1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
2 When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising or a scab, or bright spot, and it become in the skin of his flesh a sore [as] of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests.
3 And when the priest looketh on the sore in the skin of the flesh, and the hair in the sore is turned white, and the sore looketh deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the sore of leprosy; and the priest shall look on him and pronounce him unclean.
4 But if the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and look not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white, the priest shall shut up [him that hath] the sore seven days.
5 And the priest shall look on him the seventh day; and behold, in his sight, the sore remaineth as it was, the sore hath not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up seven days a second time.
6 And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day, and behold, the sore is become pale and the sore hath not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is a scab; and he shall wash his garments and be clean.
7 But if the scab have spread much in the skin, after that he hath been seen by the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again;
8 and the priest shall look on him, and behold, the scab hath spread in the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is leprosy.
9 When a sore [as] of leprosy is in a man, he shall be brought unto the priest;
10 and the priest shall look on him, and behold, there is a white rising in the skin, and it hath turned the hair white, and a trace of raw flesh is in the rising:
11 it is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh; and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and he shall not shut him up, for he is unclean.
12 But if the leprosy break out much in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of [him that hath] the sore, from his head even to his foot, wherever the eyes of the priest look,
13 and the priest looketh, and behold, the leprosy covereth all his flesh, he shall pronounce [him] clean [that hath] the sore; it is all turned white; he is clean.
14 And on the day when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean.
15 And the priest shall look on the raw flesh, and shall pronounce him unclean: the raw flesh is unclean, it is leprosy.
16 But if the raw flesh change again, and be turned white, he shall come unto the priest;
17 and the priest shall look on him, and behold, the sore is turned white; then the priest shall pronounce [him] clean [that hath] the sore: he is clean.
18 And the flesh -- when in the skin thereof cometh a boil, and it is healed,
19 and there is in the place of the boil a white rising, or a white-reddish bright spot, it shall be shewn to the priest;
20 and the priest shall look on it, and behold, it looketh deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof is turned white; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the sore of leprosy broken out in the boil.
21 But if the priest look on it, and behold, there are no white hairs therein, and it is not deeper than the skin, and is pale, the priest shall shut him up seven days;
22 and if it spread much in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the sore.
23 But if the bright spot have remained in its place, [and] have not spread, it is the scar of the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
24 Or if in the flesh, in the skin thereof, there is a burning inflammation, and the place of the inflammation become a bright spot white-reddish or white,
25 and the priest look on it, and behold, the hair is turned white in the bright spot, and it looketh deeper than the skin, it is a leprosy which is broken out in the inflammation; and the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the sore of leprosy.
26 But if the priest look on it, and behold, there is no white hair in the bright spot, and it is no deeper than the skin, and is pale, the priest shall shut him up seven days.
27 And the priest shall look on him the seventh day, and if it have spread much in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the sore of leprosy.
28 But if the bright spot have remained in its place, [and] not spread in the skin, and is pale, it is the rising of the inflammation; and the priest shall pronounce him clean; for it is the scar of the inflammation.
29 And if a man or a woman have a sore on the head or on the beard,
30 and the priest look on the sore, and behold, it looketh deeper than the skin, and there is in it yellow thin hair, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a scall, the leprosy of the head or the beard.
31 And if the priest look on the sore of the scall, and behold, it is not in sight deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall shut up [him that hath] the sore of the scall seven days.
32 And when the priest looketh on the sore on the seventh day, and behold, the scall hath not spread, and there is in it no yellow hair, and the scall doth not look deeper than the skin,
33 he [that hath the sore] shall shave himself; but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up [him that hath] the scall seven days a second time.
34 And the priest shall look on the scall on the seventh day, and behold, the scall hath not spread in the skin, nor is in sight deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; and he shall wash his garments, and be clean.
35 But if the scall have spread much in the skin after his cleansing,
36 and the priest shall look on him, and behold, the scall hath spread in the skin, the priest shall not seek for yellow hair: he is unclean.
37 But if the scall have in his sight remained as it was, and there is black hair grown up therein, the scall is healed: he is clean; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
38 And if a man or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots, white bright spots,
39 and the priest look, and behold, there are in the skin of their flesh pale white spots, it is an eruption which is broken out in the skin: he is clean.
40 And if a man's hair have fallen off his head, he is bald: he is clean;
41 and if he have the hair fallen off from the part of the head towards his face, he is forehead-bald: he is clean.
42 And if there be in the bald head, or bald forehead, a white-reddish sore, it is a leprosy which hath broken out in his bald head, or his bald forehead.
43 And the priest shall look on it, and behold, the rising of the sore is white-reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, like the appearance of the leprosy in the skin of the flesh;
44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean; the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his sore is in his head.
45 And as to the leper in whom the sore is, -- his garments shall be rent, and his head shall be uncovered, and he shall put a covering on his beard, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean!
46 All the days that the sore shall be in him he shall be unclean: he is unclean; he shall dwell apart; outside the camp shall his dwelling be.
47 And if a sore of leprosy is in a garment, in a woollen garment, or a linen garment,
48 either in the warp or in the woof of linen or of wool, or in a skin, or in anything made of skin,
49 and the sore is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, it is the sore of leprosy, and shall be shewn unto the priest.
50 And the priest shall look on the sore, and shall shut up [that which hath] the sore seven days.
51 And he shall see the sore on the seventh day: if the sore have spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in a skin, in any work that may be made of skin, the sore is a corroding leprosy: it is unclean.
52 And they shall burn the garment, or the warp or the woof, of wool or of linen, or anything of skin, wherein the sore is; for it is a corroding leprosy: it shall be burned with fire.
53 But if the priest look, and behold, the sore hath not spread in the garment, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin,
54 then the priest shall command that they wash the thing wherein the sore is, and he shall shut it up seven days a second time.
55 And the priest shall look on the sore after the washing, and behold, if the sore have not changed its appearance, and the sore have not spread, it is unclean: thou shalt burn it with fire: it is a fretting sore on what is threadbare or where the nap is gone.
56 But if the priest look, and behold, the sore hath become pale after the washing of it, then he shall rend it from the garment, or from the skin, or from the warp, or from the woof.
57 And if it appear still in the garment, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, it is a [leprosy] breaking out: thou shalt burn with fire that wherein the sore is.
58 But the garment, or the warp, or the woof, or whatever thing of skin which thou hast washed, and the sore departeth from them, it shall be washed a second time, and it is clean.
59 This is the law of the sore of leprosy in a garment of wool or linen, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, to cleanse it, or to pronounce it 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.