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Leviticus 13

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Introduction to the Law of Skin Afflictions 1–8

1
And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, ​
2
When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: ​
3
And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean. ​
4
If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days: ​
5
And the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague in his sight be at a stay, and the plague spread not in the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more:
6
And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague be somewhat dark, and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is but a scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
7
But if the scab spread much abroad in the skin, after that he hath been seen of the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen of the priest again:
8
And if the priest see that, behold, the scab spreadeth in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a leprosy.

Diagnosing Confirmed or Chronic Leprosy 9–17

9
When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest;
10
And the priest shall see him: and, behold, if the rising be white in the skin, and it have turned the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh in the rising;
11
It is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not shut him up: for he is unclean. ​
12
And if a leprosy break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath the plague from his head even to his foot, wheresoever the priest looketh;
13
Then the priest shall consider: and, behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: it is all turned white: he is clean. ​
14
But when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean. ​
15
And the priest shall see the raw flesh, and pronounce him to be unclean: for the raw flesh is unclean: it is a leprosy.
16
Or if the raw flesh turn again, and be changed unto white, he shall come unto the priest;
17
And the priest shall see him: and, behold, if the plague be turned into white; then the priest shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: he is clean.

Afflictions from Boils and Burns 18–28

18
The flesh also, in which, even in the skin thereof, was a boil, and is healed, ​
19
And in the place of the boil there be a white rising, or a bright spot, white, and somewhat reddish, and it be shewed to the priest;
20
And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.
21
But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hairs therein, and if it be not lower than the skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days:
22
And if it spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague.
23
But if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not, it is a burning boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
24
Or if there be any flesh, in the skin whereof there is a hot burning, and the quick flesh that burneth have a white bright spot, somewhat reddish, or white;
25
Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the hair in the bright spot be turned white, and it be in sight deeper than the skin; it is a leprosy broken out of the burning: wherefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.
26
But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hair in the bright spot, and it be no lower than the other skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days:
27
And the priest shall look upon him the seventh day: and if it be spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.
28
And if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not in the skin, but it be somewhat dark; it is a rising of the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him clean: for it is an inflammation of the burning.

Afflictions on the Head or Beard 29–37

29
If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard;
30
Then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard. ​
31
And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it be not in sight deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days:
32
And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague: and, behold, if the scall spread not, and there be in it no yellow hair, and the scall be not in sight deeper than the skin;
33
He shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that hath the scall seven days more:
34
And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the scall: and, behold, if the scall be not spread in the skin, nor be in sight deeper than the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him clean: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
35
But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing;
36
Then the priest shall look on him: and, behold, if the scall be spread in the skin, the priest shall not seek for yellow hair; he is unclean.
37
But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and that there is black hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he is clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

Minor Skin Conditions and Baldness 38–44

38
If a man also or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots, even white bright spots;
39
Then the priest shall look: and, behold, if the bright spots in the skin of their flesh be darkish white; it is a freckled spot that groweth in the skin; he is clean. ​
40
And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean.
41
And he that hath his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, he is forehead bald: yet is he clean.
42
And if there be in the bald head, or bald forehead, a white reddish sore; it is a leprosy sprung up in his bald head, or his bald forehead.
43
Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the rising of the sore be white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh;
44
He is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head.

Regulations for the Confirmed Leper 45–46

45
And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. ​
46
All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be. ​

The Law of Leprosy (Mildew) in Garments 47–59

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 the warp, or woof; of linen, or of woollen; 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 shewed 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 woollen 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 colour, 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 woollen or linen, either in the warp, or woof, or any thing of skins, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Leviticus 13

Verse 1

unto Moses and Aaron — The laws of the plague are addressed to both brothers: Moses as lawgiver, Aaron as the priest to whom, or to one of his sons, each case is brought (v.2). Tsara'ath, rendered 'leprosy', is the one word used of the affliction in skin (vv.2–46), in garments (vv.47–59) and, later, in houses (Lev 14:34).

