Bible Commentaries
Leviticus 13

Introduction

Overview

Leviticus 13:1, The laws and tokens whereby the priest is to be guided in discerning the leprosy.

Verse 1

Reciprocal: Leviticus 15:1 - Aaron Deuteronomy 24:8 - General Mark 1:40 - a leper Luke 5:12 - full Luke 17:14 - Go

Verse 2

rising: or, swelling

a scab: Leviticus 14:56, Deuteronomy 28:27, Isaiah 3:17

the plague of leprosy: Tzaraâth, the Leprosy, from the Greek כונסב, from כוניע, a scale; so called, because in this disease the body is covered with thin white scales, so as to give it the appearance of snow. The leprosy is a dreadful, contagious disorder, common in Egypt and Syria, and generally manifests itself at first in the manner described in the text. Its commencement is imperceptible; there appearing only a few reddish spots on the skin, which are not attended with pain or any other symptom, but cannot be removed. It increases imperceptibly, and continues for some years to be more and more manifest. The spots become larger, spread over the whole skin, and are sometimes rather raised, though generally flat. When it increases the upper part of the nose swells, the nostrils distend, the nose becomes soft, swellings appear on the under jaws, the eyebrows are elevated, the ears grow thick, the ends of the fingers, feet, and toes, swell, the nails grow scaly, the joints of the hands and feet separate, the palms of hands and soles of the feet are ulcerated, and in its last stage the patient becomes horrible, and falls to pieces. Leviticus 14:3, Leviticus 14:35, Exodus 4:6, Exodus 4:7, Numbers 12:10, Numbers 12:12, 2 Samuel 3:29, 2 Kings 5:1, 2 Kings 5:27, 2 Chronicles 26:19-21, Isaiah 1:6

he shall: Deuteronomy 17:8, Deuteronomy 17:9, Deuteronomy 24:8, Malachi 2:7, Matthew 8:4, Mark 1:44, Luke 5:14, Luke 17:14

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:3 - shall look Leviticus 13:6 - a scab Leviticus 13:27 - it is the plague of leprosy Leviticus 13:49 - it is Leviticus 22:4 - a leper

Verse 3

shall look: Leviticus 13:2, Leviticus 10:10, Ezekiel 44:23, Haggai 2:11, Malachi 2:7, Acts 20:28, Romans 3:19, Romans 3:20, Romans 7:7, Hebrews 13:7, Revelation 2:23

turned: Ezekiel 16:30, Hosea 7:9

deeper: Genesis 13:3, 2 Timothy 2:16, 2 Timothy 2:17, 2 Timothy 3:13

pronounce: Matthew 16:19, Matthew 18:17, Matthew 18:18, John 20:23, Romans 3:19, Romans 3:20, 1 Corinthians 5:4-6, 2 Thessalonians 3:14, 2 Thessalonians 3:15, 1 Timothy 1:20

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:8 - General Leviticus 13:10 - shall see him Leviticus 13:20 - in sight Leviticus 14:37 - General Leviticus 22:4 - a leper Numbers 12:10 - leprous 2 Kings 5:1 - a leper

Verse 4

shut up: Numbers 12:15, Deuteronomy 13:14, Ezekiel 44:10, 1 Corinthians 4:5, 1 Timothy 5:24

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:10 - shall see him Leviticus 13:25 - turned white Leviticus 13:26 - then the priest Leviticus 13:31 - seven days

Verse 5

Reciprocal: Exodus 29:30 - seven days Leviticus 13:26 - then the priest Leviticus 14:8 - seven days

Verse 6

pronounce: Isaiah 11:3, Isaiah 11:4, Isaiah 42:3, Romans 14:1, Jude 1:22, Jude 1:23

a scab: Leviticus 13:2, Deuteronomy 32:5, James 3:2

wash: Leviticus 11:25, Leviticus 11:28, Leviticus 11:40, Leviticus 14:8, 1 Kings 8:38, 1 Kings 8:45, Psalms 19:12, Proverbs 20:9, Ecclesiastes 7:20, John 13:8-10, 2 Corinthians 7:1, Hebrews 9:10, Hebrews 10:22, 1 John 1:7-9

