47 The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woolen garment, or a linen garment;
48 Whether it be in the warp, or woof; of linen, or of woolen; whether in a skin, or in any thing made of skin;
49 And if the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a plague of leprosy, and shall be showed unto the priest:
50 And the priest shall look upon the plague, and shut up it that hath the plague seven days:
51 And he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague be spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a skin, or in any work that is made of skin; the plague is a fretting leprosy; it is unclean.
52 He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woolen or in linen, or any thing of skin, wherein the plague is: for it is a fretting leprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire.
53 And if the priest shall look, and, behold, the plague be not spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin;
54 Then the priest shall command that they wash the thing wherein the plague is, and he shall shut it up seven days more:
55 And the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed: and, behold, if the plague have not changed his color, and the plague be not spread; it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire; it is fret inward, whether it be bare within or without.
56 And if the priest look, and, behold, the plague be somewhat dark after the washing of it; then he shall rend it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof:
57 And if it appear still in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a spreading plague: thou shalt burn that wherein the plague is with fire.
58 And the garment, either warp, or woof, or whatsoever thing of skin it be, which thou shalt wash, if the plague be departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and shall be clean.
59 This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woolen or linen, either in the warp, or woof, or any thing of skins, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.
47 The garment H899 also that the plague H5061 of leprosy H6883 is in, whether it be a woollen H6785 garment, H899 or a linen H6593 garment; H899
48 Whether it be in the warp, H8359 or woof; H6154 of linen, H6593 or of woollen; H6785 whether in a skin, H5785 or in any thing made H4399 of skin; H5785
49 And if the plague H5061 be greenish H3422 or reddish H125 in the garment, H899 or in the skin, H5785 either H176 in the warp, H8359 or in the woof, H6154 or in any thing H3627 of skin; H5785 it is a plague H5061 of leprosy, H6883 and shall be shewed H7200 unto the priest: H3548
50 And the priest H3548 shall look H7200 upon the plague, H5061 and shut H5462 up it that hath the plague H5061 seven H7651 days: H3117
51 And he shall look H7200 on the plague H5061 on the seventh H7637 day: H3117 if the plague H5061 be spread H6581 in the garment, H899 either in the warp, H8359 or in the woof, H6154 or in a skin, H5785 or in any work H4399 that is made H6213 of skin; H5785 the plague H5061 is a fretting H3992 leprosy; H6883 it is unclean. H2931
52 He shall therefore burn H8313 that garment, H899 whether warp H8359 or woof, H6154 in woollen H6785 or in linen, H6593 or any thing H3627 of skin, H5785 wherein the plague H5061 is: for it is a fretting H3992 leprosy; H6883 it shall be burnt H8313 in the fire. H784
53 And if the priest H3548 shall look, H7200 and, behold, the plague H5061 be not spread H6581 in the garment, H899 either H176 in the warp, H8359 or H176 in the woof, H6154 or H176 in any thing H3627 of skin; H5785
54 Then the priest H3548 shall command H6680 that they wash H3526 the thing wherein the plague H5061 is, and he shall shut H5462 it up seven H7651 days H3117 more: H8145
55 And the priest H3548 shall look H7200 on the plague, H5061 after H310 that it is washed: H3526 and, behold, if the plague H5061 have not changed H2015 his colour, H5869 and the plague H5061 be not spread; H6581 it is unclean; H2931 thou shalt burn H8313 it in the fire; H784 it is fret H6356 inward, whether it be bare within H7146 or without. H1372
56 And if the priest H3548 look, H7200 and, behold, the plague H5061 be somewhat dark H3544 after H310 the washing H3526 of it; then he shall rend H7167 it out of the garment, H899 or out of the skin, H5785 or out of the warp, H8359 or out of the woof: H6154
57 And if it appear H7200 still H5750 in the garment, H899 either in the warp, H8359 or in the woof, H6154 or in any thing H3627 of skin; H5785 it is a spreading H6524 plague: thou shalt burn H8313 that wherein the plague H5061 is with fire. H784
58 And the garment, H899 either warp, H8359 or woof, H6154 or whatsoever thing H3627 of skin H5785 it be, which thou shalt wash, H3526 if the plague H5061 be departed H5493 from them, then it shall be washed H3526 the second H8145 time, and shall be clean. H2891
59 This is the law H8451 of the plague H5061 of leprosy H6883 in a garment H899 of woollen H6785 or linen, H6593 either in the warp, H8359 or woof, H6154 or any thing H3627 of skins, H5785 to pronounce it clean, H2891 or to pronounce it unclean. H2930
47 The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woollen garment, or a linen garment;
48 whether it be in warp, or woof; of linen, or of woollen; whether in a skin, or in anything made of skin;
49 if the plague be 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 plague of leprosy, and shall be showed unto the priest.
