(KJV) Leviticus 131

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⥃Laws about Skin Diseases [ Numbers 5:1–4 ]

[1] And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, [2] When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising2, a scab3, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh [like] the plague of leprosy4; then he shall5 be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: [3] And the priest shall look6 on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and [when] the hair in the plague is turned7 white, and the plague in sight [be] deeper8 than the skin of his flesh, it [is] a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce9 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 up10 [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 pronounce11 him clean: it [is but] a scab12: and he shall wash13 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:14 [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.15

[9] [¶]When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest; [10] And the priest shall see [him16]: and, behold, [if] the rising [be] white in the skin, and it have turned the hair white, and [there be] quick raw flesh17 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 all18 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 leprosy19 have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce [him] clean [that hath] the plague: it is all turned white: he [is] clean20. [14] But when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean.21 [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;22 [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.

[18] The flesh also, in which, [even] in the skin thereof, was a boil23, 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 sight24 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 him25 up seven days: [22] And if it spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it [is] a plague26. [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.27

[24] [¶]Or if there be [any] flesh, in the skin whereof [there is] a hot burning28, 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 white29, 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 priest30 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 leprosy31. [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.

[29] [¶]If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard;32 [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 scall33, [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 days34: [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 hair35, 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 seventh36 day the priest shall look on the scall: and, behold, [if] the scall be not37 spread in the skin, nor [be] in sight deeper than the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him clean: and he shall38 wash his clothes, and be clean. [35] But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing;39 [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.

[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 bright40 spots in the skin of their flesh [be] darkish white; it [is] a freckled spot41 [that] groweth in the skin; he [is] clean.42 [40] And the man whose hair is fallen off his head43, 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 unclean44; his plague45 [is] in his head. [45] And the leper in whom the plague [is], his clothes46 shall be rent, and his head47 bare, and he shall put48 a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean49, unclean. [46] All the days50 wherein the plague [shall be] in him he shall be defiled; he [is] unclean: he shall dwell alone; without51 the camp [shall] his habitation [be].

⥃Laws about Mildew

[47] The garment52 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 of53 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 skin54; it [is55] 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 leprosy56; it [is] unclean. [52] He shall therefore burn57 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 leprosy58; 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, after59 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 without60. [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 burn61 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 washed62 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.

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

  2. or, swelling ↩

  3. Lev 14:56; Deut 28:27; Isa 3:17 ↩

  4. Tzaraâth, the Leprosy, from the Greek λεπρα, from λεπις, 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. Lev 14:3, Lev 14:35; Exod 4:6-7; Num 12:10, Num 12:12; 2Sam 3:29; 2Kgs 5:1, 2Kgs 5:27; 2Chr 26:19-21; Isa 1:6 ↩

  5. Deut 17:8-9, Deut 24:8; Mal 2:7; Matt 8:4; Mark 1:44; Luke 5:14, Luke 17:14 ↩

  6. Lev 13:2, Lev 10:10; Ezek 44:23; Hag 2:11; Mal 2:7; Acts 20:28; Rom 3:19-20, Rom 7:7; Heb 13:7; Rev 2:23 ↩

  7. Ezek 16:30; Hos 7:9 ↩

  8. Gen 13:3; 2Tim 2:16-17, 2Tim 3:13 ↩

  9. Matt 16:19, Matt 18:17-18; John 20:23; Rom 3:19-20; 1Cor 5:4-6; 2Thess 3:14-15; 1Tim 1:20 ↩

  10. Num 12:15; Deut 13:14; Ezek 44:10; 1Cor 4:5; 1Tim 5:24 ↩

  11. Isa 11:3-4, Isa 42:3; Rom 14:1; Jude 1:22-23 ↩

  12. Lev 13:2; Deut 32:5; Jas 3:2 ↩

  13. Lev 11:25, Lev 11:28, Lev 11:40, Lev 14:8; 1Kgs 8:38, 1Kgs 8:45; Ps 19:12; Prov 20:9; Eccl 7:20; John 13:8-10; 2Cor 7:1; Heb 9:10, Heb 10:22; 1John 1:7-9 ↩

  14. Lev 13:27, Lev 13:35-36; Ps 38:3; Isa 1:5-6; Rom 6:12-14; 2Tim 2:16-17 ↩

  15. Lev 13:3; Matt 15:7-8; Acts 8:21; Phil 3:18-19; 2Pet 2:19 ↩

  16. Lev 13:3-4; Num 12:10-12; 2Kgs 5:27; 2Chr 26:19-20 ↩

  17. Heb. the quickening of living flesh, Lev 13:14-15, Lev 13:24; Prov 12:1; Amos 5:10; John 3:19-20, John 7:7 ↩

  18. 1Kgs 8:38; Job 40:4, Job 42:6; Isa 64:6; John 16:8-9; Rom 7:14; 1John 1:8-10 ↩

