In our study of Leviticus chapter thirteen, we look at leprosy and the fact that it was used by God as a divine punishment for pride and a tool to humble the proud.
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ADONAI said to Moshe and Aharon, "If someone develops on his skin a swelling, scab or bright spot which could develop into the disease tzara'at, he is to be brought to Aharon the cohen or to one of his sons who are cohanim. The cohen is to examine the sore on his skin; if the hair in the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to go deep into the skin, it is tzara'at, and after examining him the cohen is to declare him unclean.
God begins to give instructions about a skin disease that we call leprosy but it is not what we see as leprosy today. The three words that are translated here to describe the areas on the skin are guesses as to what the Hebrew text says as we do not know what the words actually meant in ancient Hebrew. If anyone had these symptoms on their skin, they were to be brought to the priests so that they could be examined and we see that a combination of three things would lead the priests to declare the person unclean. If a person was declared unclean, then, they were banished from the community of witnesses.
If the bright spot on his skin is white, but it does not appear to go deep into the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the cohen is to isolate him for seven days. On the seventh day the cohen is to examine him again, and if the sore appears the same as before and has not spread on the skin, then the cohen is to isolate him for seven more days. On the seventh day the cohen is to examine him again, and if the sore has faded and hasn't spread on the skin, then the cohen is to declare him clean - it is only a scab, so he is to wash his clothes and be clean. But if the scab spreads further on the skin after he has been examined by the cohen and declared clean, he is to let himself be examined yet again by the cohen. The cohen will examine him, and if he sees that the scab has spread on his skin, then the cohen will declare him unclean; it is tzara'at.
Here, we see the instructions for a case of skin disease where the priest cannot clearly see that it is leprosy and, in this case, the person with the condition is put in quarantine for seven days. After the seven days, the priest is to examine it again and, if it has not changed, the person remains in quarantine for another seven days. After this additional seven days, the person is examined again and, if it has faded and not spread, the person is declared clean and told to wash their clothes. If after the person is declared clean, the condition has spread the person is examined again by the priest and, if the priest sees that it has spread, the person is declared leprous and unclean.
"If a person has tzara'at, he is to be brought to the cohen. The cohen is to examine him, and if he sees that there is a white swelling in the skin which has turned the hair white and inflamed flesh in the swelling, then it is chronic tzara'at on his skin, and the cohen is to declare him unclean; he is not to isolate him, because it is already clear that he is unclean.
Now, we see a case where someone has been declared unclean but it appears that the area is healing. In this case, the priest examines the area and, if there appears to be healing in the area, the person is declared unclean again.
If the tzara'at breaks out all over the skin, so that, as far as the cohen can see, the person with tzara'at has sores everywhere on his body, from his head to his feet; then the cohen is to examine him, and if he sees that the tzara'at has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the person with the sores clean - it has all turned white, and he is clean. But if one day inflamed flesh appears on him, he will be unclean. The cohen will examine the inflamed flesh and declare him unclean; the inflamed flesh is unclean; it is tzara'at. However, if the inflamed flesh again turns white, he is to come to the cohen. The cohen will examine him, and if he sees that the sores have turned white, then the cohen is to declare clean the person with the sores; he is clean.
If the leprosy has covered the entire body and it has turned white, the priest would declare the person clean but if at anytime it appeared that there was healing mixed with the leprosy the person would be declared unclean. If the sores then turned white, the person was once again pronounced clean. All of this speaks of being contagious and it appears that when healing appeared in the midst of the leprosy then the disease became contagious.
"If a person has on his skin a boil that heals in such a way that in place of the boil there is a white swelling or a reddish-white bright spot, it is to be shown to the cohen. The cohen is to examine it; if he sees that it appears to be more than skin-deep, and its hair has turned white, then the cohen is to pronounce him unclean - the disease of tzara'at has broken out in the boil. But if the cohen looks at it and doesn't see any white hairs in it, and it isn't more than skin-deep but appears faded, the cohen is to isolate him for seven days. If it spreads on the skin, the cohen is to declare him unclean; it is the disease. But if the bright spot stays where it was and has not spread, it is the scar of the boil; and the cohen is to declare him clean.
Here, we see another skin condition known as boils and the method to ensure that it is not leprosy. Once again, we see that it is the priest who has been given discernment by God to make the decision between what is clean and unclean.
"Or if someone has on his skin a burn caused by fire; and the inflamed flesh where it was burned has become a bright spot, reddish-white or white, then the cohen is to examine it; and if he sees that the hair in the bright spot has turned white and that it appears to be deeper than the skin around it, it is tzara'at; it has broken out in the burn, and the cohen is to declare him unclean; it is a sore from tzara'at. But if the cohen examines it and sees no white hair in the bright spot, and it is no lower than the skin around it but looks faded, then the cohen is to isolate him for seven days. On the seventh day the cohen is to examine him; if it has spread on the skin, then the cohen is to declare him unclean; it is a sore from tzara'at. But if the bright spot stays where it was and has not spread on the skin but appears faded, it is a swelling due to the burn; and the cohen is to declare him clean; because it is only a scar from the burn.
Now, we see the method for distinguishing the effects from burning the skin from leprosy.
