1 And the LORD H3068 spake H1696 unto Moses H4872 and Aaron, H175 saying, H559
2 When a man H120 shall have in the skin H5785 of his flesh H1320 a rising, H7613 a scab, H5597 or bright spot, H934 and it be in the skin H5785 of his flesh H1320 like the plague H5061 of leprosy; H6883 then he shall be brought H935 unto Aaron H175 the priest, H3548 or unto one H259 of his sons H1121 the priests: H3548
3 And the priest H3548 shall look H7200 on the plague H5061 in the skin H5785 of the flesh: H1320 and when the hair H8181 in the plague H5061 is turned H2015 white, H3836 and the plague H5061 in sight H4758 be deeper H6013 than the skin H5785 of his flesh, H1320 it is a plague H5061 of leprosy: H6883 and the priest H3548 shall look H7200 on him, and pronounce him unclean. H2930
4 If the bright spot H934 be white H3836 in the skin H5785 of his flesh, H1320 and in sight H4758 be not deeper H6013 than the skin, H5785 and the hair H8181 thereof be not turned H2015 white; H3836 then the priest H3548 shall shut H5462 up him that hath the plague H5061 seven H7651 days: H3117
5 And the priest H3548 shall look H7200 on him the seventh H7637 day: H3117 and, behold, if the plague H5061 in his sight H5869 be at a stay, H5975 and the plague H5061 spread H6581 not in the skin; H5785 then the priest H3548 shall shut H5462 him up seven H7651 days H3117 more: H8145
6 And the priest H3548 shall look H7200 on him again H8145 the seventh H7637 day: H3117 and, behold, if the plague H5061 be somewhat dark, H3544 and the plague H5061 spread H6581 not in the skin, H5785 the priest H3548 shall pronounce him clean: H2891 it is but a scab: H4556 and he shall wash H3526 his clothes, H899 and be clean. H2891
7 But if the scab H4556 spread much H6581 abroad H6581 in the skin, H5785 after H310 that he hath been seen H7200 of the priest H3548 for his cleansing, H2893 he shall be seen H7200 of the priest H3548 again: H8145
8 And if the priest H3548 see H7200 that, behold, the scab H4556 spreadeth H6581 in the skin, H5785 then the priest H3548 shall pronounce him unclean: H2930 it is a leprosy. H6883
9 When the plague H5061 of leprosy H6883 is in a man, H120 then he shall be brought H935 unto the priest; H3548
10 And the priest H3548 shall see H7200 him: and, behold, if the rising H7613 be white H3836 in the skin, H5785 and it have turned H2015 the hair H8181 white, H3836 and there be quick H4241 raw H2416 flesh H1320 in the rising; H7613
11 It is an old H3462 leprosy H6883 in the skin H5785 of his flesh, H1320 and the priest H3548 shall pronounce him unclean, H2930 and shall not shut H5462 him up: for he is unclean. H2931
12 And if a leprosy H6883 break out H6524 abroad H6524 in the skin, H5785 and the leprosy H6883 cover H3680 all the skin H5785 of him that hath the plague H5061 from his head H7218 even to his foot, H7272 wheresoever the priest H3548 looketh; H4758 H5869
13 Then the priest H3548 shall consider: H7200 and, behold, if the leprosy H6883 have covered H3680 all his flesh, H1320 he shall pronounce him clean H2891 that hath the plague: H5061 it is all turned H2015 white: H3836 he is clean. H2889
14 But when H3117 raw H2416 flesh H1320 appeareth H7200 in him, he shall be unclean. H2930
15 And the priest H3548 shall see H7200 the raw H2416 flesh, H1320 and pronounce him to be unclean: H2930 for the raw H2416 flesh H1320 is unclean: H2931 it is a leprosy. H6883
16 Or if the raw H2416 flesh H1320 turn again, H7725 and be changed H2015 unto white, H3836 he shall come H935 unto the priest; H3548
17 And the priest H3548 shall see H7200 him: and, behold, if the plague H5061 be turned H2015 into white; H3836 then the priest H3548 shall pronounce him clean H2891 that hath the plague: H5061 he is clean. H2889
18 The flesh H1320 also, in which, H3588 even in the skin H5785 thereof, was a boil, H7822 and is healed, H7495
19 And in the place H4725 of the boil H7822 there be a white H3836 rising, H7613 or a bright spot, H934 white, H3836 and somewhat reddish, H125 and it be shewed H7200 to the priest; H3548
20 And if, when the priest H3548 seeth H7200 it, behold, it be in sight H4758 lower H8217 than the skin, H5785 and the hair H8181 thereof be turned H2015 white; H3836 the priest H3548 shall pronounce him unclean: H2930 it is a plague H5061 of leprosy H6883 broken H6524 out of the boil. H7822
21 But if the priest H3548 look H7200 on it, and, behold, there be no white H3836 hairs H8181 therein, and if it be not lower H8217 than the skin, H5785 but be somewhat dark; H3544 then the priest H3548 shall shut H5462 him up seven H7651 days: H3117
22 And if it spread much H6581 abroad H6581 in the skin, H5785 then the priest H3548 shall pronounce him unclean: H2930 it is a plague. H5061
23 But if the bright spot H934 stay H5975 in his place, and spread H6581 not, it is a burning H6867 boil; H7822 and the priest H3548 shall pronounce him clean. H2891
24 Or if there be any flesh, H1320 in the skin H5785 whereof there is a hot H784 burning, H4348 and the quick H4241 flesh that burneth H4348 have a white H3836 bright spot, H934 somewhat reddish, H125 or white; H3836