  19. 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. ↩

  20. Isa 64:6; John 9:41 ↩

  21. Lev 13:10 ↩

  22. Rom 7:14-24; Gal 1:14-16; Phil 3:6-8; 1Tim 1:13-15 ↩

  23. Exod 9:9, Exod 15:26; 2Kgs 20:7; Job 2:7; Ps 38:3-7; Isa 38:21 ↩

  24. Lev 13:3; Matt 12:45; John 5:14; 2Pet 2:20 ↩

  25. 1Cor 5:5 ↩

  26. i.e. "The plague of leprosy", Lev 13:22 ↩

  27. Gen 38:26; 2Sam 12:13; 2Chr 19:2-3; Job 34:31-32, Job 40:4-5; Prov 28:13; Matt 26:75; 2Cor 2:7; Gal 6:1; 1Pet 4:2-3 ↩

  28. Heb. a burning of fire, Isa 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. ↩

  29. Lev 13:4, Lev 13:18-20 ↩

  30. Lev 13:4-5, Lev 13:23 ↩

  31. Lev 13:2 ↩

  32. 1Kgs 8:38, 1Kgs 12:28; 2Chr 6:29; Ps 53:4; Isa 1:5, Isa 5:20, Isa 9:15; Mic 3:11; Matt 6:23, Matt 13:14-15; John 16:2-3; Acts 22:3-4, Acts 26:9-10; 2Cor 4:3-4; 2Thess 2:11-12 ↩

  33. Lev 13:34-37, Lev 14:54 ↩

  34. Lev 13:4-6 ↩

  35. Lev 13:30; Matt 23:5; Luke 18:9-12; Rom 2:23 ↩

  36. 1John 4:1; Jude 1:22; Rev 2:2 ↩

  37. Lev 13:23 ↩

  38. Lev 13:6 ↩

  39. Lev 13:7, Lev 13:27; 2Tim 2:16-17, 2Tim 3:13 ↩

  40. Eccl 7:20; Rom 7:22-25; Jas 3:2 ↩

  41. 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, (Lev 13:1-59). They believe it to be so far from contagious, that one may sleep with a person affected without danger. ↩

  42. "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. ↩

  43. Heb. head is pilled, Lev 13:41; Song 5:11; Rom 6:12, Rom 6:19, Rom 8:10; Gal 4:13 ↩

  44. Job 36:14; Matt 6:23; 2Pet 2:1-2; 2John 1:8-10 ↩

  45. Isa 1:5 ↩

  46. Gen 37:29; 2Sam 13:19; Job 1:20; Jer 3:25, Jer 36:24; Joel 2:13 ↩

  47. Lev 10:6, Lev 21:10 ↩

  48. Ezek 24:17, Ezek 24:22; Mic 3:7 ↩

  49. Job 42:6; Ps 51:3, Ps 51:5; Isa 6:5, Isa 52:11, Isa 64:6; Lam 4:15; Luke 5:8, Luke 7:6-7; Luke 17:12 ↩

  50. Prov 30:12 ↩

  51. Num 5:2, Num 12:14-15; 2Kgs 7:3, 2Kgs 15:5; 2Chr 26:21; Lam 1:1, Lam 1:8; 1Cor 5:5, 1Cor 5:9-13; 2Thess 3:6, 2Thess 3:14; 1Tim 6:5; Heb 12:15-16; Rev 21:27, Rev 22:15 ↩

  52. 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. Isa 3:16-24, Isa 59:6, Isa 64:6; Ezek 16:16; Rom 13:12; Eph 4:22; Col 3:3; Jude 1:23 ↩

  53. Heb. work of, Lev 13:51; Deut 8:11; Jude 1:23; Rev 3:4 ↩

  54. Heb. vessel, or instrument ↩

  55. Lev 13:2 ↩

  56. Lev 14:44 ↩

  57. Lev 11:33, Lev 11:35; Deut 7:25-26; Isa 30:22; Acts 19:19-20 ↩

  58. Lev 14:44-45 ↩

  59. Ezek 24:13; Heb 6:4-8; 2Pet 1:9, 2Pet 2:20-22 ↩

  60. Heb. it be bald in the head thereof, or in the forehead thereof ↩

  61. Isa 33:14; Matt 3:12, Matt 22:7, Matt 25:41; Rev 21:8, Rev 21:27 ↩

  62. 2Kgs 5:10, 2Kgs 5:14; Ps 51:2; 2Cor 7:1, 2Cor 12:8; Heb 9:10; Rev 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. ↩