Preface: Leviticus 13 is all about the identification and treatment (by the priests) of serious skin disorders, called leprosy in most Bibles. This is one of the places in the Torah where quarantine is used.

The Bible Summary of Leviticus 13 (in 140 characters or less): If anyone has leprosy the priest shall declare them unclean and they shall live outside the camp. A leprous garment shall be burned.

There are many chapter commentaries on the book of Leviticus. This will be the most extensive examination of Leviticus 13, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text. Every attempt has been made to make this both a complete and self-contained study. Therefore, all references, vocabulary, and related concepts should be found within this extensive study. Easy access links to more in-depth studies of some vocabulary words, concepts and doctrines are also provided.

Outline of Chapter 13:

Introduction

         vv.     1–8           General Skin Disorders and Their Symptoms

         vv.     9–17         Skin Diseases which Involve Swelling

         vv.    18–23         Boils as a Skin Disorder

         vv.    24–28         Skin Diseases Involving Burned Tissue

         vv.    29–39         Skin Rashes and Surface Disorders Occurring on the Head

         vv.    40–44         Baldness and Skin Diseases

         vv.    45–46         What the Unclean Person Must Do

         vv.    47–58         Infectious Clothing

          v.       59           Clothing Section Summation

Chapter Summary

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction 

         Introduction         Three Definitions of Leposy (DuckGoDuck)

         Introduction         Laws of Quarantine (Bible Evidences)

         Introduction         Titles and/or Brief Descriptions of Leviticus 13 (by various commentators)

         Introduction         Brief, but insightful observations of Leviticus 13 (various commentators)

         Introduction         Fundamental Questions About Leviticus 13

         Introduction         The Prequel of Leviticus 13

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Principals of Leviticus 13

         Introduction         The Places of Leviticus 13

         Introduction         By the Numbers

         Introduction         Timeline for Leviticus 13

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Leviticus 13

         Introduction         Outlines of Leviticus 13 (Various Commentators)

         Introduction         Leviticus 13 Organized (by Dr. Thomas Constable)

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Leviticus 13 from the Summarized Bible

         Introduction         The Big Picture (Leviticus 1–15)

         Introduction         Paragraph Divisions of Modern Translation for Leviticus 13

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         Changes—additions and subtractions (for Leviticus 13)

         Introduction 

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         v.       2              Skin Disorders and Indwelling Sin

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         v.      46              Quarantine (by Karl Butt)

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         Summary            A Set of Summary Doctrines and Commentary

         Summary            Why Leviticus 13 is in the Word of God

         Summary            What We Learn from Leviticus 13

         Summary            Jesus Christ in Leviticus 13

         Summary            Shmoop Summary of Leviticus 13

         Summary            Edersheim Summarizes Leviticus 13

         Summary 

         Addendum 

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time Period

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Leviticus 13

         Addendum          Doctrinal Teachers Who Have Taught Leviticus 13

         Addendum          Various Medical Approaches to Leviticus 13 (various authors, web pages)

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Leviticus 13

         Addendum          Word Cloud from Exegesis of Leviticus 13

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An Introduction to Leviticus 13

I ntroduction: Leviticus 13 is about leprosy, which is an overarching term which takes in a great many skin diseases suffered by the Hebrew people during this era. Furthermore, the two most important considerations appear to be are, is the disease spreading (and, if so, how rapidly); and is the disease contagious? In an age when medical treatments were in their infancy, this responsibility to deal with this disease was placed upon the priests.

Several questions always emerge when examining some of the ceremonial, dietary and medical information found in Scripture (primarily in the Torah): (1) How much of it is just what it says it is? Do we simply take what we read at face value and go no further with its meaning? (2) How much of what we are studying has a hidden meaning (or is a type)? I am not suggesting a meaning which has been hidden for many, many centuries and will be magically unearthed by my study; but is there anything which has a second or symbolic meaning? There are a number of passages lifted out of the Old Testament into the New, where a unusual application is made to that passage. (3) Finally, how much is specifically beneficial to the Hebrew people in that day and time?

A simple illustration of this is the clean and unclean foods. I don’t know that there is any morality which is necessarily associated with foods so designated as clean or unclean. That is, is pork or shrimp inherently bad for some hidden or symbolic moral reason? I do not find any evidence for this point of view. However, it appears that there were health benefits associated with the eating or not eating of certain foods during a time when there was no refrigeration and not much by way of advanced preservation methods.

Various kinds of skin diseases, all under the banner of the term leprosy, seem to be real afflictions which might be seen as having moral parallels. That is, the skin diseases themselves speak of the corruption of man and the general uncleanness of mankind. It does not mean that those so afflicted were particularly at fault for having these afflictions (although that may be the case for some individuals).

What appears to be the case is, some epidermal problems from that era became infected and began to spread out and to affect subdural tissue. The priest was to identify what was going on—sometimes put the person into isolation for a week or two in order to see what changes are occurring, and then to pronounce the man clean or unclean. Clean meant that the person could return to his life, work, family and friends; and unclean appears to mean that the person was destined for a life of isolation. Exactly what was occurring at skin level, we don’t know from a modern perspective—bacterial infection, virus infection, etc. The priest was required to determine the progression of the skin disease and then to determine the future of the man. If this skin disease appeared to be something that might spread to others, then the man would be classified as unclean.

In this era, it is clear that the priests would have to know and review this chapter. This was a part of their duties. When someone had a skin disease, the priest had to determine the origins of that disease and then determine, based upon the Scriptures, whether the skin issues of one person were a danger to others as well.

It is more difficult to determine why someone would study this chapter today. I do, simply because this is the next chapter in Leviticus. I am curious, however, as to whether modern physicians have read this chapter, and what do they make of it. Again, there is no treatment prescribed in this chapter apart from quarantine and permanent isolation. Are these the right calls being made?

The intent of some portions of the Law were to maintain and protect the people of Israel (and any nation or group of people who admired the sons of Israel could certainly take up the laws and guidance found in the Torah and apply it to themselves as well). We know that the sons of Jacob were both protected and perpetuated by the Law, because we all know Jews today. You may or may not realize that you know someone who is racially Jewish; but many entertainers and actors of the years have been Jewish or part Jewish. How many Hittites do you know? Or Assyrians, or Medes? These represent massive populations which did not survive in a recognizable racial state. Now, you may say, “Well, I know Egyptians and Syrians; and those people go way back as well.” You know people who have become identified with specific geographical areas. Are they actually related to ancient Egyptians or ancient Syrians? These areas have not been known for their peace and prosperity. But if you know a Jew, they are racially related to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What we find in the Torah speaks to the things which protected the Hebrew people for millennia.

