Leviticus 13 English Standard Version Laws About Leprosy 13 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, 3 and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean. 4 But if the spot is white in the skin of his body and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall shut up the diseased person for seven days. 5 And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up for another seven days. 6 And the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the diseased area has faded and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 7 But if the eruption spreads in the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest. 8 And the priest shall look, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease. 9 “When a man is afflicted with a leprous disease, he shall be brought to the priest, 10 and the priest shall look. And if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, 11 it is a chronic leprous disease in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not shut him up, for he is unclean. 12 And if the leprous disease breaks out in the skin, so that the leprous disease covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, 13 then the priest shall look, and if the leprous disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean. 14 But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. 15 And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease. 16 But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest, 17 and the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean; he is clean. 18 “If there is in the skin of one's body a boil and it heals, 19 and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a reddish-white spot, then it shall be shown to the priest. 20 And the priest shall look, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a case of leprous disease that has broken out in the boil. 21 But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall shut him up seven days. 22 And if it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease. 23 But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean. 24 “Or, when the body has a burn on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, reddish-white or white, 25 the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, then it is a leprous disease. It has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. 26 But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot and it is no deeper than the skin, but has faded, the priest shall shut him up seven days, 27 and the priest shall examine him the seventh day. If it is spreading in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. 28 But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar of the burn. 29 “When a man or woman has a disease on the head or the beard, 30 the priest shall examine the disease. And if it appears deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an itch, a leprous disease of the head or the beard. 31 And if the priest examines the itching disease and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for seven days, 32 and on the seventh day the priest shall examine the disease. If the itch has not spread, and there is in it no yellow hair, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin, 33 then he shall shave himself, but the itch he shall not shave; and the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for another seven days. 34 And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch, and if the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 35 But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, 36 then the priest shall examine him, and if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest need not seek for the yellow hair; he is unclean. 37 But if in his eyes the itch is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed and he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean. 38 “When a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, white spots, 39 the priest shall look, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is leukoderma that has broken out in the skin; he is clean. 40 “If a man's hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean. 41 And if a man's hair falls out from his forehead, he has baldness of the forehead; he is clean. 42 But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased area, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. 43 Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprous disease in the skin of the body, 44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head. 45 “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp. 47 “When there is a case of leprous disease in a garment, whether a woolen or a linen garment, 48 in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin, 49 if the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin or in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, it is a case of leprous disease, and it shall be shown to the priest. 50 And the priest shall examine the disease and shut up that which has the disease for seven days. 51 Then he shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, the disease is a persistent leprous disease; it is unclean. 52 And he shall burn the garment, or the warp or the woof, the wool or the linen, or any article made of skin that is diseased, for it is a persistent leprous disease. It shall be burned in the fire. 53 “And if the priest examines, and if the disease has not spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, 54 then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the disease, and he shall shut it up for another seven days. 55 And the priest shall examine the diseased thing after it has been washed. And if the appearance of the diseased area has not changed, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean. You shall burn it in the fire, whether the rot is on the back or on the front. 56 “But if the priest examines, and if the diseased area has faded after it has been washed, he shall tear it out of the garment or the skin or the warp or the woof. 57 Then if it appears again in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire whatever has the disease. 58 But the garment, or the warp or the woof, or any article made of skin from which the disease departs when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and be clean.” 59 This is the law for a case of leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, to determine whether it is clean or unclean. "Leprosy" isn't something we think about a lot today in the United States in the 21st century (where and when I'm writing this), but it was a major issue during most of the biblical timeline in that area of the world and still persists in some areas of the world today. The term here is probably more broad than the specific disease that we know today as leprosy and it's possible that particular disease wasn't what was being talked about at all in this passage. Remember that we're mostly talking about things that would make someone ceremonially "unclean" and that most likely means that this passage is concerned with diagnosing what kind of skin conditions were associated with something that is contagious and a risk to the entire community. We probably should not focus too much on the word "leprosy" as we know it today since that was probably not the meaning of this Hebrew word at that time and instead look at how the term is defined here in this passage and the diagnosis and treatment. "Leprosy" though is one of the metaphors used in the Bible for sin and our sin nature. Pay attention as we go through this passage to how this disease make someone "unclean," takes over their entire body, isolates them from God and from other people, and leads unto death--among other similarities, primarily that it is incurable without a miracle from God.