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:34 - and he shall Leviticus 15:5 - General

Verse 7

Leviticus 13:27, Leviticus 13:35, Leviticus 13:36, Psalms 38:3, Isaiah 1:5, Isaiah 1:6, Romans 6:12-14, 2 Timothy 2:16, 2 Timothy 2:17

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:39 - General

Verse 8

Leviticus 13:3, Matthew 15:7, Matthew 15:8, Acts 8:21, Philippians 3:18, Philippians 3:19, 2 Peter 2:19

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:39 - General

Verse 10

shall see him: Leviticus 13:3, Leviticus 13:4, Numbers 12:10-12, 2 Kings 5:27, 2 Chronicles 26:19, 2 Chronicles 26:20

quick raw flesh: Heb. the quickening of living flesh, Leviticus 13:14, Leviticus 13:15, Leviticus 13:24, Proverbs 12:1, Amos 5:10, John 3:19, John 3:20, John 7:7

Verse 12

cover all: 1 Kings 8:38, Job 40:4, Job 42:6, Isaiah 64:6, John 16:8, John 16:9, Romans 7:14, 1 John 1:8-10

Verse 13

if the leprosy: It may seem strange that the partial leper should be pronounced unclean, and the person totally covered with the disease clean. This was probably owing to a different species or stage of the disease; the partial being contagious, the total not. That there are two different species, or degrees, of the disease described here, is sufficiently evident: in one, the person was all covered with a white enamelled scurf; in the other, there was a quick raw flesh in the risings. On this account, the one was deemed unclean, or contagious, the other not; for contact with the quick raw flesh would be more likely to communicate the disease, than the touch of the hard dry scurf. The ichor proceeding from the former, when brought into contact with the flesh of another, would soon be taken into constitution by means of the absorbent vessels; but where the surface was perfectly dry; the absorbent vessels of another, coming in contact with the diseased man, could imbibe nothing, and there was consequently but little or no danger of infection. This is the learned Dr. Mead's view of the subject; who thus accounts for the circumstances mentioned in the text.

he is clean: Isaiah 64:6, John 9:41

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:7 - pronounce

Verse 14

Leviticus 13:10

Verse 15

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:10 - quick raw flesh

Verse 16

Romans 7:14-24, Galatians 1:14-16, Philippians 3:6-8, 1 Timothy 1:13-15

Verse 17

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:7 - pronounce

Verse 18

a boil: Exodus 9:9, Exodus 15:26, 2 Kings 20:7, Job 2:7, Psalms 38:3-7, Isaiah 38:21

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:25 - turned white

Verse 19

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:37 - General

Verse 20

in sight: Leviticus 13:3, Matthew 12:45, John 5:14, 2 Peter 2:20

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:37 - General

Verse 21

shut him: 1 Corinthians 5:5

Verse 22

a plague: i.e. "The plague of leprosy", Leviticus 13:22

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:39 - General

Verse 23

Genesis 38:26, 2 Samuel 12:13, 2 Chronicles 19:2, 2 Chronicles 19:3, Job 34:31, Job 34:32, Job 40:4, Job 40:5, Proverbs 28:13, Matthew 26:75, 2 Corinthians 2:7, Galatians 6:1, 1 Peter 4:2, 1 Peter 4:3

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:26 - then the priest Leviticus 13:34 - be not

Verse 24

a hot burning: Heb. a burning of fire, Isaiah 3:24, This is supposed to state the case of such as had been hurt by fire; which would leave a scar, in which the leprosy might appear, and which was to be distinguished by the rules here given.

