1And the LORDH3068 spokeH1696 to MosesH4872 and AaronH175, sayingH559, 2When a manH120 shall have in the skinH5785 of his fleshH1320 a swellingH7613, a scabH5597, or bright spotH934, and it be in the skinH5785 of his fleshH1320 like the plagueH5061 of leprosyH6883; then he shall be broughtH935 to AaronH175 the priestH3548, or to oneH259 of his sonsH1121 the priestsH3548: 3And the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 on the plagueH5061 in the skinH5785 of the fleshH1320: and when the hairH8181 in the plagueH5061 is turnedH2015 whiteH3836, and the plagueH5061 in sightH4758 is deeperH6013 than the skinH5785 of his fleshH1320, it is a plagueH5061 of leprosyH6883: and the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 on him, and pronounce him uncleanH2930. 4If the bright spotH934 is whiteH3836 in the skinH5785 of his fleshH1320, and in sightH4758 not deeperH6013 than the skinH5785, and the hairH8181 of it not turnedH2015 whiteH3836; then the priestH3548 shall shutH5462 up him that hath the plagueH5061 sevenH7651 daysH3117: 5And the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 on him the seventhH7637 dayH3117: and, behold, if the plagueH5061 in his sightH5869 is at a stayH5975, and the plagueH5061 spreadethH6581 not in the skinH5785; then the priestH3548 shall shutH5462 him up sevenH7651 daysH3117 moreH8145: 6And the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 on him againH8145 the seventhH7637 dayH3117: and, behold, if the plagueH5061 is somewhat darkH3544, and the plagueH5061 spreadethH6581 not in the skinH5785, the priestH3548 shall pronounce him cleanH2891: it is but a scabH4556: and he shall washH3526 his clothesH899, and be cleanH2891. 7But if the scabH4556 shall spread muchH6581 H6581 in the skinH5785, afterH310 he hath been seenH7200 by the priestH3548 for his cleansingH2893, he shall be seenH7200 by the priestH3548 againH8145: 8And if the priestH3548 shall seeH7200 that, behold, the scabH4556 spreadethH6581 in the skinH5785, then the priestH3548 shall pronounce him uncleanH2930: it is a leprosyH6883. 9When the plagueH5061 of leprosyH6883 is in a manH120, then he shall be broughtH935 to the priestH3548; 10And the priestH3548 shall seeH7200 him: and, behold, if the swellingH7613 is whiteH3836 in the skinH5785, and it hath turnedH2015 the hairH8181 whiteH3836, and there is livingH4241 rawH2416 fleshH1320 in the swellingH7613; 11It is an oldH3462 leprosyH6883 in the skinH5785 of his fleshH1320, and the priestH3548 shall pronounce him uncleanH2930, and shall not shutH5462 him up: for he is uncleanH2931. 12And if a leprosyH6883 shall break outH6524 H6524 in the skinH5785, and the leprosyH6883 shall coverH3680 all the skinH5785 of him that hath the plagueH5061 from his headH7218 even to his footH7272, wherever the priestH3548 lookethH4758 H5869; 13Then the priestH3548 shall considerH7200: and, behold, if the leprosyH6883 hath coveredH3680 all his fleshH1320, he shall pronounce him cleanH2891 that hath the plagueH5061: it is all turnedH2015 whiteH3836: he is cleanH2889. 14But whenH3117 rawH2416 fleshH1320 appearethH7200 in him, he shall be uncleanH2930. 15And the priestH3548 shall seeH7200 the rawH2416 fleshH1320, and pronounce him to be uncleanH2930: for the rawH2416 fleshH1320 is uncleanH2931: it is a leprosyH6883. 16Or if the rawH2416 fleshH1320 shall turn againH7725, and be changedH2015 into whiteH3836, he shall comeH935 to the priestH3548; 17And the priestH3548 shall seeH7200 him: and, behold, if the plagueH5061 is turnedH2015 into whiteH3836; then the priestH3548 shall pronounce him cleanH2891 that hath the plagueH5061: he is cleanH2889. 18The fleshH1320 also, in whichH3588, even in the skinH5785 of it, was a boilH7822, and is healedH7495, 19And in the placeH4725 of the boilH7822 there shall be a whiteH3836 swellingH7613, or a bright spotH934, whiteH3836, and somewhat reddishH125, and it be showedH7200 to the priestH3548; 20And if, when the priestH3548 seethH7200 it, behold, it is in sightH4758 lowerH8217 than the skinH5785, and the hairH8181 of it is turnedH2015 whiteH3836; the priestH3548 shall pronounce him uncleanH2930: it is a plagueH5061 of leprosyH6883 brokenH6524 out of the boilH7822. 21But if the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 on it, and, behold, there are no whiteH3836 hairsH8181 in it, and if it is not lowerH8217 than the skinH5785, but somewhat darkH3544; then the priestH3548 shall shutH5462 him up sevenH7651 daysH3117: 22And if it hath spread muchH6581 H6581 in the skinH5785, then the priestH3548 shall pronounce him uncleanH2930: it is a plagueH5061. 