There is one more consideration which is quite important and that is, what level of detail is good for this chapter? As is true throughout Scripture, there is a level of depth and detail which may be explored for any chapter or Biblical topic which, quite frankly, goes too far and bores the pants off everyone.

Some chapters in the Bible interest me greatly; and others leave me cold. This one, when I began it, it was all perfunctory. It was the next chapter, it was God’s Word; but spending weeks of study on skin disorders? Quite frankly, I was not very interested. When I got about three-quarters of the way through this chapter, I began to think, is there any important medical information to be found here in this (and the next) chapter? Well, I ducked medical perspective of Leviticus 13 and I was pleasantly surprised. On the one hand, various skin ailments do not interest me, but Bible apologetics does. It became clear that there was a plethora of evidence that this chapter was way ahead of its time.

One of the interesting things about this chapter, in the realm of the Hebrew language, is, we have many wâw conjunctions, but sometimes with imperfect verbs (generally wâw consecutives and imperfect verbs go together). What is different here is, this is not narrative. In a narrative, the action is moved along using wâw consecutives and imperfect verbs.

Regarding the translation of this chapter—I have made a serious attempt to both standardize and update the vocabulary of this chapter, using words like epidermis and serious skin disorder. For some of the definition lists, I reordered them or changed them slightly, so that I would be able to typically choose the first word on the list, in order to maintain some consistency throughout this chapter. On occasion, I used some words or phrases from other translations. For instance, I liked the ESV’s diseased area in its translation, so I use that throughout.

I have also noticed that part of the key to translating and understanding this chapter is to recognize that some pairs of words have a meaning that might go beyond the simple combination of the two words. The word translated flesh, skin throughout this chapter seems to take on a new dimension when put together with another word.

In this and other chapters, Moses appears to have access through God to important medical information, advanced for its time.

From Evidences for the Bible: In numerous instances the Bible contains medical information that far predates man’s actual discoveries of related principles in the field of medicine. The medical instructions given by Moses to the Israelites some 3500 years ago were not only far superior to the practices of contemporary cultures, they also exceeded medical standards practiced as recently as 100 years ago. Where did Moses get this advanced information? 

This, in fact, may be the pertinence of this and the next chapter to us today. In the era in which this was written, there were important keys to the diagnosis of a plethora of skin disorders, which included treatments or guidance when dealing with such epidermal conditions.

Karl Butt remarks: While it is the case that the Bible does not present itself as a scientific or medical textbook, it is only reasonable that if God truly did inspire the books that compose the Bible, they would be completely accurate in every scientific or medical detail found among their pages. Furthermore, if the omniscient Ruler of the Universe actually did inspire these books, scientific and medical errors that fill the pages of other ancient, non-inspired texts should be entirely absent from the biblical record. Is the Bible infallible when it speaks about scientific fields of discipline, or does it contain the errors that one would expect to find in the writings of fallible men in ancient times? 

Butt continues: While some medical practices in the Pentateuch are similar to those found in ancient Egyptian documents, the Pentateuch exhibits a conspicuous absence of those harmful malpractices that plague the writings of the Egyptians. Moses penned the most advanced, flawless medical prescriptions that had ever been recorded. Furthermore, every statement that pertained to the health and medical well-being of the Israelite nation recorded by Moses could theoretically still be implemented and be completely in accord with every fact modern medicine has learned in regard to germ spreading, epidemic disease control, communal sanitation, and a host of other medical and scientific discoveries.

As an aside, Butt points out that, even though Moses was raised with the greatest education a person could have during that period of time; and even though Egypt was a world center of medical knowledge, the Bible contains none of the false conceptions or bad treatments which could be found in Egypt during Moses’s time. Eating various sorts of dung or using it in various ways—found throughout ancient Egyptian medical “journals”—is not found in the Scriptures.

Butt then adds: [Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy] are not devoted entirely to the enumeration of medical prescriptions. They are not ancient medical textbooks. These books do, however, contain numerous regulations for sanitation, quarantine, and other medical procedures that were to govern the daily lives of the Israelite nation. Missing entirely from the pages of these writings are the harmful remedies and ingredients prescribed by other ancient civilizations. In fact, the Pentateuch exhibits an understanding of germs and disease that much “modern” medicine did not grasp for 3,500 years after the books were written.

Application: There is a lesson to be learned in all of the precautions that Israel was supposed to take (and this refers to which foods Israel was to eat and how it was to treat infectious diseases). Too many of us, as believers, seem to think that we have entered into a supernatural life as believers. In a way, we have, as we can be filled with God the Holy Spirit. But, in another way, we haven’t. We are still subject to the various mundane things in life. For instance, if the speed limit says 35 mph, then we are not to careen down the road at 60 mph, trusting God to deliver us or anyone who might be in our way. No, we do not do that! God protects us and the people in our path when we observe the laws of the government. Similarly, when there are diseases and pandemics, we do not rush headlong into such danger, associating with strangers but without wearing a mask (if such a thing is prescribed). I fully understand that we, as natural born rebels, want to walk into a store revealing our naked faces for the world to see, even though the store requires us to wear some sort of a face covering. However, we are to wear masks, if a store (or other business) requires us to do so. We may not realize it, but many times, our lives are delivered because we have obeyed the authority over us. We might be surrounded by people with a dangerous disease, but we are protected by the protections set in place by the authorities over us.

Application: Now, I recognize that we may want to rebel against such requirements; and there might even come a time where we refuse to listen to the government mandates, and we open up our store. This we would do, fully understanding that, we might be fined, we might get sick, we might have customers who get sick as a result. I am not saying that there is a circumstance under which we, as believers, might not find it almost impossible not to do this. However, when we move forward with something which flaunts the local authorities (and, I realize that many of us want to do this), we need to be circumspect in our actions.

Illustration: I write this at the end of 2020 and our city and county (I live in Houston, Texas) put our certain requirements as well as certain recommendations. The church I attend, Berachah Church, obeyed the requirements and operated within the recommendations, but, in such a way, as to provide a great deal of flexibility to its congregants. As a result, many people had church at home, watching a computer screen; and man attended church in person. The number of infections passed along from being in my church has been low (I don’t know if there were any). Now, this was not necessarily a result of supernatural protection by God. More than likely, the safety and protection was based upon followed a number of mundane rules that most of us did not want to follow, but we did.