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:10 - quick raw flesh

Verse 25

turned white: Leviticus 13:4, Leviticus 13:18-20

Verse 26

then the priest: Leviticus 13:4, Leviticus 13:5, Leviticus 13:23

Verse 27

it is the plague of leprosy: Leviticus 13:2

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:7 - General Leviticus 13:35 - General Leviticus 14:39 - General

Verse 29

1 Kings 8:38, 1 Kings 12:28, 2 Chronicles 6:29, Psalms 53:4, Isaiah 1:5, Isaiah 5:20, Isaiah 9:15, Micah 3:11, Matthew 6:23, Matthew 13:14, Matthew 13:15, John 16:2, John 16:3, Acts 22:3, Acts 22:4, Acts 26:9, Acts 26:10, 2 Corinthians 4:3, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:11, 2 Thessalonians 2:12

Reciprocal: Isaiah 3:17 - smite

Verse 30

scall: Leviticus 13:34-37, Leviticus 14:54

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:32 - yellow hair Isaiah 3:17 - smite John 20:4 - outrun

Verse 31

seven days: Leviticus 13:4-6

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:54 - scall

Verse 32

yellow hair: Leviticus 13:30, Matthew 23:5, Luke 18:9-12, Romans 2:23

Verse 34

the seventh: 1 John 4:1, Jude 1:22, Revelation 2:2

be not: Leviticus 13:23

and he shall: Leviticus 13:6

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:30 - scall Leviticus 15:5 - General

Verse 35

Leviticus 13:7, Leviticus 13:27, 2 Timothy 2:16, 2 Timothy 2:17, 2 Timothy 3:13

Verse 36

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:7 - General Leviticus 14:39 - General

Verse 39

if the bright: Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 7:22-25, James 3:2

a freckled spot: The word bohak, from the Syriac behak, to be white, or shining, here rendered "a freckled spot," is used by the Arabs to denote a kind of leprosy, of which Niebuhr says, "Bohak is neither contagious nor dangerous. A black boy at Mocha, who was affected with this eruption, had here and there upon his body white spots. We were told that the use of sulphur had relieved this boy for a time, but had not entirely removed the disease." He adds subsequently from Forskal's papers, "The Arabs call a sort of leprosy, in which some little spots shew themselves here and there on the body, behaq; and it is without doubt the same as is named bohak, (Leviticus 13:1-59). They believe it to be so far from contagious, that one may sleep with a person affected without danger.

"On the 15th day of May, 1765, I myself first saw the Bohak leprosy in a Jew at Mocha. The spots in this disease are of an unequal size. They do not shine; are not perceptibly higher than the skin; and do not change the colour of the hair. Their colour is an obscure white, inclining to red. The rest of the skin of the patient was darker than that of the people of the country in general; but the spots were not so white as the skin of an European, when not sun-burnt. The spots in this leprosy do not appear on the hands, or near the navel, but on the neck and face, yet not on that part where the hair grows thick. They gradually spread, and continue sometimes only about two months, but in some cases one or two years, and then disappear by degrees, of themselves. This disorder is neither contagious nor hereditary, nor does it occasion any inconvenience." Hence a person infected with the bohak is declared clean."

Verse 40

hair is fallen off his head: Heb. head is pilled, Leviticus 13:41, Song of Solomon 5:11, Romans 6:12, Romans 6:19, Romans 8:10, Galatians 4:13

Verse 41

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:40 - hair is fallen off his head

Verse 42

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:37 - General

Verse 43

Reciprocal: Isaiah 3:17 - smite

Verse 44

utterly unclean: Job 36:14, Matthew 6:23, 2 Peter 2:1, 2 Peter 2:2, 2 John 1:8-10

his plague: Isaiah 1:5

Reciprocal: Leviticus 22:4 - a leper 2 Samuel 3:29 - an issue 2 Kings 5:1 - a leper Isaiah 3:17 - smite Matthew 8:2 - a leper

Verse 45

his clothes: Genesis 37:29, 2 Samuel 13:19, Job 1:20, Jeremiah 3:25, Jeremiah 36:24, Joel 2:13

and his head: Leviticus 10:6, Leviticus 21:10

put: Ezekiel 24:17, Ezekiel 24:22, Micah 3:7

Unclean: Job 42:6, Psalms 51:3, Psalms 51:5, Isaiah 6:5, Isaiah 52:11, Isaiah 64:6, Lamentations 4:15, Luke 5:8, Luke 7:6, Luke 7:7, Luke 17:12

