Leviticus 13:14-19

13:14 But whenever raw flesh appears in it ¹  he will be unclean, 13:15 so the priest is to examine the raw flesh ²  and pronounce him unclean ³  – it is diseased. 13:16 If, however, ⁴  the raw flesh once again turns white, ⁵  then he must come to the priest. 13:17 The priest will then examine it, ⁶  and if ⁷  the infection has turned white, the priest is to pronounce the person with the infection clean ⁸  – he is clean.

A Boil on the Skin

13:18 “When someone’s body has a boil on its skin ⁹  and it heals, 13:19 and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling or a reddish white bright spot, he must show himself to the priest. ¹⁰ 

[13:14]  ¹ tn Heb “and in the day of there appears in it living flesh.” Some English versions render this as “open sores” (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).

[13:15]  ² tn Heb “and the priest shall see the living flesh.”

[13:15]  ³ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).

[13:16]  ³ tn Heb “Or if/when.”

[13:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “the living flesh returns and is turned/changed to white.” The Hebrew verb “returns” is שׁוּב (shuv), which often functions adverbially when combined with a second verb as it is here (cf. “and is turned”) and, in such cases, is usually rendered “again” (see, e.g., GKC 386-87 §120.g). Another suggestion is that here שׁוּב means “to recede” (cf., e.g., 2 Kgs 20:9), so one could translate “the raw flesh recedes and turns white.” This would mean that the new “white” skin “has grown over” the raw flesh (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 79).

[13:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the priest shall see it.”

[13:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).

[13:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “the priest shall pronounce the infection clean,” but see v. 4 above. Also, this is another use of the declarative Piel of the verb טָהֵר (taher, cf. the note on v. 6 above).

[13:18]  ⁵ tc Heb (MT) reads, “And flesh if/when there is in it, in its skin, a boil.” Smr has only “in it,” not “in its skin,” and a few medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate have only “in its skin” (cf. v. 24 below), not “in it.” It does not effect the meaning of the verse, but one is tempted to suggest that “in it” (בוֹ, vo) was added in error as a partial dittography from the beginning of “in its skin” (בְעֹרוֹ, vÿ’oro).

[13:19]  ⁶ tn Some English versions translate “it shall be shown to [or “be seen by”] the priest,” taking the infection to be the subject of the verb (e.g., KJV, NASB, RSV, NRSV). Based on the Hebrew grammar there is no way to be sure which is intended.