Leviticus 13:9-17

A Swelling on the Skin

13:9 “When someone has a diseased infection, ¹  he must be brought to the priest. 13:10 The priest will then examine it, ²  and if ³  a white swelling is on the skin, it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, ⁴  13:11 it is a chronic ⁵  disease on the skin of his body, ⁶  so the priest is to pronounce him unclean. ⁷  The priest ⁸  must not merely quarantine him, for he is unclean. ⁹  13:12 If, however, the disease breaks out ¹⁰  on the skin so that the disease covers all the skin of the person with the infection ¹¹  from his head to his feet, as far as the priest can see, ¹²  13:13 the priest must then examine it, ¹³  and if ¹⁴  the disease covers his whole body, he is to pronounce the person with the infection clean. ¹⁵  He has turned all white, so he is clean. ¹⁶  13:14 But whenever raw flesh appears in it ¹⁷  he will be unclean, 13:15 so the priest is to examine the raw flesh ¹⁸  and pronounce him unclean ¹⁹  – it is diseased. 13:16 If, however, ²⁰  the raw flesh once again turns white, ²¹  then he must come to the priest. 13:17 The priest will then examine it, ²²  and if ²³  the infection has turned white, the priest is to pronounce the person with the infection clean ²⁴  – he is clean.

[13:9]  ¹ tn Heb “When there is an infection of disease in a man.” The term for “a man; a human being” (אָדָם, ’adam; see the note on Lev 1:2 and cf. v. 2 above) refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female. For the rendering “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above.

[13:10]  ² tn Heb “and the priest shall see.” The pronoun “it” is unexpressed, but it should be assumed and it refers to the infection (cf. the note on v. 8 above).

[13:10]  ³ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).

[13:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “and rawness [i.e., something living] of living flesh is in the swelling”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “quick raw flesh.”

[13:11]  ⁵ tn The term rendered here “chronic” is a Niphal participle meaning “grown old” (HALOT 448 s.v. II ישׁן nif.2). The idea is that this is an old enduring skin disease that keeps on developing or recurring.

[13:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the skin of his flesh” as opposed to the head or the beard (v. 29; cf. v. 2 above).

[13:11]  ⁷ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’, cf. the note on v. 3 above).

[13:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:11]  ⁹ sn Instead of just the normal quarantine isolation, this condition calls for the more drastic and enduring response stated in Lev 13:45-46. Raw flesh, of course, sometimes oozes blood to one degree or another, and blood flows are by nature impure (see, e.g., Lev 12 and 15; cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 191).

[13:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And if spreading [infinitive absolute] it spreads out [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.

[13:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all the skin of the infection,” but see v. 4 above.

[13:12]  ¹² tn Heb “to all the appearance of the eyes of the priest.”

[13:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the priest shall see.” The pronoun “it” is unexpressed, but it should be assumed and it refers to the infection (cf. the note on v. 8 above).

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

[13:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he 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).

[13:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “all of him has turned white, and he is clean.”

[13:14]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the priest shall see the living flesh.”

[13:15]  ¹⁹ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).

[13:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Or if/when.”

[13:16]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Heb “and the priest shall see it.”

[13:17]  ²³ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).

[13:17]  ²⁴ 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).