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Texts -- Leviticus 13:20-59 (NET)

Context
13:20 The priest will then examine it, and if it appears to be deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white , then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean . It is a diseased infection that has broken out in the boil . 13:21 If , however, the priest examines it, and there is no white hair in it, it is not deeper than the skin , and it has faded , then the priest is to quarantine him for seven days . 13:22 If it is spreading further on the skin , then the priest is to pronounce him unclean . It is an infection . 13:23 But if the bright spot stays in its place and has not spread , it is the scar of the boil , so the priest is to pronounce him clean .
A Burn on the Skin
13:24 “When a body has a burn on its skin and the raw area of the burn becomes a reddish white or white bright spot , 13:25 the priest must examine it, and if the hair has turned white in the bright spot and it appears to be deeper than the skin , it is a disease that has broken out in the burn . The priest is to pronounce the person unclean . It is a diseased infection . 13:26 If , however, the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the bright spot , it is not deeper than the skin , and it has faded , then the priest is to quarantine him for seven days . 13:27 The priest must then examine it on the seventh day , and if it is spreading further on the skin , then the priest is to pronounce him unclean . It is a diseased infection . 13:28 But if the bright spot stays in its place , has not spread on the skin , and it has faded , then it is the swelling of the burn , so the priest is to pronounce him clean , because it is the scar of the burn .
Scall on the Head or in the Beard
13:29 “When a man or a woman has an infection on the head or in the beard , 13:30 the priest is to examine the infection , and if it appears to be deeper than the skin and the hair in it is reddish yellow and thin , then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean . It is scall , a disease of the head or the beard . 13:31 But if the priest examines the scall infection and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin , and there is no black hair in it, then the priest is to quarantine the person with the scall infection for seven days . 13:32 The priest must then examine the infection on the seventh day , and if the scall has not spread , there is no reddish yellow hair in it, and the scall does not appear to be deeper than the skin , 13:33 then the individual is to shave himself, but he must not shave the area affected by the scall , and the priest is to quarantine the person with the scall for another seven days . 13:34 The priest must then examine the scall on the seventh day , and if the scall has not spread on the skin and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin , then the priest is to pronounce him clean . So he is to wash his clothes and be clean . 13:35 If , however , the scall spreads further on the skin after his purification , 13:36 then the priest is to examine it, and if the scall has spread on the skin the priest is not to search further for reddish yellow hair . The person is unclean . 13:37 If , as far as the priest can see , the scall has stayed the same and black hair has sprouted in it, the scall has been healed ; the person is clean . So the priest is to pronounce him clean .
Bright White Spots on the Skin
13:38 “When a man or a woman has bright spots – white bright spots – on the skin of their body , 13:39 the priest is to examine them, and if the bright spots on the skin of their body are faded white , it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin . The person is clean .
Baldness on the Head
13:40 “When a man’s head is bare so that he is balding in back, he is clean . 13:41 If his head is bare on the forehead so that he is balding in front , he is clean . 13:42 But if there is a reddish white infection in the back or front bald area, it is a disease breaking out in his back or front bald area. 13:43 The priest is to examine it, and if the swelling of the infection is reddish white in the back or front bald area like the appearance of a disease on the skin of the body , 13:44 he is a diseased man . He is unclean . The priest must surely pronounce him unclean because of his infection on his head .
The Life of the Person with Skin Disease
13:45 “As for the diseased person who has the infection , his clothes must be torn , the hair of his head must be unbound , he must cover his mustache , and he must call out ‘Unclean ! Unclean !’ 13:46 The whole time he has the infection he will be continually unclean . He must live in isolation , and his place of residence must be outside the camp .
Infections in Garments, Cloth, or Leather
13:47 “When a garment has a diseased infection in it, whether a wool or linen garment , 13:48 or in the warp or woof of the linen or the wool , or in leather or anything made of leather , 13:49 if the infection in the garment or leather or warp or woof or any article of leather is yellowish green or reddish , it is a diseased infection and it must be shown to the priest . 13:50 The priest is to examine and then quarantine the article with the infection for seven days . 13:51 He must then examine the infection on the seventh day . If the infection has spread in the garment , or in the warp , or in the woof , or in the leather – whatever the article into which the leather was made – the infection is a malignant disease . It is unclean . 13:52 He must burn the garment or the warp or the woof , whether wool or linen , or any article of leather which has the infection in it. Because it is a malignant disease it must be burned up in the fire . 13:53 But if the priest examines it and the infection has not spread in the garment or in the warp or in the woof or in any article of leather , 13:54 the priest is to command that they wash whatever has the infection and quarantine it for another seven days . 13:55 The priest must then examine it after the infection has been washed out , and if the infection has not changed its appearance even though the infection has not spread , it is unclean . You must burn it up in the fire . It is a fungus , whether on the back side or front side of the article. 13:56 But if the priest has examined it and the infection has faded after it has been washed , he is to tear it out of the garment or the leather or the warp or the woof . 13:57 Then if it still appears again in the garment or the warp or the woof , or in any article of leather , it is an outbreak . Whatever has the infection in it you must burn up in the fire . 13:58 But the garment or the warp or the woof or any article of leather which you wash and infection disappears from it is to be washed a second time and it will be clean .”
Summary of Infection Regulations
13:59 This is the law of the diseased infection in the garment of wool or linen , or the warp or woof , or any article of leather , for pronouncing it clean or unclean .