25 Then the priest H3548 shall look H7200 upon it: and, behold, if the hair H8181 in the bright spot H934 be turned H2015 white, H3836 and it be in sight H4758 deeper H6013 than the skin; H5785 it is a leprosy H6883 broken H6524 out of the burning: H4348 wherefore the priest H3548 shall pronounce him unclean: H2930 it is the plague H5061 of leprosy. H6883
26 But if the priest H3548 look H7200 on it, and, behold, there be no white H3836 hair H8181 in the bright spot, H934 and it be no lower H8217 than the other skin, H5785 but be somewhat dark; H3544 then the priest H3548 shall shut H5462 him up seven H7651 days: H3117
27 And the priest H3548 shall look H7200 upon him the seventh H7637 day: H3117 and if it be spread much H6581 abroad H6581 in the skin, H5785 then the priest H3548 shall pronounce him unclean: H2930 it is the plague H5061 of leprosy. H6883
28 And if the bright H934 spot H934 stay H5975 in his place, and spread H6581 not in the skin, H5785 but it be somewhat dark; H3544 it is a rising H7613 of the burning, H4348 and the priest H3548 shall pronounce him clean: H2891 for it is an inflammation H6867 of the burning. H4348
29 If a man H376 or woman H802 have a plague H5061 upon the head H7218 or the beard; H2206
30 Then the priest H3548 shall see H7200 the plague: H5061 and, behold, if it be in sight H4758 deeper H6013 than the skin; H5785 and there be in it a yellow H6669 thin H1851 hair; H8181 then the priest H3548 shall pronounce him unclean: H2930 it is a dry scall, H5424 even a leprosy H6883 upon the head H7218 or beard. H2206
31 And if the priest H3548 look H7200 on the plague H5061 of the scall, H5424 and, behold, it be not in sight H4758 deeper H6013 than the skin, H5785 and that there is no black H7838 hair H8181 in it; then the priest H3548 shall shut H5462 up him that hath the plague H5061 of the scall H5424 seven H7651 days: H3117
32 And in the seventh H7637 day H3117 the priest H3548 shall look H7200 on the plague: H5061 and, behold, if the scall H5424 spread H6581 not, and there be in it no yellow H6669 hair, H8181 and the scall H5424 be not in sight H4758 deeper H6013 than the skin; H5785
33 He shall be shaven, H1548 but the scall H5424 shall he not shave; H1548 and the priest H3548 shall shut H5462 up him that hath the scall H5424 seven H7651 days H3117 more: H8145
34 And in the seventh H7637 day H3117 the priest H3548 shall look H7200 on the scall: H5424 and, behold, if the scall H5424 be not spread H6581 in the skin, H5785 nor be in sight H4758 deeper H6013 than the skin; H5785 then the priest H3548 shall pronounce him clean: H2891 and he shall wash H3526 his clothes, H899 and be clean. H2891
35 But if the scall H5424 spread H6581 much H6581 in the skin H5785 after H310 his cleansing; H2893
36 Then the priest H3548 shall look H7200 on him: and, behold, if the scall H5424 be spread H6581 in the skin, H5785 the priest H3548 shall not seek H1239 for yellow H6669 hair; H8181 he is unclean. H2931
37 But if the scall H5424 be in his sight H5869 at a stay, H5975 and that there is black H7838 hair H8181 grown H6779 up therein; the scall H5424 is healed, H7495 he is clean: H2889 and the priest H3548 shall pronounce him clean. H2891
38 If a man H376 also or a woman H802 have in the skin H5785 of their flesh H1320 bright spots, H934 even white H3836 bright spots; H934
39 Then the priest H3548 shall look: H7200 and, behold, if the bright spots H934 in the skin H5785 of their flesh H1320 be darkish H3544 white; H3836 it is a freckled spot H933 that groweth H6524 in the skin; H5785 he is clean. H2889
40 And the man H376 H3588 whose hair is fallen H4803 off his head, H7218 he is bald; H7142 yet is he clean. H2889
41 And he that hath his hair fallen H4803 off from the part H6285 of his head H7218 toward his face, H6440 he is forehead bald: H1371 yet is he clean. H2889
42 And if there be in the bald head, H7146 or bald forehead, H1372 a white H3836 reddish H125 sore; H5061 it is a leprosy H6883 sprung H6524 up in his bald head, H7146 or his bald forehead. H1372
43 Then the priest H3548 shall look H7200 upon it: and, behold, if the rising H7613 of the sore H5061 be white H3836 reddish H125 in his bald head, H7146 or in his bald forehead, H1372 as the leprosy H6883 appeareth H4758 in the skin H5785 of the flesh; H1320
44 He is a leprous H6879 man, H376 he is unclean: H2931 the priest H3548 shall pronounce him utterly H2930 unclean; H2930 his plague H5061 is in his head. H7218
45 And the leper H6879 in whom the plague H5061 is, his clothes H899 shall be rent, H6533 and his head H7218 bare, H6544 and he shall put a covering H5844 upon his upper lip, H8222 and shall cry, H7121 Unclean, H2931 unclean. H2931
46 All the days H3117 wherein the plague H5061 shall be in him he shall be defiled; H2930 he is unclean: H2931 he shall dwell H3427 alone; H910 without H2351 the camp H4264 shall his habitation H4186 be.
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.