thin yellow hair in it, then the priest will say that he is unclean: he has the mark of the leper's disease on his head or in the hair of his chin.
31 And after looking at the diseased place, if it does not seem to go deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest will have him shut up for seven days:
32 And on the seventh day the priest will see the place: and if it is not increased, and there is no yellow hair in it, and it does not seem to go deeper than the skin,
33 Then his hair is to be cut off, but not on the diseased place, and he is to be shut up for seven days more:
34 And on the seventh day the priest will see the place: and if it is not increased, and does not seem to go deeper than the skin, the priest will say that he is clean: and after his clothing has been washed he will be clean.
35 But if the disease in his skin becomes worse after he has been made clean,
36 Then the priest is to see him: and if the mark is increased, the priest, without looking for the yellow hair, will say that he is unclean.
37 But if, in his opinion, the growth is stopped, and black hair has come up on it, the disease has gone; he is clean and the priest will say that he is clean.
38 And if a man or a woman has bright marks on the skin of their flesh, that is, bright white marks,
39 Then the priest is to see them: and if the white marks on their skin are not very bright, it is a skin disease which has come out on the skin; he is clean.
40 And if a man's hair has come out and he has no hair, still he is clean.
41 And if the hair has gone from the front part of his head, so that he has no hair there, still he is clean.
42 But if, on his head or on his brow, where he has no hair, there is a red and white place, it is the disease of the leper coming out on his head or on his brow.
43 Then if the priest sees that the growth of the disease has become red and white on his head or on his brow where there is no hair, like the mark in the skin of a leper;
44 He is a leper and unclean; the priest is to say that he is most certainly unclean: the disease is in his head.
45 And the leper who has the disease on him is to go about with signs of grief, with his hair loose and his mouth covered, crying, Unclean, unclean.
46 While the disease is on him, he will be unclean. He is unclean: let him keep by himself, living outside the tent-circle.
47 And any clothing of wool or of linen in which is the mark of the disease;
48 If it is in the threads of the linen or of the wool, or in leather, or in anything made of skin;
49 If there are red or green marks on the clothing, or on the leather, or in the threads of the cloth, or in anything made of skin, it is the leper's disease: let the priest see it.
50 And after it has been seen by the priest, the thing which is so marked is to be shut up for seven days:
51 And he is to see the mark on the seventh day; if the mark is increased in the clothing, or in the threads of the material, or in the leather, whatever the leather is used for, it is the disease biting into it: it is unclean.
52 And the clothing, or the wool or linen material, or anything of leather in which is the disease, is to be burned: for the disease is biting into it; let it be burned in the fire.
53 And if the priest sees that the mark is not increased in the clothing or in any part of the material or in the leather,
54 Then the priest will give orders for the thing on which the mark is, to be washed, and to be shut up for seven days more:
55 And if, after the mark has been washed, the priest sees that the colour of it is not changed and it is not increased, it is to be burned in the fire: the disease is working in it, though the damage may be inside or outside.
56 And if the priest sees that the mark is less bright after the washing, then let him have it cut out of the clothing or the leather or from the threads of the material:
57 And if the mark is still seen in the clothing or in the threads of the material or in the leather, it is the disease coming out: the thing in which the disease is will have to be burned with fire.
58 And the material of the clothing, or anything of skin, which has been washed, if the mark has gone out of it, let it be washed a second time and it will be clean.
59 This is the law about the leper's disease in the thread of wool or linen material, in clothing or in anything of skin, saying how it is to be judged clean or unclean.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Leviticus 13
Commentary on Leviticus 13 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 13
Le 13:1-59. The Laws and Tokens in Discerning Leprosy.