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • Leprosy

    [ebd] (Heb. tsara'ath, a "smiting," a "stroke," because the disease was regarded as a direct providential infliction). This name is from the Greek lepra, by which the Greek physicians designated the disease from its scaliness. We ...
    [nave] LEPROSY Law concerning, Lev. 13; 14; 22:4; Num. 5:1-3; 12:14; Deut. 24:8; Matt. 8:4; Luke 5:14; 17:14. Sent as a judgment: On Miriam, Num. 12:1-10; Gehazi, 2 Kin. 5:27; Uzziah, 2 Chr. 26:20, 21. Entailed, 2 Kin. 5:27. Iso...

  • PLAGUE

    [ebd] a "stroke" of affliction, or disease. Sent as a divine chastisement (Num. 11:33; 14:37; 16:46-49; 2 Sam. 24:21). Painful afflictions or diseases, (Lev. 13:3, 5, 30; 1 Kings 8:37), or severe calamity (Mark 5:29; Luke 7:21), o...
    [isbe] PLAGUE - plag (negha`, makkah, maggephah; mastix, plege): This word which occurs more than 120 times is applied, like pestilence, to such sudden outbursts of disease as are regarded in the light of divine visitations. It is ...

  • CLEAN

    [ebd] The various forms of uncleanness according to the Mosaic law are enumerated in Lev. 11-15; Num. 19. The division of animals into clean and unclean was probably founded on the practice of sacrifice. It existed before the Floo...
    [isbe] CLEAN - klen (Anglo-Saxon cloene, "clear," "pure"): Rendering four Hebrew roots: bar, etc., "purify," "select," "make shining"; zakh, etc., "bright," "clean" "pure"; naqi, "free from," "exempt"; Taher, "clean," "pure," "empt...

  • Ablution

    [ebd] or washing, was practised, (1.) When a person was initiated into a higher state: e.g., when Aaron and his sons were set apart to the priest's office, they were washed with water previous to their investiture with the priestl...

  • LEVITICUS, 2

    [isbe] LEVITICUS, 2 - III. Origin. 1. Against the Wellhausen Hypothesis: As in the article ATONEMENT, DAY OF, sec. I, 2, (2), we took a stand against the modern attempts at splitting up the text, and in III, 1 against theory of the...

  • LEVITICUS, 1

    [isbe] LEVITICUS, 1 - le-vit'-i-kus: I. GENERAL DATA 1. Name 2. Character of Book 3. Unity of Book: Law of Holiness Examination of Critical Theory II. STRUCTURE 1. Modern Analyses (1) Theories of Disintegration (2) Reasons for Dism...

  • LEPER; LEPROSY

    [isbe] LEPER; LEPROSY - lep'-er, lep'-ro-si (tsara`ath; lepra): A slowly progressing and intractable disease characterized by subcutaneous nodules (Hebrew se'eth; Septuagint oule; the King James Version "rising"), scabs or cuticula...

  • PRIESTS AND LEVITES

    [isbe] PRIESTS AND LEVITES - (kohen, "priest"; nothing is definitely known as to the origin of the word; Lewi, "Levite," on which see LEVI): I. DIFFERENT VIEWS OF THE HISTORY 1. The Old View 2. The Graf-Wellhausen View 3. Mediating...

  • COLOR; COLORS

    [isbe] COLOR; COLORS - kul'-er, kul'-erz: The word translated "color" in the King James Version is `ayin, which literally means "eye" or "appearance," and has been so translated in the Revised Version (British and American). In the...

