Leviticus 13

Leviticus 13:1

C. The Diagnosis of Leprosy (Chap. 13)Chapter 13 has to do with the diagnosis of leprosy, and chapter 14 with its cleansing. Opinion is divided as to the nature of biblical leprosy. Bible lepers were usually mobile, were not deformed, were harmless when completely leprous, and were sometimes cured. In some ways the priest filled the role of physician, perhaps a subtle reminder of the close connection between the spiritual and the physical. Man is a tripartite being, and what affects one part affects all. Chapter 13 is admittedly difficult, dealing as it does with technical descriptions of leprous and non-leprous diseases and with “leprosy” in houses and garments. Dr. R. K. Harrison, who has medical training as well as being a Hebrew scholar, points out that there is “no translation that is satisfactory for all the conditions covered by the Hebrew word, but that it should be broad enough to include the disease we call Hansen’s disease.” He summarizes the known facts about the Hebrew term and its Greek translation (whence our English terms leprosy, leper, leprous): The Hebrew term se3ra`at comes from a root meaning “to become diseased in the skin,” and is a generic rather than a specific description. In Old Testament usage it was extended to include mould or mildew in fabrics, as well as mineral eruptions on the walls of buildings, and possibly dry rot in the fabric of such structures. In the LXX the Hebrew was rendered by the Greek word lepra, which itself appears to have been rather indefinite in nature and meaning. The Greek medical authors used the word to describe a disease that made the surface of the skin flaky or scaly, while Herodotus mentioned it in connection with an affliction known as leuk, a type of cutaneous eruption which seems to have been the same as the Greek elephantiasis, and thus similar to modern clinical leprosy (Hansen’s disease). 13:1-3 The opening paragraph describes the priest inspecting a man for the symptoms of biblical leprosy. 13:4-8 Next the proper procedure in questionable cases is detailed. The person was confined for seven days. If the . . . spot had not spread, then he was confined for another seven more days. Then if the disease seemed to be checked, the priest pronounced the person clean. If the eruption in the skin had spread after the second examination, then the priest declared him to be unclean. 13:9-11 When the leprosy was old or chronic, the priest pronounced the leper unclean. 13:12, 13 Strangely, when a person had turned white all over, the disease was no longer active, and the priest pronounced the leper clean. 13:14, 15 When raw flesh appeared on a person, the priest pronounced him unclean. It was leprosy. 13:16, 17 In a case of leprosy where the raw flesh had healed and turned white, here again the person was clean. 13:18-23 Three possible diagnoses regarding a boil are next presented. When it is obvious to the priest that the boil is deeper than the skin, and its hair has turned white, he must pronounce the patient unclean (vv. 18-20). When in quarantine the sore spread during a seven-day test period, it was leprous (vv. 21, 22). When it did not spread, the person was pronounced clean (v. 23). 13:24-28 The case of a possibly leprous burn is described. When from its symptoms it was obviously leprous, the priest would pronounce the person unclean (vv. 24, 25). A seven-day period of testing would reveal the condition to be spreading and therefore leprous (vv. 26, 27). Where it is merely a swelling from the burn it was not leprous (v. 28). 13:29-37 The case of a scale of the head or beard is considered next. Where a man or a woman obviously had leprosy from his or her symptoms, the person had to be declared unclean (vv. 29, 30). Where it was not clearly known (vv. 31-37), the person was confined for seven days. If the condition had not spread, the person shaved off his hair and waited for another seven days. If the scale had spread, the person was unclean. If the scale had been checked, the person was clean. 13:38, 39 A man or a woman with white bright spots on the skin of the body was declared ceremonially clean. According to Harrison’s semi-technical translation, it was “a mottling that has arisen in the skin.” 13:40-44 Ordinary baldness (alopecia) is differentiated from that which was caused by leprosy. 13:45, 46 A leper was a miserable person. He was put outside the camp of Israel and had to wear torn . . . clothes and let his head be bare. Whenever people approached, he had to cover his upper lip or mustache and cry, “Unclean! Unclean!” Again we have an early example of preventive medicine. Isolation is an accepted medical procedure to prevent the spread of infection. 13:47-59 The case of “leprosy” in a garment probably refers to some type of mold or mildew on a wool or linen cloth or leather garment. Harrison explains the wisdom of destroying garments so tainted: Moulds are fungous growths on dead or decomposing animal or vegetable matter, and occur in patches of various shades. He goes on to make a spiritual application: The fungous growth affects the entire article by its presence, just as the taint of original sin reaches all areas of the human personality. Jehovah’s people must be pure and clean externally as well as internally: Oh, for a heart to praise my God, A heart from sin set free; A heart that’s trusting in the blood So freely shed for me. A humble, lowly, contrite heart, Believing, true, and clean, Which neither death nor life can part From Him that dwells within. Charles Wesley