2. When a man shall have in the skin, &c.—The fact of the following rules for distinguishing the plague of leprosy being incorporated with the Hebrew code of laws, proves the existence of the odious disease among that people. But a short time, little more than a year (if so long a period had elapsed since the exodus) when symptoms of leprosy seem extensively to have appeared among them; and as they could not be very liable to such a cutaneous disorder amid their active journeyings and in the dry open air of Arabia, the seeds of the disorder must have been laid in Egypt, where it has always been endemic. There is every reason to believe that this was the case: that the leprosy was not a family complaint, hereditary among the Hebrews, but that they got it from intercourse with the Egyptians and from the unfavorable circumstances of their condition in the house of bondage. The great excitement and irritability of the skin in the hot and sandy regions of the East produce a far greater predisposition to leprosy of all kinds than in cooler temperatures; and cracks or blotches, inflammations or even contusions of the skin, very often lead to these in Arabia and Palestine, to some extent, but particularly in Egypt. Besides, the subjugated and distressed state of the Hebrews in the latter country, and the nature of their employment, must have rendered them very liable to this as well as to various other blemishes and misaffections of the skin; in the production of which there are no causes more active or powerful than a depressed state of body and mind, hard labor under a burning sun, the body constantly covered with the excoriating dust of brick fields, and an impoverished diet—to all of which the Israelites were exposed while under the Egyptian bondage. It appears that, in consequence of these hardships, there was, even after they had left Egypt, a general predisposition among the Hebrews to the contagious forms of leprosy—so that it often occurred as a consequence of various other affections of the skin. And hence all cutaneous blemishes or blains—especially such as had a tendency to terminate in leprosy—were watched with a jealous eye from the first [Good, Study of Medicine]. A swelling, a pimple, or bright spot on the skin, created a strong ground of suspicion of a man's being attacked by the dreaded disease.
then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, &c.—Like the Egyptian priests, the Levites united the character of physician with that of the sacred office; and on the appearance of any suspicious eruptions on the skin, the person having these was brought before the priest—not, however, to receive medical treatment, though it is not improbable that some purifying remedies might be prescribed, but to be examined with a view to those sanitary precautions which it belonged to legislation to adopt.
3-6. the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh, &c.—The leprosy, as covering the person with a white, scaly scurf, has always been accounted an offensive blemish rather than a serious malady in the East, unless when it assumed its less common and malignant forms. When a Hebrew priest, after a careful inspection, discovered under the cutaneous blemish the distinctive signs of contagious leprosy, the person was immediately pronounced unclean, and is supposed to have been sent out of the camp to a lazaretto provided for that purpose. If the symptoms appeared to be doubtful, he ordered the person to be kept in domestic confinement for seven days, when he was subjected to a second examination; and if during the previous week the eruption had subsided or appeared to be harmless, he was instantly discharged. But if the eruption continued unabated and still doubtful, he was put under surveillance another week; at the end of which the character of the disorder never failed to manifest itself, and he was either doomed to perpetual exclusion from society or allowed to go at large. A person who had thus been detained on suspicion, when at length set at liberty, was obliged to "wash his clothes," as having been tainted by ceremonial pollution; and the purification through which he was required to go was, in the spirit of the Mosaic dispensation, symbolical of that inward purity it was instituted to promote.
7, 8. But if the scab spread much abroad in the skin—Those doubtful cases, when they assumed a malignant character, appeared in one of two forms, apparently according to the particular constitution of the skin or of the habit generally. The one was "somewhat dark" [Le 13:6]—that is, the obscure or dusky leprosy, in which the natural color of the hair (which in Egypt and Palestine is black) is not changed, as is repeatedly said in the sacred code, nor is there any depression in the dusky spot, while the patches, instead of keeping stationary to their first size, are perpetually enlarging their boundary. The patient laboring under this form was pronounced unclean by the Hebrew priest or physician, and hereby sentenced to a separation from his family and friends—a decisive proof of its being contagious.
9-37. if the rising be white—This BRIGHT WHITE leprosy is the most malignant and inveterate of all the varieties the disease exhibits, and it was marked by the following distinctive signs: A glossy white and spreading scale, upon an elevated base, the elevation depressed in the middle, but without a change of color; the black hair on the patches participating in the whiteness, and the scaly patches themselves perpetually enlarging their boundary. Several of these characteristics, taken separately, belong to other blemishes of the skin as well; so that none of them was to be taken alone, and it was only when the whole of them concurred that the Jewish priest, in his capacity of physician, was to pronounce the disease a malignant leprosy. If it spread over the entire frame without producing any ulceration, it lost its contagious power by degrees; or, in other words, it ran through its course and exhausted itself. In that case, there being no longer any fear of further evil, either to the individual himself or to the community, the patient was declared clean by the priest, while the dry scales were yet upon him, and restored to society. If, on the contrary, the patches ulcerated and quick or fungous flesh sprang up in them, the purulent matter of which, if brought into contact with the skin of other persons, would be taken into the constitution by means of absorbent vessels, the priest was at once to pronounce it an inveterate leprosy. A temporary confinement was them declared to be totally unnecessary, and he was regarded as unclean for life [Dr. Good]. Other skin affections, which had a tendency to terminate in leprosy, though they were not decided symptoms when alone, were: "a boil" (Le 13:18-23); "a hot burning,"—that is, a fiery inflammation or carbuncle (Le 13:24-28); and "a dry scall" (Le 13:29-37), when the leprosy was distinguished by being deeper than the skin and the hair became thin and yellow.
