Leviticus 13:18-19

A Boil on the Skin

13:18 “When someone’s body has a boil on its skin ¹  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. ² 

Leviticus 13:23

13:23 But if the bright spot stays in its place and has not spread, ³  it is the scar of the boil, so the priest is to pronounce him clean. ⁴ 

[13:18]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[13:23]  ³ tn Heb “and if under it the bright spot stands, it has not spread.”

[13:23]  ⁴ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָהֵר (taher, cf. the note on v. 6 above).