23But if the bright spotH934 shall stayH5975 in its place, and not spreadH6581, it is a burningH6867 boilH7822; and the priestH3548 shall pronounce him cleanH2891. 24Or if there is any fleshH1320, in the skinH5785 of which there is a hotH784 burningH4348, and the liveH4241 flesh that burnethH4348 hath a whiteH3836 bright spotH934, somewhat reddishH125, or whiteH3836; 25Then the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 upon it: and, behold, if the hairH8181 in the bright spotH934 is turnedH2015 whiteH3836, and it is in sightH4758 deeperH6013 than the skinH5785; it is a leprosyH6883 brokenH6524 out of the burningH4348: therefore the priestH3548 shall pronounce him uncleanH2930: it is the plagueH5061 of leprosyH6883. 26But if the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 on it, and, behold, there is no whiteH3836 hairH8181 in the bright spotH934, and it is no lowerH8217 than the other skinH5785, but is somewhat darkH3544; then the priestH3548 shall shutH5462 him up sevenH7651 daysH3117: 27And the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 upon him the seventhH7637 dayH3117: and if it is spread muchH6581 H6581 in the skinH5785, then the priestH3548 shall pronounce him uncleanH2930: it is the plagueH5061 of leprosyH6883. 28And if the brightH934 spotH934 shall stayH5975 in its place, and not spreadH6581 in the skinH5785, but be somewhat darkH3544; it is a swellingH7613 of the burningH4348, and the priestH3548 shall pronounce him cleanH2891: for it is an inflammationH6867 of the burningH4348. 29If a manH376 or womanH802 shall have a plagueH5061 upon the headH7218 or the beardH2206; 30Then the priestH3548 shall seeH7200 the plagueH5061: and, behold, if it is in sightH4758 deeperH6013 than the skinH5785; and there is in it a yellowH6669 thinH1851 hairH8181; then the priestH3548 shall pronounce him uncleanH2930: it is a dry scallH5424, even a leprosyH6883 upon the headH7218 or beardH2206. 31And if the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 on the plagueH5061 of the scallH5424, and, behold, it is not in sightH4758 deeperH6013 than the skinH5785, and no blackH7838 hairH8181 in it; then the priestH3548 shall shutH5462 up him that hath the plagueH5061 of the scallH5424 sevenH7651 daysH3117: 32And in the seventhH7637 dayH3117 the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 on the plagueH5061: and, behold, if the scallH5424 spreadethH6581 not, and there is in it no yellowH6669 hairH8181, and the scallH5424 is not in sightH4758 deeperH6013 than the skinH5785; 33He shall be shavenH1548, but the scallH5424 shall he not shaveH1548; and the priestH3548 shall shutH5462 up him that hath the scallH5424 sevenH7651 daysH3117 moreH8145: 34And in the seventhH7637 dayH3117 the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 on the scallH5424: and, behold, if the scallH5424 is not spreadH6581 in the skinH5785, nor is in sightH4758 deeperH6013 than the skinH5785; then the priestH3548 shall pronounce him cleanH2891: and he shall washH3526 his clothesH899, and be cleanH2891. 35But if the scallH5424 shall spreadH6581 muchH6581 in the skinH5785 afterH310 his cleansingH2893; 36Then the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 on him: and, behold, if the scallH5424 is spreadH6581 in the skinH5785, the priestH3548 shall not seekH1239 for yellowH6669 hairH8181; he is uncleanH2931. 37But if the scallH5424 shall be in his sightH5869 at a stayH5975, and there is blackH7838 hairH8181 grownH6779 in it; the scallH5424 is healedH7495, he is cleanH2889: and the priestH3548 shall pronounce him cleanH2891. 38If a manH376 also or a womanH802 shall have in the skinH5785 of their fleshH1320 bright spotsH934, even whiteH3836 bright spotsH934; 39Then the priestH3548 shall lookH7200: and, behold, if the bright spotsH934 in the skinH5785 of their fleshH1320 are darkishH3544 whiteH3836; it is a freckled spotH933 that growethH6524 in the skinH5785; he is cleanH2889. 40And the manH376 H3588 whose hair hath fallenH4803 off his headH7218, he is baldH7142; yet is he cleanH2889. 41And he that hath his hair fallenH4803 off from the partH6285 of his headH7218 toward his faceH6440, he is forehead baldH1371: yet is he cleanH2889. 42And if there is in the bald headH7146, or bald foreheadH1372, a whiteH3836 reddishH125 soreH5061; it is a leprosyH6883 sprungH6524 up on his bald headH7146, or his bald foreheadH1372. 