38, 39. If a man … or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots—This modification of the leprosy is distinguished by a dull white color, and it is entirely a cutaneous disorder, never injuring the constitution. It is described as not penetrating below the skin of the flesh and as not rendering necessary an exclusion from society. It is evident, then, that this common form of leprosy is not contagious; otherwise Moses would have prescribed as strict a quarantine in this as in the other cases. And hereby we see the great superiority of the Mosaic law (which so accurately distinguished the characteristics of the leprosy and preserved to society the services of those who were laboring under the uncontagious forms of the disease) over the customs and regulations of Eastern countries in the present day, where all lepers are indiscriminately proscribed and are avoided as unfit for free intercourse with their fellow men.
40, 41. bald … forehead bald—The falling off of the hair, when the baldness commences in the back part of the head, is another symptom which creates a suspicion of leprosy. But it was not of itself a decisive sign unless taken in connection with other tokens, such as a "sore of a reddish white color" [Le 13:43]. The Hebrews as well as other Orientals were accustomed to distinguish between the forehead baldness, which might be natural, and that baldness which might be the consequence of disease.
45. the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, &c.—The person who was declared affected with the leprosy forthwith exhibited all the tokens of suffering from a heavy calamity. Rending garments and uncovering the head were common signs of mourning. As to "the putting a covering upon the upper lip," that means either wearing a moustache, as the Hebrews used to shave the upper lip [Calmet], or simply keeping a hand over it. All these external marks of grief were intended to proclaim, in addition to his own exclamation "Unclean!" that the person was a leper, whose company every one must shun.
46. he shall dwell alone; without the camp—in a lazaretto by himself, or associated with other lepers (2Ki 7:3, 8).
47-59. The garment … that the … leprosy is in—It is well known that infectious diseases, such as scarlet fever, measles, the plague, are latently imbibed and carried by the clothes. But the language of this passage clearly indicates a disease to which clothes themselves were subject, and which was followed by effects on them analogous to those which malignant leprosy produces on the human body—for similar regulations were made for the rigid inspection of suspected garments by a priest as for the examination of a leprous person. It has long been conjectured and recently ascertained by the use of a lens, that the leprous condition of swine is produced by myriads of minute insects engendered in their skin; and regarding all leprosy as of the same nature, it is thought that this affords a sufficient reason for the injunction in the Mosaic law to destroy the clothes in which the disease, after careful observation, seemed to manifest itself. Clothes are sometimes seen contaminated by this disease in the West Indies and the southern parts of America [Whitlaw, Code of Health]; and it may be presumed that, as the Hebrews were living in the desert where they had not the convenience of frequent changes and washing, the clothes they wore and the skin mats on which they lay, would be apt to breed infectious vermin, which, being settled in the stuff, would imperceptibly gnaw it and leave stains similar to those described by Moses. It is well known that the wool of sheep dying of disease, if it had not been shorn from the animal while living, and also skins, if not thoroughly prepared by scouring, are liable to the effects described in this passage. The stains are described as of a greenish or reddish color, according, perhaps, to the color or nature of the ingredients used in preparing them; for acids convert blue vegetable colors into red and alkalis change then into green [Brown]. It appears, then, that the leprosy, though sometimes inflicted as a miraculous judgment (Nu 12:10; 2Ki 5:27) was a natural disease, which is known in Eastern countries still; while the rules prescribed by the Hebrew legislator for distinguishing the true character and varieties of the disease and which are far superior to the method of treatment now followed in those regions, show the divine wisdom by which he was guided. Doubtless the origin of the disease is owing to some latent causes in nature; and perhaps a more extended acquaintance with the archæology of Egypt and the natural history of the adjacent countries, may confirm the opinion that leprosy results from noxious insects or a putrid fermentation. But whatever the origin or cause of the disease, the laws enacted by divine authority regarding it, while they pointed in the first instance to sanitary ends, were at the same time intended, by stimulating to carefulness against ceremonial defilement, to foster a spirit of religious fear and inward purity.