Verse 2

brought unto Aaron the priest — The priest is the judge in these cases: a 'rising', a 'scab' or a 'bright spot' is shown to him. Deut 24:8 bids Israel 'do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you' about the plague of leprosy, and Christ sent lepers to the priest (Luke 5:14; 17:14).

Verse 3

pronounce him unclean — The priest's verb is a declaration (tame, to pronounce unclean), given after his looking, when two signs are found together: white hair in the spot and a depth 'deeper than the skin of his flesh'. The verdict of clean is his to give as well (v.13), so the person's status rests on the priest's word.

Verse 4

shut up him that hath the plague seven days — Sagar, to shut up, is the verb of waiting: if the spot is white but not deeper and the hair has not turned, the priest looks again after seven days (v.5) and may shut him up seven days more. Miriam was likewise 'shut out from the camp seven days' (Num 12:15).

Verse 11

an old leprosy — Yashen, old, long-standing. For this case there is no waiting: the priest 'shall not shut him up: for he is unclean'. The seven-day shutting-up of vv.4–5 is for a doubtful spot, and here the leprosy is already settled in the skin.

Verse 13

he is clean — When the leprosy 'have covered all his flesh' and 'it is all turned white', the priest pronounces the man clean. Whiteness alone does not decide the case; the same colour is unclean when the spot is deep and the hair white (v.3) or when 'raw flesh' appears (v.14).

Verse 14

raw flesh — Chai means living, so the 'raw flesh' is literally living flesh, flesh showing quick. When it appears, 'he shall be unclean', and v.15 repeats it: 'the raw flesh is unclean: it is a leprosy'. If it turns again to white, he returns to the priest and is pronounced clean (vv.16–17).

Verse 18

a boil, and is healed — Shechin, boil, is the word of the sixth plague of Egypt, 'a boil breaking forth with blains' (Ex 9:9), and of Job's sores (Job 2:7) and Hezekiah's (2 Kgs 20:7). Where a boil has healed, a white rising or reddish bright spot is shown to the priest (v.19), who judges whether leprosy has 'broken out of the boil' (v.20).

Verse 30

a dry scall — Netheq, a scall of the head or beard, is judged by its own signs, not by white hair: depth 'deeper than the skin' and 'a yellow thin hair'. Verse 31 sets the other case, a scall not deeper and with 'no black hair in it', which is shut up seven days; black hair grown up in it means 'the scall is healed' (v.37).

Verse 39

darkish white — The 'freckled spot' (bohaq) is a dull white that 'groweth in the skin', and the priest pronounces it clean. The verse is the counterpart of v.2: not every white mark on the skin is leprosy. This word is used only here.

Verse 45

Unclean, unclean — The leper wears three signs: rent clothes, a bare head and a covered upper lip. Rent clothes and an uncovered head are the very actions forbidden to the priests in mourning (Lev 10:6). The cry is his own announcement; Lam 4:15 echoes it: 'Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not'.

Verse 46

without the camp — Badad, alone, solitary: the leper lives outside the camp for as long as the plague is in him, as Num 5:2 commands, 'put out of the camp every leper'. King Uzziah was 'a leper unto the day of his death' and 'dwelt in a several house' (2 Chr 26:21); the ten lepers of Luke 17:12 'stood afar off'.

Verse 47

woollen… linen — The plague passes from the body to cloth, to wool (tsemer) and linen (pishteh) and, in vv.48–49, 'any thing made of skin'. The same word, leprosy, names it, and the same priest judges it. A further form appears in houses (Lev 14:34).

Verse 52

a fretting leprosy — The spreading plague is 'a fretting leprosy' (mam'ir, from a verb for pricking or hurting). The word occurs only in Lev 13:51–52, 14:44 and Ezek 28:24, 'a pricking brier'. After the seven-day shutting-up of v.50 comes the sentence: 'it shall be burnt in the fire'.

Verse 59

to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean — The closing verse names the two verdicts on which the whole chapter turns, both pronounced by the priest. Lev 14:54–57 gathers the whole of the law of leprosy under the same purpose, 'to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean'.