This is what some of these chapters in Leviticus are all about. God gave specific guidelines to Israel, and these guidelines protected the people of Israel from unclean foods (which might carry a disease) and from leprous people and leprous clothing (all of which could infect hundreds or even thousands of people). My point is, God did not put a miraculous shield all around Israel and around each citizen of Israel, as if we were encased in a plastic see-through body shield; but Israel was protected by following a number of common sense directions given in the Law of Moses.

Tangent: Our lives are made better and protected by obeying the authorities over us, even when we don’t want to (Romans 13). Presently—I write this in 2020, and who will be sworn into the office of president is still unknown—one candidate has seemingly benefitted from a fraudulent election and that candidate very likely could be sworn into office. Now, I fully understand that the means of his election were fraudulent; and that this swearing-in could mark the end of a real Constitutional republic in the United States. The freedoms of the United States which we have come to know and appreciate could end as of January 20, 2021. However, this does not give me the right to disobey the government or to disobey all federal laws after that point. I am still subject to the laws and regulations of this United States, even though the democratic institution of voting has been compromised. This is for every Christian.

Tangent application: God has not called upon us to rise up against a fraudulent government. God has not called upon the believer to rebel and destroy nation United States, in search of a more perfect union. This is not our place; this is not even our fight. Now, this does not mean that we cannot, through all legal and legitimate means possible, attempt to secure the freedoms and legitimate election process. That falls into line with making our environment what we want it to be. But we can only act lawfully; we cannot take up arms against the government, no matter how legitimate we think or know it to be. We cannot act outside of the realm of laws—even if we do not like them—to remove an illegitimate authority.

Tangent Application: We have to recognize that the United States is very possibly under disciplinary action from God. We have a place in this world as a client nation to God, and if we fall short of God’s requirements, there are times when lose some of the freedoms and benefits that we have come to take for granted. If it helps for us to understand, we have all had lousy bosses in the past (I have had the experience of about a third lousy, about a third good, and about a third so-so). It was my job to obey the authority of my boss, no matter how I rated him in my own mind. I might like him, I might not; but he was the authority over me. Interestingly enough, there have been some bosses that I have had that, initially, I thought were lousy, and later decided, they were pretty good. But, just like it was never my job to try to take down a company because I did not like the boss over me; it is not the Christian’s job to try to take down our nation because we have illegitimate authorities over us.

Leviticus 13 might go quickly in terms of reading or listening; however, it was a long haul in terms of actually writing this. There are a lot of words that, while not peculiar to this chapter, their technical meanings were difficult to ascertain, many present-day translations being of limited help. I am certain that because so many people considered Leviticus to be repetitious and hard to read that perhaps they put their weakest translators on the job. I don't know; but often the English words found in this chapter do not coincide with their incidence outside this chapter (and the same could be said for quite a number of words which are found in Leviticus).

This particular chapter deals with various skin disorders and epidermal diseases, some of which are dangerously communicable. There are several words which occur over and over in this chapter and are often mistranslated or translated in such a way that one does not recognize that they are found in a different context elsewhere in the Bible. I will deal with several of these words almost immediately within the first few verses of this chapter.

Leprosy is the Hebrew word tsâraʿath (צָרַעַת) [pronounced tsaw-RAH-ahth] found primarily here and Leviticus 14. Other than its twenty appearances in these two chapters, it is only found in six more places in the Bible (Deut. 24:5 2Kings 5:3, 6–7, 27 2Chron. 19). Strong’s #6883 BDB #863. The corresponding verb is tsâraʿ (צָרַע) [pronounced tsah-RAWĢ] found more often throughout the Bible, several times in the next two chapters, and in Exodus 4:6 Numbers 5:2 12:10 2Sam. 3:29 2Kings 5:1, 11, 27 7:3, 8 15:5 2Chron. 26:20–21, 23. Even though it is a verb, it occurs only in the Qal and Pual participles and acts like an adjective in most, if not all, of those passages. Strong's #6879 BDB #863.

It appears to refer to skin diseases which spread and/or are infectious, but not exclusively to leprosy (also known as Hansen's disease). Unlike one author who said that the Jews would not understand the concept of infectious, that may or may not be true, but that is not the issue here, as Y^ehowah dictated this portion of the Bible to Moses and Y^ehowah knew and perfectly understood infectious skin disorders in eternity past. We know that Y^ehowah understood this because the most common prescription for leprosy was quarantine of the wound (Leviticus 13:4, 11, 31) and/or the patient (v. 26) and/or anything which might carry the disease (vv. 50, 54). Because of the specificity of the disease leprosy, this word would be a superset of the disease leprosy; that is, leprosy would be one of the skin disorders mentioned. This is confirmed by some of these passages reveal an atypical quick recovery from the disease in question (vv. 14–16, for instance).

We get the word leprosy from the Greek lepra, which was used in the Septuagint and in the New Testament. It was in 1873 or 1874 that the Norwegian G. Armauer Hansen discovered the bacillus he named myobacterium leprai, which was present in most cases of leprosy. Due to his discoveries, it is more often called Hansen's disease today.

Leprosy proper occurs in two forms, one an infectious spreading disease and the other is a more benign form. Both begin with a patch of skin which is discolored, often on the face, and the infected area may be impervious to pain, due to possibly nerve damage. The more destructive of the two leprosies, lepromatous, can spread quickly in all directions and spongy, tumorous growths can appear on the epidermis. The disease destroys the flesh on the hands and feet, causing them to become deformed and it into the body and affects various organs. An untreated case of leprosy last as long as twenty years, the person eventually dying of the disease itself or another infection which attacks the weakened body. The less destructive leprosy, tuberculoid, can eventually spread to several discolored areas on the person, recognizable usually by a low ridge around the infected area. Even an untreated case can heal within 1–3 years. Although we are not given many case histories in the Bible, it is possible that due to the plagues of Egypt that leprosy could have spread from there in some way or another or it could have been resident in the desert area. Like AIDES, leprosy will have periods of time in the carrier’s life when the disease flares up and the patient can have fever and experience pain. These periods of time might last from a few hours to a few weeks. During this time is when the leprosy is the most infectious. Although there is no indication that the Israelites could treat this disease with anything other than quarantine, we have very effective cures today which do not require the isolation of the infected patient.

Whereas, it is reasonably easy to consider spiritual parallels to the disease of leprosy (that it symbolizes our sin nature or our sinful actions), this is certainly not the thrust or importance of this chapter, even today. I believe that today, we will find it remarkable as to accurate the information about leprosy is; including how to diagnose it and how to deal with it. What we read in Scripture is not a rehash of the medical knowledge of that era.