50 And the priest shall look upon the plague, and shut up `that which hath' the plague seven days:
51 and he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague be spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, whatever service skin is used for; the plague is a fretting leprosy; it is unclean.
52 And he shall burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in woollen or in linen, or anything of skin, wherein the plague is: for it is a fretting leprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire.
53 And if the priest shall look, and, behold, the plague be not spread in the garment, either 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 plague is, and he shall shut it up seven days more:
55 and the priest shall look, after that the plague is washed; and, behold, if the plague have not changed its color, and the plague be not spread, it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire: it is a fret, whether the bareness be within or without.
56 And if the priest look, and, behold, the plague be dim after the washing thereof, then he shall rend it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof:
57 and if it appear still in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, it is breaking out: thou shalt burn that wherein the plague is with fire.
58 And the garment, either the warp, or the woof, or whatsoever thing of skin it be, which thou shalt wash, if the plague be departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and shall be clean.
59 This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woollen or linen, either in the warp, or the woof, or anything of skin, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.
47 `And when there is in any garment a plague of leprosy, -- in a garment of wool, or in a garment of linen,
48 or in the warp, or in the woof, of linen or of wool, or in a skin, or in any work of skin,
49 and the plague hath been very green or very red in the garment, or in the skin, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in any vessel of skin, it `is' a plague of leprosy, and it hath been shewn the priest.
50 `And the priest hath seen the plague, and hath shut up `that which hath' the plague, seven days;
51 and he hath seen the plague on the seventh day, and the plague hath spread in the garment, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, of all that is made of skin for work; the plague `is' a fretting leprosy, it `is' unclean.
52 `And he hath burnt the garment, or the warp, or the woof, in wool or in linen, or any vessel of skin in which the plague is; for it `is' a fretting leprosy; with fire it is burnt.
53 `And if the priest see, and lo, the plague hath not spread in the garment, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in any vessel of skin,
54 then hath the priest commanded, and they have washed that in which the plague `is', and he hath shut it up a second seven days.
55 And the priest hath seen `that which hath' the plague after it hath been washed, and lo, the plague hath not changed its aspect, and the plague hath not spread, -- it `is' unclean; with fire thou dost burn it; it `is' a fretting in its back-part or in its front-part.
56 `And if the priest hath seen, and lo, the plague `is' become weak after it hath been washed, then he hath rent it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof;
57 and if it still be seen in the garment, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in any vessel of skin, it `is' a fretting; with fire thou dost burn it -- that in which the plague `is'.
58 `And the garment, or the warp, or the woof, or any vessel of skin which thou dost wash when the plague hath turned aside from them, then it hath been washed a second time, and hath been clean.
59 `This `is' the law of a plague of leprosy `in' a garment of wool or of linen, or of the warp or of the woof, or of any vessel of skin, to pronounce it clean or to pronounce it unclean.'
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.
47 "The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it is a woolen garment, or a linen garment;
48 whether it is in warp, or woof; of linen, or of wool; whether in a skin, or in anything made of skin;
49 if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything made of skin; it is the plague of leprosy, and shall be shown to the priest.
50 The priest shall examine the plague, and isolate the plague seven days.
51 He shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, whatever use the skin is used for, the plague is a destructive mildew. It is unclean.
52 He shall burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of skin, in which the plague is: for it is a destructive mildew. It shall be burned in the fire.
53 "If the priest examines it, and, behold, the plague hasn't spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin;
54 then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which the plague is, and he shall isolate it seven more days.
55 Then the priest shall examine it, after the plague is washed; and, behold, if the plague hasn't changed its color, and the plague hasn't spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in the fire. It is a mildewed spot, whether the bareness is inside or outside.
56 If the priest looks, and, behold, the plague has faded after it is washed, then he shall tear it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof:
57 and if it appears again in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire that in which the plague is.
58 The garment, either the warp, or the woof, or whatever thing of skin it is, which you shall wash, if the plague has departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and it will be clean."
59 This is the law of the plague of mildew in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp, or the woof, or in anything of skin, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.
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.