Leviticus 13:30

13:30 the priest is to examine the infection, ¹  and if ²  it appears to be deeper than the skin ³  and the hair in it is reddish yellow and thin, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. ⁴  It is scall, ⁵  a disease of the head or the beard. ⁶ 

[13:30]  ¹ tn Heb “and the priest shall see the infection.”

[13:30]  ² tn Heb “and behold.”

[13:30]  ³ tn Heb “its appearance is deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “deeper than”) the skin.”

[13:30]  ⁴ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).

[13:30]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “It is scall. It is the disease of the head or the beard.”