Although leprosy and the other skin disorders alluded to in the next two chapters are real, they also speak of the invasive nature and destruction of the old sin nature when given full, uncontrolled reign over the life. AIDES is not unlike leprosy in this respect. It can affect the entire person for the entire remainder of their life, often isolating them and then destroying them over a period of several years. Certain unchecked sins have the same destructive affect, isolating us from our loved ones and destroying our lives over a period of several years. This is apart from divine discipline (which is not a privilege of the unbeliever, anyway).

Timeline for Leviticus

There is very little narrative in the book of Leviticus; so this information may have been given to Moses in a few days or, at most, a few weeks; and Moses both wrote these things down and informed the people. Because of information previously studied in the introduction, we are not 100% certain if all of this material was given to Moses while in the newly erected Tabernacle. I would lean towards that being the case.

As I have done previously, since this chapters is what God is saying to Moses, I will begin and end the chapter with quotation marks. I will not insert a new set of quotation marks for each new paragraph.

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General Skin Disorders and Their Symptoms

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac (= Aramaic) and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

The comparisons which I do are primarily between the English translations which are taken from the ancient tongues. For the most part, the variances are so minor that I rarely investigate them any further than that.

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

I will only list the translation from the Dead Sea Scrolls if it exists and if it is different from the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. From http://www.becomingjewish.org/texts/targum/onkelos_Leviticus.html and first published in 1862.

Occasionally, there is an obvious error in the English translation, and I correct those without additional mention or footnoting. For instance, the online version of the Targum of Onkelos which I use has gorund in Ex. 4:9; I simply corrected the text. This may occur once or twice in a chapter.

I attempt to include translations which are different in their vocabulary and phrasing. On many occasions, I may include a translation which is not substantially different than another listed translation.

Most of the translations can be found here.

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so speaks Y^ehowah unto Moses and Aaron, to say, “A man when [there] is on a skin of his body a swelling or a scab or an (unusual) blemish; and it is on a skin of his body [potentially] a diseased area of leprosy; and he has been brought unto Aaron the priest or unto a first of his sons, the priests. And has seen the priest the diseased area on a skin of his body and hair on the diseased area has turned white and an appearance of the diseased area [is] deep from a skin of his body—a diseased area of leprosy he [is]. And sees him the priest and pronounces unclean him.

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Targum (Onkelos)                  . Translation for Onkelos and Pseudo-Jonathan by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. (1862).

Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan)   .

Jerusalem targum                  .

Updated Douay-Rheims         .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

The man in whose skin or flesh shall arise a different colour or a blister, or as it were something shining, that is the stroke of the leprosy, shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or any or of his sons.

And if he see the leprosy in his skin, and the hair turned white and the place where the leprosy appears lower than the skin and the rest of the flesh: it is the stroke of the leprosy, and upon his judgment he shall be separated.

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        Mar-Yah spoke to Mosha and to Aaron, saying,

"When a man shall have a rising in his body's skin, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his body the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons, the priests:

and the priest shall examine the plague in the skin of the body: and if the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body's skin, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean.

Lamsa’s Peshitta (Syriac)     .

V. Alexander’s Aramaic T.     .

Samaritan Pentateuch           And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying

When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh [like] the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:

And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and [when] the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight [be] deeper than the skin of his flesh, it [is] a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.

Updated Brenton (Greek)       And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

If any man should have in the skin of his flesh a bright clear spot, and there should be in the skin of his flesh a plague of leprosy, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests.

And the priest shall view the spot in the skin of his flesh; and if the hair in the spot be changed to white, and the appearance of the spot be below the skin of the flesh, it is a plague of leprosy; and the priest shall look upon it, and pronounce him unclean.

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 

If a man has on his skin a growth or a mark or a white place, and it becomes the disease of a leper, let him be taken to Aaron the priest, or to one of the priests, his sons; 

And if, when the priest sees the mark on his skin, the hair on the place is turned white and the mark seems to go deeper than the skin, it is the mark of a leper: and the priest, after looking at him, will say that he is unclean.

Easy English                          .

Easy-to-Read Version–2002  .

Easy-to-Read Version–2008  The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Someone might have a swelling on their skin, or it may be a rash or a bright spot. If the sore looks like the disease of leprosy, the person must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests. The priest must look at the sore on the person's skin. If the hair in the sore has become white, and if the sore seems deeper than the person's skin, it is leprosy. When the priest has finished looking at the person, he must announce that the person is unclean.

God’s Word™                         The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "If anyone has a sore, a rash, or an irritated area on his skin that turns into an infectious skin disease, he must be taken to the priest Aaron or to one of his sons who are also priests. The priest will examine the disease. If the hair in the diseased area has turned white, and the diseased area looks deeper than the rest of his skin, it is an infectious skin disease. When the priest has examined him, he must declare him unclean.

Good News Bible (TEV)         The LORD gave Moses and Aaron these regulations. If any of you have a sore on your skin or a boil or an inflammation which could develop into a dreaded skin disease, you shall be brought to the Aaronite priest. The priest shall examine the sore, and if the hairs in it have turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the surrounding skin, it is a dreaded skin disease, and the priest shall pronounce you unclean.

The Message                         .

Names of God Bible               .

NIRV                                      .

New Simplified Bible              .

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

Casual English Bible             .

College Press paraphrase     .

Contemporary English V.       The LORD told Moses and Aaron to say to the people:

If sores or boils or a skin rash should break out and start spreading on your body, you must be brought to Aaron or to one of the other priests.

If the priest discovers that the hair in the infected area has turned white and that the infection seems more than skin deep, he will say, "This is leprosy --you are unclean.".

The Living Bible                     .

New Berkeley Version           .

New Life Version                    .

New Living Translation           .

Unfolding Bible (simplified)    Yahweh said this to Aaron and Moses: "When someone has on his skin a swelling, a scab, or a shiny spot that seems to be infected, then someone must bring him to Aaron or to one of his sons who are also priests.  The priest must examine that part of the person's skin. If the hair in that area has become white and it appears that the sore is deeper than just on the skin, then it is a skin disease that other people are in danger of receiving from him. If that is what the priest sees, he must declare that this sick person is not fit to be with other people.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          .

Beck’s American Translation .

Common English Bible           .

New Advent (Knox) Bible       .

Translation for Translators     .

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Berean Study Bible                .