43Then the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 upon it: and, behold, if the swellingH7613 of the soreH5061 is whiteH3836 reddishH125 on his bald headH7146, or on his bald foreheadH1372, as the leprosyH6883 appearethH4758 in the skinH5785 of the fleshH1320; 44He is a leprousH6879 manH376, he is uncleanH2931: the priestH3548 shall pronounce him utterlyH2930 uncleanH2930; his plagueH5061 is in his headH7218. 45And the leperH6879 in whom the plagueH5061 is, his clothesH899 shall be tornH6533, and his headH7218 bareH6544, and he shall put a coveringH5844 upon his upper lipH8222, and shall cryH7121, UncleanH2931, uncleanH2931. 46All the daysH3117 in which the plagueH5061 shall be in him he shall be defiledH2930; he is uncleanH2931: he shall dwellH3427 aloneH910; outsideH2351 the campH4264 shall his habitationH4186 be. 47The garmentH899 also that the plagueH5061 of leprosyH6883 is in, whether a woollenH6785 garmentH899, or a linenH6593 garmentH899; 48Whether in the warpH8359, or woofH6154; of linenH6593, or of woollenH6785; whether in a skinH5785, or in any thing madeH4399 of skinH5785; 49And if the plagueH5061 is greenishH3422 or reddishH125 in the garmentH899, or in the skinH5785, eitherH176 in the warpH8359, or in the woofH6154, or in any thingH3627 of skinH5785; it is a plagueH5061 of leprosyH6883, and shall be shownH7200 to the priestH3548: 50And the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 upon the plagueH5061, and shutH5462 up that which hath the plagueH5061 sevenH7651 daysH3117: 51And he shall lookH7200 on the plagueH5061 on the seventhH7637 dayH3117: if the plagueH5061 is spreadH6581 in the garmentH899, either in the warpH8359, or in the woofH6154, or in a skinH5785, or in any workH4399 that is madeH6213 of skinH5785; the plagueH5061 is an activeH3992 leprosyH6883; it is uncleanH2931. 52He shall therefore burnH8313 that garmentH899, whether warpH8359 or woofH6154, in woollenH6785 or in linenH6593, or any thingH3627 of skinH5785, in which the plagueH5061 is: for it is an activeH3992 leprosyH6883; it shall be burntH8313 in the fireH784. 53And if the priestH3548 shall lookH7200, and, behold, the plagueH5061 is not spreadH6581 in the garmentH899, eitherH176 in the warpH8359, orH176 in the woofH6154, orH176 in any thingH3627 of skinH5785; 54Then the priestH3548 shall commandH6680 that they washH3526 the thing in which the plagueH5061 is, and he shall shutH5462 it up sevenH7651 daysH3117 moreH8145: 55And the priestH3548 shall lookH7200 on the plagueH5061, afterH310 it is washedH3526: and, behold, if the plagueH5061 hath not changedH2015 its colourH5869, and the plagueH5061 hath not spreadH6581; it is uncleanH2931; thou shalt burnH8313 it in the fireH784; it eateth awayH6356 inward, whether it is bare withinH7146 or withoutH1372. 56And if the priestH3548 shall lookH7200, and, behold, the plagueH5061 is somewhat darkH3544 afterH310 the washingH3526 of it; then he shall rendH7167 it out of the garmentH899, or out of the skinH5785, or out of the warpH8359, or out of the woofH6154: 57And if it shall appearH7200 stillH5750 in the garmentH899, either in the warpH8359, or in the woofH6154, or in any thingH3627 of skinH5785; it is a spreadingH6524 plague: thou shalt burnH8313 that in which the plagueH5061 is with fireH784. 58And the garmentH899, either warpH8359, or woofH6154, or whatever thingH3627 of skinH5785 it is, which thou shalt washH3526, if the plagueH5061 hath departedH5493 from them, then it shall be washedH3526 the secondH8145 time, and shall be cleanH2891. 59This is the lawH8451 of the plagueH5061 of leprosyH6883 in a garmentH899 of woollenH6785 or linenH6593, either in the warpH8359, or woofH6154, or any thingH3627 of skinsH5785, to pronounce it cleanH2891, or to pronounce it uncleanH2930.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 2 THE LAWS AND TOKENS IN DISCERNING LEPROSY. (Lev. 13:1-59)
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 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 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" [
Lev 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 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" (
Lev 13:18-
Lev 13:23); "a hot burning,"--that is, a fiery inflammation or carbuncle (
Lev 13:24-
Lev 13:28); and "a dry scall" (
Lev 13:29-
Lev 13:37), when the leprosy was distinguished by being deeper than the skin and the hair became thin and yellow.
38 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 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" [
Lev 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 (
2Kgs 7:3,
2Kgs 7:8).
47 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 (
Num 12:10;
2Kgs 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 archćology 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.