  • UNCLEANNESS

    [isbe] UNCLEANNESS - un-klen'-nes: I. TERMS 1. In the Old Testament (Hebrew) 2. In the New Testament 3. In the Septuagint II. POSSIBLE RELATION OF ISRAEL'S LAWS ON UNCLEANNESS WITH THE LAWS OF TABOO AMONG THE NATIONS III. TEACHING ...

  • Israel

    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • TALMUD

    [isbe] TALMUD - tal'-mud (talmudh): I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS AND VERBAL EXPLANATIONS II. IMPORTANCE OF THE TALMUD III. THE TRADITIONAL LAW UNTIL THE COMPOSITION OF THE MISHNA IV. DIVISION AND CONTENTS OF THE MISHNA (AND THE TALMUD) 1...

  • SPOT; SPOTTED

    [isbe] SPOT; SPOTTED - spot, spot'-ed (mum; spilos): The Hebrew word is used to denote a blemish which mars the perfection of the face, as in Song 4:7; Job 11:15. It is translated "blemish" in Lev 24:19 f, where it means an injury ...

  • Sanitation

    [nave] SANITATION. Carcasses Lev. 5:2; Lev. 10:4, 5; Lev. 11:24-28, 31-40; Lev. 22:4, 6; Num. 9:6, 10; Num. 19:11-16; Num. 31:19; Deut. 21:22, 23 Childbirth Lev. 12:3; Ezek. 16:4 Circumcision See: Circumcision. Contagion Le...

  • RIGHTEOUSNESS

    [isbe] RIGHTEOUSNESS - ri'-chus-nes (tsaddiq, adjective, "righteous," or occasionally "just" tsedheq, noun, occasionally = "riahteousness," occasionally = "justice"; dikaios, adjective, dikaiosune, noun, from dike, whose first mean...

  • PRIEST, HIGH

    [isbe] PRIEST, HIGH - (ha-kohen, ho hiereus; ha-kohen ha-mashiach, ho hiereus ho christos; ha-kohen ha-gadhol, ho hiereus ho megas; kohen ha-ro'sh, ho hiereus hegoumenos; New Testament archiereus): I. INSTITUTION OF THE HIGH-PRIEST...

  • Purification

    [ebd] the process by which a person unclean, according to the Levitical law, and thereby cut off from the sanctuary and the festivals, was restored to the enjoyment of all these privileges. The great annual purification of the peo...

  • Dress

    [ebd] (1.) Materials used. The earliest and simplest an apron of fig-leaves sewed together (Gen. 3:7); then skins of animals (3:21). Elijah's dress was probably the skin of a sheep (2 Kings 1:8). The Hebrews were early acquainted ...
    [nave] DRESS Of fig leaves, Gen. 3:7. Of skins, Gen. 3:21. Of other materials, See: Hair; Goats' Hair; Leather; Linen; Sackcloth; Silk; Wool. Mixed materials in, forbidden, Deut. 22:11. Men forbidden to wear women's, and women ...

  • Wool

    [ebd] one of the first material used for making woven cloth (Lev. 13:47, 48, 52, 59; 19:19). The first-fruit of wool was to be offered to the priests (Deut. 18:4). The law prohibiting the wearing of a garment "of divers sorts, as ...
    [isbe] WOOL - wool (tsemer; erion): Wool and flax were the fibers most used by the ancient weavers. Wool was used principally for the outside garments (Lev 13:48 ff; Prov 31:13; Ezek 34:3; Hos 2:5,9). Syrian wool is found on the wo...
    [smith] was an article of the highest value among the Jews, as the staple material for the manufacture of clothing. (Leviticus 13:47; 22:11; Job 31:20; Proverbs 31:13; Ezekiel 34:3; Hosea 2:5) The importance of wool is incidentally s...
    [nave] WOOL Used for clothing, Lev. 13:47-52, 59; Prov. 31:13; Ezek. 34:3; 44:17. Prohibited in the priest's temple dress, Ezek. 44:17. Mixing of, with other fabrics forbidden, Lev. 19:19; Deut. 22:11. Fleece of, Judg. 6:37. Fi...