Conservapedia                       .

Ferrar-Fenton Bible                .

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           .

HCSB                                     .

International Standard V        Diagnosing Skin Diseases

The Lord said this to Moses and Aaron: “When a person [Lit. man] has a swelling or a scab in the skin on his body [Lit. flesh, and so throughout the chapter] that turns white in appearance and appears to be more extensive than skin deep, he is to be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons among the priests. The priest is to examine the skin rash on the body. If the hair on the skin rash has turned white and its appearance is deeper than the skin of his body, it’s an infectious skin disease. When the priest has examined it, then he is to declare him unclean.

Lexham English Bible            .

NIV, ©2011                             .

Unfolding Bible Literal Text    Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, "When anyone has on the skin of his body a swelling or scab or a bright spot, and it becomes infected and there is a skin disease in his body, then he must be brought to Aaron the high priest, or to one of his sons the priests.  Then the priest will examine the disease in the skin of his body. If the hair in the diseased area has turned white, and if the disease appears to be deeper than just on the skin, then it is an infectious disease. After the priest examines him, he must pronounce him unclean.

Urim-Thummim Version         YHWH spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, When a man has in the skin of his flesh a swelling, a lesion or white patch of skin, and it has become in the skin of his flesh a leprous plague, then he will be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests. And the priest will look on the plague in the skin of the flesh and when the hair has turned white and the plague appears to be more than skin deep in the flesh then its a plague of leprosy. The priest will then look on him and pronounce him unclean.

Wikipedia Bible Project          And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: A man whose skin has a swelling or bruise or rash, and it becomes in the skin of his flesh into a leprosy affliction, and he well be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his priest sons. And the priest looked at the affliction in the skin of the flesh, and the hair in the affliction turned white, and the the affliction looks deeper than the skin of the the flesh, it is the affliction of leprosy, and the priest saw it and made him defiled.

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)  .

The Heritage Bible                 .

New American Bible (2002)             .

New American Bible(2011)    .

New English Bible–1970        .

New Jerusalem Bible             .

New RSV                               .

Revised English Bible–1989   .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           .

exeGeses companion Bible   .

Hebraic Roots Bible               .

Hebrew Transliteration S.      .

Israeli Authorized Version      .

Kaplan Translation                 . The Kaplan Translation, particularly in Leviticus through Deuteronomy, takes note of historic rabbinic opinions.

The Scriptures 1998              .

The Scriptures–2009              And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying, “When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it shall become on the skin of his body like a leprous infection, then he shall be brought to Aharon the priest or to one of his sons the priests. 

“And the priest shall look at the infection on the skin of the body. And if the hair on the infection has turned white, and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous infection. And the priest shall look at him, and pronounce him unclean.

Tree of Life Version                Then Adonai spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying: “When a man has a swelling on the skin of his body or a scab or a bright spot, and it becomes the plague-mark of tza’arat in his flesh, then he should be brought to Aaron the kohen, or to one of his sons, the kohanim. The kohen is to examine the plague of tza’arat on his skin, and if the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body’s skin, it is the plague of tza’arat. Thus the kohen should examine him and pronounce him unclean.

Weird English, Olde English, Anachronistic English Translations:

Alpha & Omega Bible            AND JESUS SPOKE TO MOSES AND AARON, SAYING,

“IF ANY MAN SHOULD HAVE IN THE SKIN OF HIS FLESH A BRIGHT CLEAR SPOT, AND THERE SHOULD BE IN THE SKIN OF HIS FLESH A PLAGUE OF LEPROSY, HE SHALL BE BROUGHT TO AARON THE PRIEST, OR TO ONE OF HIS SONS THE PRIESTS.

AND THE PRIEST SHALL VIEW THE SPOT IN THE SKIN OF HIS FLESH; AND IF THE HAIR IN THE SPOT BE CHANGED TO WHITE, AND THE APPEARANCE OF THE SPOT BE BELOW THE SKIN OF THE FLESH, IT IS A PLAGUE OF LEPROSY; AND THE PRIEST SHALL LOOK UPON IT, AND PRONOUNCE HIM UNCLEAN.

Awful Scroll Bible                   Sustains To Become was to speak to Moses and Aaron, to the intent:

Of a human, on the skin of his flesh, there is rising up a scab or a bright spot, and it is on the skin of his flesh as a wound from leprosy, he is to have been brought to Aaron, the priest, or to one of his sons, the priests.

The priest is to have looked at the wound on the skin of his flesh - is the hair at the wound, to have turned white, and the wound to appear deeper than the skin of his flesh? - It is a wound of leprosy, and the priest is to have considered of him, even is he to have been unclean.

Concordant Literal Version    Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying.

In case a human comes to have in the skin of his flesh a nodule or a scurf or a blotch, and it comes in the skin of his flesh as the contagion of leprous disease, then the matter will be brought before Aaron the priest, or before one of his sons the priests.

When the priest examines the contagious area in the skin of the flesh, and the hair in the contagious area has turned white and the appearance of the contagion is deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the contagion of leprous disease. When the priest has examined it he will pronounce him unclean.

Darby Translation (1889)       .

exeGeses companion Bible   TORAH ON LEPROSY

And Yah Veh words to Mosheh and Aharon,

saying,

When a human, in the skin of his flesh,

has a swelling, a scab or bright spot

and it becomes in the skin of his flesh

as the plague of leprosy;

bring him to Aharon the priest

or to one of his sons the priests:

and the priest sees the plague in the skin of the flesh:

and when the hair in the plague is turned white

and the visage of the plague

is deeper than the skin of his flesh

- a plague of leprosy:

and the priest sees him and pronounces him foul.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And Hashem spoke unto Moshe and Aharon, saying,

When a man shall have in the skin of his basar a swelling, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his basar like the nega tzara'at; then he shall be brought unto Aharon the kohen, or unto one of his Banim the kohanim;

And the kohen shall examine the nega in the skin of the basar; and when hair in the nega is turned white, and the nega in appearance be deeper than the skin of his basar, it is a nega tzara'at; and the kohen shall examine him, and pronounce him tamei.

Rotherham’s Emphasized B. .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                .

The Expanded Bible              .

Kretzmann’s Commentary    .