"If a man or woman has a sore on the head or a man in his beard, then the cohen is to examine the sore; if he sees that it appears to be deeper than the skin around it, with yellow, thin hair in it, then the cohen is to declare him unclean; it is a crusted area, a tzara'at of the head or beard. If the cohen examines the diseased crusted area and sees that it appears not to be deeper than the skin around it, and without any black hair in it, then the cohen is to isolate for seven days the person with the diseased crusted area.
We see that leprosy affected the head and face differently and so the rules for determining whether it is leprosy or not is based on the color of the hair. In this case, the hair does not turn white but it is a light yellow.
On the seventh day the cohen is to examine the sore, and if he sees that the crusted area hasn't spread, that it has no yellow hair in it, and that the crusted area is not deeper than the skin around it; then the person is to be shaved, except for the crusted area itself, and the cohen is to isolate him for seven more days. On the seventh day the cohen is to examine the crusted area; and if he sees that the crusted area has not spread on the skin and does not appear to be deeper than the skin around it, then the cohen is to declare him clean; he is to wash his clothes and be clean.
In the case of suspected leprosy of the head, if after seven days of quarantine the condition has not changed, then, the person is shaved except for the affected area and quarantined again for seven days, At the end of those seven days if it has not changed, the person is declared clean.
But if the crusted area spreads after his purification, then the cohen is to examine him; and if he sees that the crusted area has spread on the skin, the cohen is not to look for yellow hair; he is unclean. But if the crusted area's appearance doesn't change, and black hair grows up in it, then the crusted area is healed; he is clean; and the cohen is to declare him clean.
If the area spreads after the person has been declared clean, the person was declared unclean but, if it appears to be healed and black hair grows, then the person is clean.
"If a man or woman has bright spots on his skin, bright white spots; then the cohen is to examine them. If he sees that the bright spots on the skin are dull white, it is only a rash that has broken out on the skin; he is clean.
Here, we see more than one area affected and, if the areas are a dull white in color, it is not leprosy but we do not know what the Hebrew word that is translated here as rash actually means. In this case, it is not leprosy and the person is declared clean.
"If a man's hair has fallen from his scalp, he is bald; but he is clean. If his hair has fallen off the front part of his head, he is forehead-bald; but he is clean. But if on the bald scalp or forehead there is a reddish-white sore, it is tzara'at breaking out on his bald scalp or forehead. Then the cohen is to examine him; if he sees that there is a reddish-white swelling on his bald scalp or forehead, appearing like tzara'at on the rest of the body, he is a person with tzara'at; he is unclean; the cohen must declare him unclean; the sore is on his head.
Now, we see how the priests determined whether baldness was natural or caused by leprosy and it is based on the presence of the leprosy sores where the hair fell out.
"Everyone who has tzara'at sores is to wear torn clothes and unbound hair, cover his upper lip and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!' As long as he has sores, he will be unclean; since he is unclean, he must live in isolation; he must live outside the camp.
Now, we see that one who had leprosy was to remove the clothing from the affected area, uncover their head, cover their moustache, and tell everyone that they met that they were unclean. To us this may seem harsh but we must understand that this leprosy was a punishment from God on those that were filled with pride and did not humbly accept the purposes of God. We see this in the affliction of Moshe in Exodus 4 and Miriam in Numbers chapter twelve. In that light, this disease would have been a humbling experience for the person and God was the only one that could heal this disease.
"When tzara'at infects an article of clothing, whether it be a woolen or a linen garment, on the threads or the woven-in parts of either linen or wool, or on a hide or item made of leather; then if the stain on the garment, hide, threads, woven-in parts or leather item is greenish or reddish, it is an infection of tzara'at and is to be shown to the cohen. The cohen is to examine the stain and isolate the article that has the infection for seven days. On the seventh day he is to examine the stain; if the stain has spread on the garment, threads, woven-in parts or leather, whatever its use, the infection is a contagious tzara'at; the garment is unclean. He is to burn the garment, threads, woven-in parts of either wool or linen, or item of leather having the infection; for it is a contagious tzara'at; it must be burned up completely.
We see that leprosy could infect clothing and it caused stains which the priest would inspect to see if it was in fact leprosy. If it was leprosy, then the garment was to be totally burnt up.
But if, when the cohen examines it, he sees that the infection has not spread on the garment or in the threads, woven-in parts or leather item, then the cohen is to order that the article having the infection be washed and isolated for seven more days. The cohen is to examine it after the stain has been washed, and if he sees that the stain has not changed color, then, even though the stain has not spread, it is unclean; you are to burn it up completely - it is rotten, no matter whether the spot is on the outside or on the inside. If the cohen examines it and sees that the stain has faded after being washed, then he is to tear the stain out of the garment, leather, threads or woven-in parts. If it appears again in the garment, threads, woven-in parts or leather item, it is contagious, and you are to burn up completely the article that had the stain. But if the infection is gone from the garment, threads, woven-in parts or leather item that you washed, then it is to be washed a second time, and it will be clean. This is the law concerning infections of tzara'at in a garment of wool or linen, or in the threads or the woven-in parts, or in any leather item - when to declare it clean and when to declare it unclean.
This passage speaks of quarantine for cases where it is not clearly leprosy and, in these cases, the clothing was quarantined, examined, washed, and checked again.
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