Leviticus 13:45

The Life of the Person with Skin Disease

13:45 “As for the diseased person who has the infection, ¹  his clothes must be torn, the hair of his head must be unbound, he must cover his mustache, ²  and he must call out ‘Unclean! Unclean!’

Leviticus 10:6

10:6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his other two sons, “Do not ³  dishevel the hair of your heads ⁴  and do not tear your garments, so that you do not die and so that wrath does not come on the whole congregation. Your brothers, all the house of Israel, are to mourn the burning which the Lord has caused, ⁵ 

Leviticus 21:10

Rules for the High Priest

21:10 “‘The high ⁶  priest – who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained ⁷  to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. ⁸ 

[13:45]  ¹ tn Heb “And the diseased one who in him is the infection.”

[13:45]  ² tn Heb “and his head shall be unbound, and he shall cover on [his] mustache.” Tearing one’s clothing, allowing the hair to hang loose rather than bound up in a turban, and covering the mustache on the upper lip are all ways of expressing shame, grief, or distress (cf., e.g., Lev 10:6 and Micah 3:7).

[10:6]  ³ tc Smr has “you must not” (לֹא, lo’) rather than the MT’s “do not” (אַל, ’al; cf. the following negative לֹא, lo’, in the MT).

[10:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “do not let free your heads.” Some have taken this to mean, “do not take off your headgear” (cf. NAB, NASB), but it probably also involves leaving one’s hair unkempt as a sign of mourning (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:608-9; cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[10:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “shall weep [for] the burning which the Lord has burned”; NIV “may mourn for those the Lord has destroyed by fire.”

[21:10]  ⁵ tn The adjective “high” has been supplied in the translation for clarity, as in many English versions.

[21:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he has filled his hand.” For this expression see the note on Lev 8:33.

[21:10]  ⁷ tn Regarding these signs of mourning see the note on Lev 10:6. His head had been anointed (v. 10a) so it must not be unkempt (v. 10b), and his garments were special priestly garments (v. 10a) so he must not tear them (v. 10b). In the translation “garments” has been employed rather than “clothes” to suggest that the special priestly garments are referred to here; cf. NRSV “nor tear his vestments.”