Lexham English Bible            Regulations About Defiling Skin Diseases

Then [Or “And”] Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “When a person [Literally “man”] has on his body’s skin a swelling or an epidermal eruption or a spot and it becomes [Perfect of hâyâh (הָיָה) followed by b^e (בְּ); see HALOT 244 s.v. 7.c] an infectious skin disease on his body’s skin, then [Or “and”] he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. And the priest shall examine the infection on his body’s skin, and if the hair in the infection turns white and the appearance of the infection is deeper than his body’s skin, it is an infectious skin disease, and the priest shall examine it, and he shall declare him unclean.

Syndein/Thieme                     .

The Voice                               .

Bible Translations with Many Footnotes:

College Press Bible Study     .

The Complete Tanach           .

The Geneva Bible                  .

Kaplan Translation                 .

NET Bible®                             .

New American Bible(2011)    .

Rotherham’s Emphasized B. And Yahweh spake unto Moses and unto Aaronˎsaying—

<When ||any man||^a shall have—in the skin of his flesh—a risingˎ or a scabˎ or a bright spot, and it shall become in the skin of his flesh the plague-spot^b of leprosy> then shall he be brought in unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests; and the priest shall view the spot in the skin of his flesh—≤if ||the hair in the plague|| have turned white and the appearance of the spot be deeper than the skin of his flesh≥ <the plague-spot of leprosy> it isʹ,—so the priest shall view himˎ and pronounce him unclean.

^a “Any human being, any son of earth (adam).”

^b The P.B. has here merely “mark.” But (1) it is scarcely right to suppress all reference to Divine infliction; and (2) “spot” is better than “mark” with reference to a person, though “mark” is to be preferred to “spot” when applied to a house, as in chap. xiv. 34. “Plague” throughout would be too heavy, and would need frequent qualification. The translation here has therefore been lightened in places, yet so as to keep the reader in mind of the main facts and the ideas associated with them.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

A Faithful Version                  .

Bond Slave Version               .

C. Thompson LXX (updated) Again the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, If any man hath, on the outer coat of the skin, a remarkable swelling, very white, and there be a touch of the leprosy on the outer coat of his skin, he will be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons, the priests: and the priest will look at the touch on the outer coat of his skin; and if the hair in the touch be turned white, and the appearance of the touch be deeper than the outer skin, it is a touch of the leprosy. And when the priest will see this, he will pronounce him unclean.

Charles Thompson OT           .

Context Group Version          And YHWH spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, When man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his flesh the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests: and the priest shall look at the plague in the skin of the flesh: and if the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall look at him, and pronounce him unclean.

English Standard Version      The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, "When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean.

Green’s Literal Translation    .

Holy Bible Improved Edition   And Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a swelling, or scab, or bright spot, then it shall be in the skin of his flesh a leprosy spot; and he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests; and the priest shall look at the spot in the skin of the flesh; and when the hair in the spot is turned white, and the appearance of the spot is deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a leprosy spot; and when the priest has looked on him, he shall pronounce him unclean.

Literal Standard Version        .

Modern English Version         .

Modern Literal Version 2020  .

New American Standard B.    .

New European Version          .

New King James Version       .

Niobi Study Bible                   .

Owen's Translation                .

Revised Mechanical Trans.    ...and YHWH spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying, a human that has in the skin of his flesh a lifting up or a scab or a bright spot, and has in the skin of his flesh a plague of infection, then he will be brought to Aharon the administrator or to one of his sons the administrators, and the administrator will see the plague in the skin of the flesh, and a hair in the plague turned white, and the appearance of the plague is sunken from the skin of his flesh, he is the plague of infection, and the administrator will see him and he will declare him dirty,...

Updated Bible Version 2.17   .

A Voice in the Wilderness      And Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: When a man has on the skin of his flesh a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his flesh like a leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the flesh; and if the hair on the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a leprous sore. Then the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean.

Webster’s Bible Translation  .

World English Bible                .

Young's Literal Translation     .

Young’s Updated LT             And Jehovah speaks unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying, “When a man has in the skin of his flesh a rising, or scab, or bright spot, and it has become in the skin of his flesh a leprous plague, then he has been brought in unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests; and the priest has seen the plague in the skin of the flesh, and the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the skin of his flesh—it is a plague of leprosy, and the priest has seen him, and has pronounced him unclean.

The gist of this passage: 

1-3

Morris Jastrow: If now we remove the three terms 'swelling', 'growth', and 'bright spot', and assume that the verse in its original form spoke of the sara'at only, the construction becomes perfectly simple, to wit: 'If a man has on the skin of his flesh a sara'at mark (i. e. nega' sara'at), and he is brought to the priest. The proof of the correctness of this view is furnished by the third verse, which reads: 'And the priest sees the mark (nega') on the skin of his flesh, and the hair at the mark has turned white, and the mark (nega') appears deeper than the skin of his flesh, then it is a sara'at mark, and he shall declare him unclean.' Here, then, we have the beginning of the chapter in its original form a diagnosis of what constitutes sara'at, and a simple means of determining whether a man has sara'at or not. It is just the kind of diagnosis that we may expect in an age in which medical knowledge is based on observation merely.

Translation: Y^ehowah spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,...

God nearly always spoke to Moses, but not always Aaron. However, this set of requirements are going to be a part of what is required of Aaron and his sons; therefore, God brings Aaron into the picture.

Since Moses is in charge, he must be made aware of what is going on.

Leviticus 13:1 Y^ehowah spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,...

We do not know in how many sittings that Moses received all of this information. It is possible that he received this every day, several groups in messages a day, or once a week or less. Whichever, I would personally lean toward the often.

Translation: ...“When a man has on his epidermis a swelling, a scab or an (unusual) blemish;...

Here we have an external mark of uncleanness on this person. Several versions of the Bible translate bahereth (בֹּהֶרֶת) [pronounced bah-HEH-reth] with the phrase bright spot, which I suppose could convey something to someone, but since this word is found only in Leviticus 13 and 14:56, context would indicate that this should be translated blemish or discoloration. One might first qualify that with the word new or unusual and then just use the word blemish once it has been identified. Strong's #934 BDB #97.

A man notices something on his skin which is out of the ordinary: he sees a swelling or a scab or an unusual blemish.

Translation: ...and [this] is a [potentially] serious skin disorder on his epidermis;...

This is potentially a serious skin disorder (leprosy is an umbrella term for a number of skin diseases).