The issue that's being discussed here is any kind of rash, boil, or other sign of skin infection. Aaron or one of Aaron's sons (the high priest or any of the other priests) and they would examine the area to see if the hair in that area had changed to white and if the issue appeared to be more than skin-deep. If so, the person would be pronounced "unclean" (we'll get to what this means for such a person in a little bit). If however the spot is white, it appears to be no more than skin-deep and there is no change in color of the hair at that area of the body, then the person should be quarantined for seven days at which time he would be examined again. If after a week of quarantine, there is no spread and none of the other indicators mentioned before have taken place (change in color of the spot or change in color of the hair around the spot) then the man will be quarantined again for another seven days (he would be declared "unclean" at this visit if everything did not check out). Finally the man would return after his second quarantine for his final examination and if the area had still not spread or had any of the other indicators of leprosy, then the man would be told to go wash his clothes and bathe--it is just an "eruption" and is not something indicative of a contagious disease. However, if the eruption spreads or any of the other indicators of leprosy arise from this spot, he is to return to present himself to the priest again and if the issue has spread then it is indicative of leprosy and he is to be declared "unclean" by the priest. Before we get much further, let's talk about what it might mean for the man if he is declared "unclean" by the priest. Such people would have to be forced to live outside the community. They could not dwell in the camp because they posed a risk of infection to the rest of the congregation. They were to cover their mouth and pronounce, "Unclean! Unclean!" if anyone approached them. They were forbidden from entering the Tabernacle or Temple--not even to make sacrifices or offerings. They were condemned to most likely die in their diseased state as there was no cure for these diseases that caused these conditions. and to probably do so alone--though we do see some "leper colonies" later in the Bible as we see the ten lepers that come to Jesus for healing. Any time that a leper is healed, there is a sacrifice that is in order to thank God for the miracle of healing (we see Jesus command the healed lepers to go show themselves to the priest and offer the appropriate sacrifice according to the Law). The fact that Jesus was able to heal leprosy was one of the evidences that He was God in the flesh. We only see one other occasion in the Old Testament where a leper was healed and it was actually a foreigner (a Syrian) who came to the prophet Elisha in the northern kingdom of Israel, and God gave him a miraculous healing. We also see where God gave a sign to Moses the first time he was to speak to Pharaoh where he could put his hand in his cloak and pull it out and it would be full of leprosy, and if he put it back in his cloak again it would be clean again. However it is only in the New Testament that we see Jesus simply speak and the leper is healed or He touches the one who is "unclean" and makes them "clean." In the Old Testament if someone touched someone or something "unclean" it would make that other person "unclean" as well, but with Jesus, He cannot be made "unclean" by us, but He can make us and declare us "clean." See verses 45 and 46 for the instructions on what a leprous man who was pronounced "unclean" was supposed to do. With that in mind, let's continue talking about the issues here. There are some more rules for the priests here. God clarifies that there is no quarantine period for the person who is found to have leprosy. If there is anywhere in the swelling where the hair has turned white or where there is raw flesh, then the person is to be immediately declared "unclean" and is to leave the camp. Only if the disease covers the man's entire body and his whole body turns white and there is no exposed flesh is the man allowed to be considered "clean" again, but if there is ever raw flesh again, he will be declared "unclean" again until that place also becomes white (probably scar tissue) as raw flesh is unclean. The priest must examine such a man to declare him clean. There are then some rules about boils that heal and leave a spot behind when they do that is white swelling or reddish-white spot. The rules here are essentially the same as the first set of rules we talked about with the examination by the priest and the two seven-day quarantine periods before someone could be declared "clean." The same rules also apply for a burn that has healed. If the diseased area is on the man or woman's head or for a man on the area where his beard grows, then the rules are that if it appears to be deeper than the skin and the hair becomes thin and yellow in that spot, then the condition is leprous. It follows similar rules then to the first set of rules clarifying that if the condition spreads upon further inspection that priest not need look for thin yellowish hairs, as it is leprous at that point and the man or woman should be declared "unclean." There is then a provision here for examination to see if the white patches on the skin are do to a loss of skin pigmentation which is not the cause of an infectious disease and would not make someone unclean. The coloration of the white spots would be a "dull white" and not appear the same as the white spots from leprosy. The question then arises about what if there is no hair to examine to see because the man is bald or balding? In such a case any reddish-white spot on the area on which the man is bald is to be considered leprous. The reason we know that this word used here cannot be talking about the leprosy that we know as the medical condition that is also known as Hansen's disease is this next section that talks about clothes and other items make of animal skins or fabrics (we'll actually see some rules about building inspections later in the book of Leviticus too and when a building it to be considered "unclean," condemned and torn down due to mold/mildew problems)--so these parts are probably talking about kinds of mold, mildew, or fungi that could probably grow on clothes or in houses and make them "unclean" (because they would make people sick). The process was one of showing the item to the priest, then putting the object in a type of quarantine for seven days to see if the spot spread. If the spot did spread it should be burned up immediately, but if it did not spread and faded after being washed, then the spot should be cut out of the garment or item made of fabric or skin and left in quarantine for another seven days to see if the spot reappears. If the spot reappears, the item is to be burned as it is a growth the spreads ("leprous"), but if there is no more indication of the spot when it is inspected again, then the item should be washed again and will be declared "clean." So the key factors here are that the items mentioned here are things that seem to be contagious and they grow and spread and they change the nature of the thing in which they are infecting (which can be seen by the change in skin color, hair color, or a discoloration of the fabric/skin). You cannot simply cut the thing out that is infected--sometimes the disease will still grow back. The only answer sometimes is to isolate that person from the rest of the community or to destroy the item that is infected with fire. In either case it is a form of "death" that is the natural consequence of this disease. Do you see the similarities between our sin nature and leprosy? If not, you'll see the parallels as we continue to study the Law and the Prophets. Just remember that when we talk about this we're not necessarily talking about the condition known as Hansen's disease which we call leprosy today. I know that can be confusing--we're talking about any infectious skin disease that changes the color of the person's skin, hair in the area or causes itching and/or raw flesh. The term as we've seen can also be applied to any mold, mildew or fungi that would cause illness that could grow on clothes or items made of animal skins and would cause that item to be "unclean"--remember that "clean" and "unclean" like "holy" and "unholy" are big ideas in the book of Leviticus.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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