Reciprocal: Numbers 5:18 - uncover Numbers 12:14 - let her be Numbers 19:3 - without the camp

Verse 46

the days: Proverbs 30:12

without: Numbers 5:2, Numbers 12:14, Numbers 12:15, 2 Kings 7:3, 2 Kings 15:5, 2 Chronicles 26:21, Lamentations 1:1, Lamentations 1:8, 1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Corinthians 5:9-13, 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 2 Thessalonians 3:14, 1 Timothy 6:5, Hebrews 12:15, Hebrews 12:16, Revelation 21:27, Revelation 22:15

Reciprocal: Leviticus 4:12 - without the camp Leviticus 14:3 - out of Leviticus 24:14 - without Numbers 19:3 - without the camp Luke 17:12 - which

Verse 47

The garment: This leprosy in garments appears so strange to us, that it has induced some, with Bp. Patrick, to consider it as an extraordinary punishment inflicted by God upon the Israelites, as a sign of his high displeasure; while others consider the leprosy in clothes - and also houses as having no relation to the leprosy in man. When Michaelis was considering the subject, he was told by a dealer in wool, that the wool of sheep which die of a disease, if it has not been shorn from the animal while living, is unfit to manufacture cloth, and liable to something like what Moses here describes, and which he imagines to be the plague of leprosy in garments. The whole account, however, as Dr. A. Clarke observes, seems to intimate that the garment was fretted by the contagion of the real leprosy; which it is probable was occasioned by a species of animacula, or vermin, burrowing in the skin, which we know to be the cause of the itch; these, by breeding in the garments, must necessarily multiply their kind, and fret the garments, i.e., corrode a portion of the finer parts, after the manner of moths, for their nourishment. The infection of garments has frequently been known to cause the worst species of scarlet fever, and even the plague; and those infected with psora, or itch animal, have communicated the disease even in six or seven years after the infection. Isaiah 3:16-24, Isaiah 59:6, Isaiah 64:6, Ezekiel 16:16, Romans 13:12, Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 3:3, Jude 1:23

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:55 - the leprosy

Verse 48

thing made of: Heb. work of, Leviticus 13:51, Deuteronomy 8:11, Jude 1:23, Revelation 3:4

Verse 49

thing of skin: Heb. vessel, or instrument

it is: Leviticus 13:2

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:37 - General

Verse 50

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:38 - General

Verse 51

fretting leprosy: Leviticus 14:44

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:48 - thing made of Leviticus 14:39 - General

Verse 52

burn: Leviticus 11:33, Leviticus 11:35, Deuteronomy 7:25, Deuteronomy 7:26, Isaiah 30:22, Acts 19:19, Acts 19:20

fretting leprosy: Leviticus 14:44, Leviticus 14:45

Verse 55

after: Ezekiel 24:13, Hebrews 6:4-8, 2 Peter 1:9, 2 Peter 2:20-22

it be bare within or without: Heb. it be bald in the head thereof, or in the forehead thereof

Verse 57

shalt burn: Isaiah 33:14, Matthew 3:12, Matthew 22:7, Matthew 25:41, Revelation 21:8, Revelation 21:27

Verse 58

be washed: 2 Kings 5:10, 2 Kings 5:14, Psalms 51:2, 2 Corinthians 7:1, 2 Corinthians 12:8, Hebrews 9:10, Revelation 1:5, The plague of leprosy was inflicted immediately from the hand of God, and came not from natural causes, as other diseases; and therefore must be managed according to a divine law. Miriam's leprosy, and Gehazi's and King Uzziah's were all the punishments of particular sins; and if generally it was so, no marvel there was so much care taken to distinguish it from a common distemper, that none might be looked upon as lying under this extraordinary token of Divine displeasure, but those that really were so.

Verse 59

Reciprocal: Leviticus 5:3 - the uncleanness Leviticus 7:21 - the uncleanness Leviticus 14:2 - the law Leviticus 14:32 - General Leviticus 15:31 - Thus shall Leviticus 15:32 - General Numbers 5:29 - the law Numbers 30:16 - General Numbers 36:13 - the commandments