Morris Jastrow: Taking up the first section, one is struck by the large number of medical terms introduced, supplementary to sara’at. In connexion with each term nega’ is used, which is thus shown to be a general term for any kind of a disease of he skin, indicated by a mark or marks. Clearly these supplementary terms represent attempts to differentiate been pathological phenomena which in an earlier, less scientific age were either grouped under sara'at or under the general designation of 'marks' (nega'im). A closer inspection of the second verse of the thirteenth chapter furnishes the safe starting-point for a correct analysis. The verse reads as follows: ‘If a man has on the skin of his flesh a swelling (se’et), growth (sappahat), or a bright spot (baheret), and it becomes on the skin of his flesh a nega’ sara’at, he is brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons, the priests.

Translation: ...then he will be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests.

The man will then be brought to either Aaron or to one of his sons.

Leviticus 13:2 ...“When a man has on his epidermis a swelling, a scab or an (unusual) blemish; and [this] is a [potentially] serious skin disorder on his epidermis; then he will be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests.

An issue that should be addressed from the outset is who dealt with these epidermal disorders? The priests were in charge here. One must keep in mind that the medical attention needed and the serums and medicines which we use today are of relatively recent development with reference to the skin diseases herein described. Furthermore, God dealt with Israel on a much more personal level in this realm than He deals with mankind as a whole. So we must take these chapters in the context of who they are written to and during what time period in man's history and during what time table in God's history (i.e., the dispensation of Israel). Just as we no longer offer animal sacrifices because He Who they represented has come and has died on our behalf, these disorders, which had no proper treatment then (and some may have died out due to quarantine), also had a spiritual meaning as well as actual physical consequences (as just discussed) and the treatment prescribed herein was the best that the ancient world had to offer. Furthermore, like much of what is in Scripture, leprosy illustrates spiritual truths as well. One of these truths is that we do go to our High Priest for everything.

We do have a case history of a woman who suffered from hemorrhaging for twelve years and she went to the physicians of her day, spending her life savings, yet receiving no relief from the symptoms of her disease. However, God the Son healed her when she went to Him (Mark 5:25–26 Luke 8:43–44).

Application: Do not misunderstand the recorded incident in Scripture above as encouragement to the believer to abstain from medical help and just pray. Jesus, the Great Physician was there, with the woman; and He could heal whom He chose to heal. Just as there are mundane (or, normal) ways of dealing with a disease, that does not mean that we should shun those ways. When we are sick, we go through the normal medical procedures, but praying as we do. In other words, if you have a cough, you can take cough medicine and eat a few cough drops. If it is a problematic or persistent cough, they you would go to a physician.

Now this has become distorted by some groups who disallow modern medicine to work its cures. This is foolish and this is not the purpose of these few chapters. As a believer, we can be struck down with disease to get our attention when we are in perpetual carnality or our disease is a way to glorify God. If we do not seek medical attention, we will become a stumbling block to the unbelievers around us. We are a stumbling block because no matter what our testimony is, they look at us as forbidden by our religion from seeking medical help, and Christianity does not forbid that. We will have ample opportunity to reveal character and trust in God, even in a hospital under a physician's care. If we are under discipline, certainly even before going to the doctor, we should rebound and get our lives right with God, pray for healing, and, if necessary, see a physician. Similarly, unbelievers can be struck down with disease to get their attention. Sometimes it requires a great deal of suffering to reach the typical unbeliever. If you are an unbeliever reading or hearing this, ther is a simple way to avoid God having to get tough with you—you need only believe in Jesus Christ for your salvation.

Let me see if I can illustrate this in a different way, because Christian healing can be very emotional and divisive. Let’s say that you have a job across town, and you are just recently saved. Do you wander off to a park bench when it is time to go to work and tell God, “It is up to You to get me to work; that is, if You want me there.” Do you see how goofy that is?

Or you are looking for a new job, and the qualifications involve taking a couple of college courses. Do you tell God, via prayer, to insert the information from those two courses into your brain or do you go to the nearest college and take them? Obviously, the latter.

Now, let me drop the analogies and face this head on. This is a chapter about various forms of skin disease. Is there anywhere in here where you are told, “Just go to the priest, you two pray together; and then go home, believing that you are cured’? There is not. There are a variety of things which are done. Although the priest is not a doctor, there are a number of things that the priest does in order to determine what the exact situation is; and then there are specific directions to deal with each situation.

Translation: The priest will examine the diseased area on the epidermis...

The priest is going to carefully examine the diseased area.

Translation: ...and [he will see if] the hair on the diseased area has turned white...

There will be two things that the priest is looking for. Is the any discoloration of the hair on the wound?

Translation: ...and [if] the diseased area appears [to be] deeper in the epidermis, [then] it [is] a serious skin disorder.

Diseased area in this verse is the word negaʿ (נֶעַע) [pronounced NEH-gahģ] is better understood when viewed between its two verbs nâgaʿ (נָגַע) [pronounced naw-GAHĢ], which means to touch (Strong's #5060 BDB #619) and nâgaph (נָגַף) [pronounced naw-GAHF] which means to strike, to hit (Strong's #5062 BDB #619). With the close association of these words, bruised area might be a more literal translation, as though it is the result of being slugged. However, it is used consistently throughout Leviticus 13 and 14 for a diseased area, that we will stick with that rendering. It should be pointed out that is is translated plague by the KJV, being found in Gen. 12:17 and Exodus 11:1 (its only two appearances prior to Leviticus). Wound, injury, bruise are also good renderings of this word. V. 2 pretty much defines what it is we are speaking of in terms of both the disease and the word nega׳. This is given a multitude of renderings in this context, usually different from the rest of the Bible (which is not, by the way, entirely incorrect, as this is a different context). The NASB uses the word infection; Owen's uses diseased spot, diseased person and disease. Young likes the word plague (which I don't because it leads you away from the literal meaning). The Emphasized Bible helps to solve that by using plague-spot. Strong's #5061 BDB #619.

The translation it is a leprous disease, is an unfortunate one. We have the two words we have just studied, the one for bruised area and the one for a skin disorder. A person can get a bruised area from several different sources, one of them being from a skin disorder; that is the precise meaning here.

The second thing to look for is to see whether the epidermal disorder appears to be more than superficial. Many scabs will, given a few days or a week, simply disappear. But if this appears to be deeper and more serious than that, then the conclusion is, this is a serious skin disorder—often called leprosy in the Bible.

Translation: The priest will therefore examine him and pronounce him unclean.

At the end of the verse we have the Piel of the verb to make unclean. This is a metonymy where the action is put for the declaration concerning the action. To quote Bullinger, what is said to be done is put for what is declared, or permitted, or foretold as to be done. The main reason we have to stand by this rendering is that the priest, we know, does not make anyone or anything unclean, and the verb is in the 3^rd person masculine singular and it carries with it a 3^rd person masculine singular suffix. Therefore, the action is being performed by the priest and it is being performed on someone—here, the victim of the skin disorder.

