Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 13

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. — Since the laws of leprosy primarily concerned the priests, who were to examine the symptoms and decide whether they indicated the disease or not, the Lord addressed the regulations to Aaron as well as to Moses. The leprosy discussed in this and the following chapters consists of three general classes:

1. Leprosy of man (Leviticus 13:2–46);
2. Leprosy of garments (Leviticus 13:47–59);
3. and leprosy of houses (Leviticus 14:33–57).

When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh. — In discussing the leprosy of man, the lawgiver enumerates six different circumstances under which it may develop. The first circumstance presented in Leviticus 13:2-6 is its developing without an apparent cause. Therefore, it was instructed that if anyone should notice a rising or swelling in the skin of his flesh, he should be taken to the priest. Since the description of these symptoms is very concise and needs to be specified more minutely for practical purposes, the spiritual guides of Israel, who had to explain the law to the priests during the Second Temple and who came into personal contact with this disease, defined them as follows:

A rising. — This is a swelling, or swollen spot.

Or bright spot. — This is a bright or glossy pimple. However, these symptoms, when indicative of leprosy, respectively assume one of two colors: a principal or a subordinate color. The principal color of the rising spot is like that of an eggshell, and the secondary one resembles white wool; while the principal color of the bright pimple is white as snow, and the subordinate resembles plaster on the wall.

Then he shall be brought unto Aaron. — The following rules prevailed during the Second Temple regarding the examination of the patient. Although anyone may examine the disease except the patient himself or his relations, yet the priest alone can decide whether it is leprosy or not, because the law declares that the priests must decide cases of litigation and disease (Deuteronomy 21:5); therefore, the patient must be brought unto Aaron, etc.

But although only the priests can pronounce the patient clean or unclean, even if he is a child or a fool, yet he must act upon the advice of a learned layman in these matters. If the priest is blind in one eye, or is weak-sighted, he is disqualified from examining the disease. The inspection must not take place on the Sabbath, nor early in the morning, nor in the middle of the day, nor in the evening, nor on cloudy days, because the color of the skin cannot be properly ascertained at those times of the day; but it must take place in the third, fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth hours.

When the hair in the plague is turned white. —Better, and the hair in the plagued spot, etc. The first symptom indicating the existence of the disorder is that the hair, which is generally jet-black among the Hebrews, turns white on the affected spot. The authorities during the second Temple defined that there must be at least two hairs white, at the root and in the body of the bright spot, before the patient can be declared unclean. The word plague, in accordance with a usage common in Hebrew—to put the abstract for the concrete—denotes here the plagued spot, or the spot affected by the plague, while in Leviticus 13:4 it means the person affected by this disorder. Thus in Leviticus 19:32, the hoary head stands for hoary-headed person.

And the plague in sight be deeper than the skin. —Better, and the appearance of the plagued spot be deeper, etc. The second symptom which shows the development of the disorder is that the spot affected by this plague appears to be deeper than the rest of the skin.

Pronounce him unclean. —Literally, make him unclean. According to the frequently occurring phraseology, a man is said to do that which in his official capacity he pronounces as done, or orders to be done. Thus Ezekiel is said to destroy the city when he simply foretold its destruction (Ezekiel 43:3). The existence of these two symptoms made it incumbent upon the priest to declare the person unclean, and hence imparting defilement.

If the bright spot be white. —But if upon inspection there merely appeared a white spot in the skin, and the previously mentioned two symptoms were absent, the case was not yet decided.

Then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague. —The suspected individual was to be separated from the rest of the community for seven days, during which time it would be seen whether the condition actually developed into this disorder. According to the canons that were in effect during the second Temple, if a bridegroom was seized with this disease, he was not to be isolated during the wedding week. It can be seen that the words “him that hath” are in italics, thus indicating that they are not in the text; but “plague” here, as we have seen in Leviticus 13:3, denotes plagued person.

And the priest shall look on him. —If at the end of a week there is no alteration in the symptoms, the case must be adjourned for another seven days. The same priest who first inspected it must examine it again, since another priest could not determine whether it has spread. If the priest died in the meantime, or became ill, another priest could examine the patient, but could not pronounce him unclean. If the seventh day happened to be a Sabbath or feast day, the case had to be postponed to the following day.

If the plague in his sight be at a stay. —Better, if the plagued spot remain the same in its colour, that is, if the suspicious spot that caused the individual to be shut up had not altered its complexion. The expression here translated “sight” is the same that is rightly rendered as “colour” in the Authorised Version in Leviticus 13:55 of this very chapter. (Compare to Numbers 11:7.) It will thus be seen that though the affected spot had not spread, still it retained its unhealthy and suspicious complexion.

And the priest shall look on him again. —If, on further examination at the end of another week, the priest finds that the bright spot looks darker and has not spread, he is to pronounce the patient clean and release him, since it was simply an ordinary scurf. However, though not leprous, the eruption indicated some impurity in his blood, and he therefore had to wash his garments.