  • WARP

    [isbe] WARP - worp (shethi (Lev 13:48-59)): The long threads fixed into the loom to form the basis of the web, and into which the woof is wrought from the shuttle. The warp and the woof lying at right angles to one another have in ...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • "At first sight the book of Leviticus might appear to be a haphazard, even repetitious arrangement of enactments involving the future life in Canaan of the Israelite people. Closer examination will reveal, however, that quite...
  • Leviticus continues revelation concerning the second of three elements necessary for any nation to exist, namely, a people (Gen. 12:10--Exod. 19), their law (Exod. 20--Num. 10:10), and their land (Num. 10:11--Josh. 24).Leviti...
  • This section closes with a summary. This is a common feature of Leviticus (cf. 11:46-47; 13:59; 14:54-57; 15:32-33)."The sacrificial law, therefore, with the five species of sacrifices which it enjoins, embraces every aspect ...
  • A change of subject matter indicates another major division in Leviticus. We move now from narrative to more legislation. These five chapters pick up the idea introduced in 10:10: ". . . make a distinction between the holy an...
  • We have here the same threefold division of animals that inhabit the land, sea, and air as the one that appears in the story of creation (Gen. 1:20-23)."It has long been recognized . . . that the order of the purity laws in L...
  • The laws of purification begun in this chapter connect in principle with the preceding ones that deal with unclean food and animals. The defilement dealt with in this group (chs. 12-15) proceeded from the human body. Pollutio...
  • Many translations and commentaries have regarded the legislation in these chapters as dealing with leprosy, but this is misleading. The confusion has arisen because the term "leprosy"appears in most English texts in these cha...
  • We may further divide this chapter into two parts: the diagnosis and treatment of abnormalities in human skin, and the diagnosis and treatment of abnormalities in clothing and similar articles. A more detailed outline of the ...
  • God dealt with 21 different cases of skin diseases in this pericope. Some of these may have included measles, smallpox, scarlet fever, and other diseases characterized by skin rash.141Some authorities believe that exact ident...
  • The final four verses of this section draw the instructions concerning abnormalities in skin and other coverings (chs. 13-14) to a conclusion by summarizing them and explaining the purpose of the collection."As the Flood was ...
  • This chapter concludes the regulations on uncleanness (chs. 11-15)."The uncleanness laws start with uncleanness that is permanent: that associated with various animals and food (ch. 11). Then they deal with the uncleanness of...
  • The sacrifices and offerings that Moses described thus far in the law were not sufficient to cleanse all the defilement that the sins of the people created. Much sinfulness still needed covering. Therefore God appointed a yea...
  • We learn from verse 1 that Moses received instructions regarding the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, immediately after the judgment of Nadab and Abihu (ch. 10). Consequently he must have inserted chapters 11-15 in the chronolog...
  • The preceding two chapters specify correct behavior. This one sets forth the punishments for disobedience. Chapters 18-19 already discussed most of the subjects dealt with in this chapter."The difference between the laws in t...
  • Genesis reveals how people can have a relationship with God. This comes through trust in God and obedience to Him. Faith is the key word in Genesis. God proves Himself faithful in this book.Exodus reveals that God is also sov...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell, The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pelican Archaeology series. H...
  • Perhaps it was God's exaltation of Moses by bestowing the gift of prophecy on the elders that provoked the envy of Miriam and Aaron. God reminded the people of Moses' special endowment with the Spirit when He blessed the elde...
  • Naaman (Aram. gracious) was commander of the Aramean army under Ben-Hadad II (cf. 1 Kings 15:18, 20). Leprosy in the ancient world degenerated the bodies of its victims and eventually proved fatal. At this time no one could c...
  • This pericope contains two instances in which Jeremiah faced crushing discouragement in his ministry (vv. 10-14, 15-21). He confessed his frustration to the Lord, and the Lord responded with encouragement.15:10 Jeremiah addre...
  • 4:12 The overthrow of Jerusalem had surprised the leaders and people of other nations. Invaders had forced their way into it in the past (cf. 1 Kings 14:25-28; 2 Kings 14:13-14; 2 Chron. 21:16-17), but the citizens had rebuil...
  • 3:5 The Lord also had a message concerning the false prophets who were misleading His people. The false prophets gave benedictions to those who paid them, but people who did not give them anything received maledictions of doo...
  • 8:1 This verse is transitional (cf. 5:1). Great crowds continued to follow Jesus after He delivered the Sermon on the Mount, as they had before.8:2-3 Matthew typically used the phrase kai idou("and behold,"not translated in t...
  • This miracle was to be a "testimony"to others about Jesus' person (v. 14). It authenticated His person and His teaching. It also shows the blessings that Jesus brought to people, specifically the spiritual cleansing of those ...
  • Luke's narration of this miracle focuses on the response of the Samaritan whom Jesus healed. It is not so much a story that he intended to show Jesus' divine identity, though it does that. It is rather another lesson for the ...
  • The first four trumpet judgments fall on man's environment rather than on man himself, but the first bowl judgment falls directly on man himself. This plague resulted in some loathsome (bad) and malignant (evil) sores breakin...
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