The priest will examine the man carefully and pronounce him unclean, if that appears to be the case.

Leviticus 13:3 The priest will examine the diseased area on the epidermis and [he will see if] the hair on the diseased area has turned white and [if] the diseased area appears [to be] deeper in the epidermis, [then] it [is] a serious skin disorder. The priest will therefore examine him and pronounce him unclean.

Leviticus 13:1–3 Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “If a man has a swelling, a scab or an unusual blemish on his skin, this is potentially a serious skin disorder. He should be taken to either Aaron or to one of Aaron’s sons to be examined. One of them will look at the diseased area and look to see if the hair on the diseased area has changed color or if the diseased area appears to be more than skin deep. If either of those things are true, then it is a serious skin disorder and the priest will pronounce him unclean.

——————————

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And if white she [is] on his epidermis, and deep [is] not her appearance from the skin and her hair has not turned white and has delivered the priest the diseased area seven days. And has examined him the priest [on] day seven and behold the diseased area has taken a stand in his [two] eyes; has not spread the diseased area on the skin, and has delivered him, the priest, seven days a second time.

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Jerusalem targum                  .

Targum (Onkelos)                  .

Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan)   .

Aramaic Targum                    .

Updated Douay-Rheims         .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) But if there be a shining whiteness in the skin, and not lower than the other flesh, and the hair be of the former colour, the priest shall shut him up seven days.

And the seventh day he shall look on him: and if the leprosy be grown no farther, and hath not spread itself in the skin, he shall shut him up again other seven days.

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        If the bright spot is white in the skin of his body, and its appearance is not deeper than the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days.

The priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and, behold, if in his eyes the plague is arrested, and the plague has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days.

V. Alexander’s Aramaic T.     .

Plain English Aramaic Bible   .

Lamsa’s Peshitta (Syriac)     .

Samaritan Pentateuch           If the bright spot [be] white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight [be] not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up [him that hath] the plague seven days:

And the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, [if] the plague in his sight be at a stay, [and] the plague spread not in the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more:...

Updated Brenton (Greek)       But if the spot be clear and white in the skin of his flesh, yet the appearance of it be not deep below the skin, and its hair has not changed itself for white hair, but it is dark, then the priest shall separate him that has the spot for seven days;

and the priest shall look on the spot the seventh day; and behold, if the spot remains before him, if the spot has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall separate him the second time for seven days.

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             But if the mark on his skin is white, and does not seem to go deeper than the skin, and the hair on it is not turned white, then the priest will keep him shut up for seven days; 

And the priest is to see him on the seventh day; and if, in his opinion, the place on his skin has not become worse and is not increased in size, then the priest will keep him shut up for seven days more:...

Easy English                          .

Easy-to-Read Version–2001  .

Easy-to-Read Version–2008  "Sometimes there is a white spot on a person's skin that does not seem deeper than the skin. If that is true, the priest must separate that person from other people for seven days. On the seventh day the priest must look at the person again. If the priest sees that the sore has not changed and has not spread on the skin, he must separate the person for seven more days.

God’s Word™                         But if the irritated area is white and does not look deeper than the rest of the skin, and the hair has not turned white, the priest must put him in isolation for seven days. On the seventh day the priest will examine him again. If the disease looks the same and has not spread, the priest must put him in isolation for another seven days.

Good News Bible (TEV)         But if the sore is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin around it and the hairs have not turned white, the priest shall isolate you for seven days. The priest shall examine you again on the seventh day, and if in his opinion the sore looks the same and has not spread, he shall isolate you for another seven days.

The Message                         .

Names of God Bible               .

NIRV                                      .

New Simplified Bible              .

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

Casual English Bible             .

College Press paraphrase     .

Contemporary English V.       But if the infected area is white and only skin deep, and if the hair in it hasn't turned white, the priest will order you to stay away from everyone else for seven days. If the disease hasn't spread by that time, he will order you to stay away from everyone else for another seven days.

The Living Bible                     .

New Berkeley Version           .

New Life Version                    .

New Living Translation           .

Unfolding Bible Simplified      If the spot on the person's skin is white but it does not appear that the sore is deeper than the surface of the skin, the priest must keep him away from all other people for seven days.  After seven days, the priest must examine the person again. If the priest sees that the sore has not changed and has not spread, he must keep the person away from people for yet another seven days.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          .

Beck’s American Translation .

Common English Bible           .

New Advent (Knox) Bible       .

Translation for Translators     .

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Berean Study Bible                If, however, the spot on his skin is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall quarantine the infected person for seven days.  On the seventh day the priest is to reexamine him, and if he sees that the infection is unchanged and has not spread on the skin, the priest must isolate him for another seven days.

Conservapedia Translation    .

Revised Ferrar-Fenton Bible  .

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           .

HCSB                                     .

International Standard V        “If the light spot in the skin of his body is white but the appearance of the skin rash isn’t deeper than the skin of his body and its hair has not become white, then the priest is to isolate [I.e. in medical confinement] the one who is infected for seven days. On the seventh day, the priest is to examine him again. If in his opinion the skin rash remained the same and it [Lit. and the skin rash in his skin] had not spread, then he is to isolate [I.e. in medical confinement] him for another seven days.

H. C. Leupold                         .

Lexham English Bible            .

NIV, ©2011                             .

Peter Pett’s translation          .

Unfolding Bible Literal Text    If the bright spot in his skin is white, and the appearance of it is no deeper than the skin, and if the hair in the diseased area has not turned white, then the priest must isolate the one with the disease for seven days.  On the seventh day, the priest must examine him to see if in his opinion the disease is not any worse, and if it has not spread in the skin. If it has not, then the priest must isolate him seven days more.

Urim-Thummim Version         If the blister is white in the skin of his flesh and in appearance is not deeper than the skin (and the hair is not turned white), then the priest will quarantine him that has the plague for 7 days. And the priest will examine him the 7th day and if the plague appears to have held its spread, and the plague is not diffused in the skin, then the priest will quarantine him another 7 days.

Wikipedia Bible Project          And if it is a white rash in the skin of his flesh, and it does not appear deeper than the skin, and the hair did not turn white, and the priest enclosed the afflicted seven days. And the priest saw him on the seventh day, and here the affliction will shown to him. If the affliction did not spread in the skin, and the priest enclosed the afflicted seven days, a second time.

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):