Leviticus 13:3-4

13:3 The priest must then examine the infection ¹  on the skin of the body, and if the hair ²  in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of the body, ³  then it is a diseased infection, ⁴  so when the priest examines it ⁵  he must pronounce the person unclean. ⁶ 

A Bright Spot on the Skin

13:4 “If ⁷  it is a white bright spot on the skin of his body, but it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, ⁸  and the hair has not turned white, then the priest is to quarantine the person with the infection for seven days. ⁹ 

Leviticus 13:25

13:25 the priest must examine it, ¹⁰  and if ¹¹  the hair has turned white in the bright spot and it appears to be deeper than the skin, ¹²  it is a disease that has broken out in the burn. ¹³  The priest is to pronounce the person unclean. ¹⁴  It is a diseased infection. ¹⁵ 

Leviticus 13:30-32

13:30 the priest is to examine the infection, ¹⁶  and if ¹⁷  it appears to be deeper than the skin ¹⁸  and the hair in it is reddish yellow and thin, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. ¹⁹  It is scall, ²⁰  a disease of the head or the beard. ²¹  13:31 But if the priest examines the scall infection and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, ²²  and there is no black hair in it, then the priest is to quarantine the person with the scall infection for seven days. ²³  13:32 The priest must then examine the infection on the seventh day, and if ²⁴  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, ²⁵ 

Leviticus 13:34

13:34 The priest must then examine the scall on the seventh day, and if ²⁶  the scall has not spread on the skin and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, ²⁷  then the priest is to pronounce him clean. ²⁸  So he is to wash his clothes and be clean.

[13:3]  ¹ tn Heb “and the priest shall see the infection.”

[13:3]  ² tn There is no “if” expressed, but the contrast between the priestly finding in this verse and the next verse clearly implies it.

[13:3]  ³ tn Heb “and the appearance of the infection is deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “deeper than”) the skin of the his flesh.” See the note on v. 20 below.

[13:3]  ⁴ tn For the translation “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above. Cf. TEV “a dreaded skin disease”; NIV “an infectious skin disease”; NLT “a contagious skin disease.”

[13:3]  ⁵ tn The pronoun “it” here refers to the “infection,” not the person who has the infection (cf. the object of “examine” at the beginning of the verse).

[13:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “he shall make him unclean.” The verb is the Piel of טָמֵא (tame’) “to be unclean.” Here it is a so-called “declarative” Piel (i.e., “to declare unclean”), but it also implies that the person is put into the category of actually being “unclean” by the pronouncement itself (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 175; cf. the corresponding opposite in v. 6 below).

[13:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and if.”

[13:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and deep is not its appearance from the skin”; cf. NAB “does not seem to have penetrated below the skin.”

[13:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the priest will shut up the infection seven days.”

[13:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the priest shall see it.”

[13:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).

[13:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and its appearance is deep ‘from’ [comparative מִן (min) meaning ‘deeper than’] the skin.”

[13:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “it is a disease. In the burn it has broken out.”

[13:25]  ¹⁷ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).

[13:25]  ¹⁸ tn For the rendering “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above.

[13:30]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and the priest shall see the infection.”

[13:30]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and behold.”

[13:30]  ²¹ tn Heb “its appearance is deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “deeper than”) the skin.”

[13:30]  ²² tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).

[13:30]  ²³ tn The exact identification of this disease is unknown. Cf. KJV “dry scall”; NASB “a scale”; NIV, NCV, NRSV “an itch”; NLT “a contagious skin disease.” For a discussion of “scall” disease in the hair, which is a crusty scabby disease of the skin under the hair that also affects the hair itself, see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 192-93, and J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:793-94. The Hebrew word rendered “scall” (נֶתֶק, neteq) is related to a verb meaning “to tear; to tear out; to tear apart.” It may derive from the scratching and/or the tearing out of the hair or the scales of the skin in response to the itching sensation caused by the disease.

[13:30]  ²⁴ tn Heb “It is scall. It is the disease of the head or the beard.”

[13:31]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and behold there is not its appearance deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, meaning “deeper than”) the skin.”

[13:31]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and the priest will shut up the infection of the scall seven days.”

[13:32]  ³¹ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).

[13:32]  ³² tn Heb “and the appearance of the scall is not deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, meaning “deeper than”) the skin.”

[13:34]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).

[13:34]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and its appearance is not deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, meaning “deeper than”) the skin.”

[13:34]  ³⁹ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָהֵר (taher, cf. the note on v. 6 above).