God dealt with 21 different cases of skin diseases in this pericope. Some of these may have included measles, smallpox, scarlet fever, and other diseases characterized by skin rash.141Some authorities believe that exact identification of the various forms of scaly skin disorders discribed in this chapter is impossible today.142Others feel more confident. One authority suggested the following identifications.143
The swelling, scab, or bright spot (vv. 2-28) | Psoriasis: a chronic, non-infectious skin disease characterized by the presence of well-demarcated, slightly raised reddish patches of various sizes covered by dry grayish-white or silvery scales. |
An infection on the head or beard (vv. 29-37) | Favus: a much more severe and damaging infection in which the fungus invades both the hair and the full thickness of the skin. |
Bright spots on the skin (vv. 38-39) | Leucoderma: a slightly disfiguring condition in which patches of otherwise normal skin lose their natural coloring and become completely white. |
13:1 The priests had the responsibility of distinguishing between the clean and the unclean, and they had to teach the people the difference (10:10-11).
13:2-8 Serious skin disease apparently began with some sort of swelling or a shiny patch on the skin (v. 2). Serious skin disease resulted in uncleanness, but less important complaints might not.
13:9-17 These tests were appropriate when raw flesh appeared in an infected area of the skin. White hair in the raw flesh area was a sure sign of serious skin disease.
If the afflicted person became completely white rather than blotchy, the priest was to consider him or her clean. Evidently it was the patchy condition of the skin that made the person unclean. Another explanation is that a totally white condition indicated that the disease was over.144
13:18-28 Similarly white hair in a deep infection or scar indicated serious skin disease. Psoriasis can occur on scars and at sites of burns and other previous injuries.145
13:29-37 Yellowing hair indicated another skin abnormality. Black hair in the suspected area indicated that there was no serious skin disease there, and so the person was clean.
13:38-39 Patches of skin go completely white when a person contracts leucoderma (eczema). The law did not regard this type of skin disorder serious enough to render the afflicted person unclean.
13:40-44 Baldness did not result in uncleanness, but serious skin disease on the head did. Psoriasis may be in view here.146
13:45-46 Tearing the clothes, messing the hair, and covering the upper lip were all signs of mourning (cf. 10:6; 21:10; Gen. 37:34; Num. 14:6; 2 Sam. 1:11; 2 Kings 11:14; 19:1; 22:11, 19; Ezra 9:5; Ezek. 24:17, 22; Mic. 3:7). Not everywhere outside the camp was unclean; there were clean places outside the camp (e.g., 4:12). However the unclean person was to live in an unclean area outside the camp. The idea was that he or she could not come close to God who resided in the tabernacle at the center of the camp.
"The holiest area, where one was closest to God, was the tabernacle. It was here that the holy men, the priests, worked. The tabernacle was surrounded by the camp where Israel the holy people of God lived. This in turn was encircled by the area outside the camp. which was populated by non-Jews, sinners, and the unclean. To live outside the camp was to be cut off from the blessings of the covenant. It is little wonder that when a man was diagnosed as unclean he had to go into mourning. He experienced a living death; his life as a member of God's people experiencing God's blessing came to an end. Gen. 3 presents a similar picture. . . . As Adam and Eve experienced a living death when they were expelled from Eden, so every man who was diagnosed as unclean suffered a similar fate."147
". . . as human skin was the focus of guilt and shame in the beginning, so now diseases of the skin provide an occasion to demonstrate the need for human cleansing. In other words, just as the effects of the first sin were immediately displayed in human skin (And their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked,' Ge 3:7), so the writer uses the graphic horror of skin diseases found in these texts to depict the human state of uncleanness before a holy God.
"According to the regulations in Leviticus, if one were found to be unclean, As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp' (13:46). In the same way, the Genesis narratives show that when Adam (and Eve) sinned, the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. And he drove Adam out' (Ge 3:23-24). Like the unclean person in Leviticus, they had to live outside the camp.'"148
"Holiness in Leviticus is symbolized by wholeness. Animals must be perfect to be used in sacrifice. Priests must be without physical deformity. Mixtures are an abomination. Men must behave in a way that expresses wholeness and integrity in their actions. When a man shows visible signs of lack of wholeness in a persistent patchy skin condition, he has to be excluded from the covenant community. Temporary deviations from the norm do not attract such treatment, but if the symptoms last for more than two weeks, he must go to live outside the true Israel. . . . Anyone might fall victim to these complaints and face the prospect of being cut off from his family and friends for the rest of his days. Yet it was considered so important to preserve the purity of the tabernacle and the holiness of the nation that individuals and families might be forced to suffer a good deal. Individual discomfort was not allowed to jeopardize the spiritual welfare of the nation, for God's abiding presence with his people depended on uncleanness being excluded from their midst (cf. Isa. 6:3-5)."149
The Israelites evidently regarded "leprosy"as representing sin. It resulted in the leper's separation from God and from other people. In many respects leprosy and sin were similar in both their character and consequences.
