A regulation for lepers
1 ① Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, 2“If someone has a boil, an inflammation or a sore on his skin which could develop into leprosy, he must be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of the priests, his descendants. 3The priest shall examine him and if the hair on the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the surrounding skin, then it is indeed the sore of leprosy. When the priest sees this, he shall declare that person unclean.
4But 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 is to isolate the sick person for seven days. 5On the seventh day the priest shall again examine him. If he sees that the sore looks the same and has not spread on the skin, he shall isolate the sick person for another seven days and once more examine him on the seventh day. 6If the sore has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest shall declare that person clean: it was only eczema. Let him wash his clothes and he will be clean.
7But if the sore spreads over the skin after the sick person has been examined by the priest and declared clean, then he must present himself again to the priest. 8After examining him and finding that the sore has spread over the skin, the priest must declare him unclean: it is leprosy.
9When a leprous disease strikes a man, he must be taken to the priest, 10who must examine him, and if he finds on the skin a whitish swelling which turns the hairs white and an ulcer is forming, 11then it is leprosy in the skin and the priest must declare him unclean. It is useless to isolate him for a time; he is unclean.
12But if the leprosy spreads all through the skin, if it covers him entirely from head to foot so far as the priest can see, 13then the priest must examine the sick person and, if he finds that the leprosy covers his whole body, declare the sick person clean. Since it has all turned white, he is clean. 14But as soon as an open sore appears on him, he will be unclean. 15After examining the sore, the priest is to declare him unclean: the open sore is leprous. 16But if the sore becomes white again, the man must go to the priest. 17The priest shall examine him and if he finds that the disease has turned white, he shall declare the sick person clean: he is clean.
18When an ulcer appears on a person’s skin, which, after healing, 19leaves a whitish swelling or a shiny spot of reddish white, that person must show himself to the priest. 20The priest shall examine him, and if he finds a spot deeper than the surrounding skin and the hairs in it have turned white he shall declare him unclean: it is a case of leprosy that has broken out in a boil. 21But if on examination the priest finds neither white hair in it nor a deep spot on the skin, but it is lighter in color, he shall isolate the sick person for seven days. 22If the disease has indeed spread over the skin, he shall declare him unclean: it is a case of leprosy. 23But if the shiny spot remains unchanged and has not spread, then it is only the scar of a boil and the priest is to declare the man clean.
24If someone has had a burn, and on the burn an ulcer forms, a shiny spot reddish white or whitish in color, 25then the priest must examine it. If he finds that the hairs in that spot have turned white and it seems to be deeper than the surrounding skin, this means that leprosy has broken out in the burn. The priest shall declare the man unclean: it is a case of leprosy. 26If on the other hand the priest on examination does not find white hair on the mark and it is not deeper than the surrounding skin, but is light in color, then the priest shall isolate him for seven days. 27On the seventh day he shall examine him, and if the disease has spread on the skin, he shall declare him unclean: it is a case of leprosy. 28If the mark is still unchanged and has not spread over the skin, but instead is light in color, this means that it is only a swelling due to the burn. The priest shall declare the man clean: it is merely a burn scar.
29If a man or woman has a sore on the head or chin, 30the priest must examine this sore; and if it seems to be deeper than the surrounding skin, with the hair on it yellow and thin, he must declare the sick person unclean. It is a dreaded skin disease, that is to say, leprosy of the head or chin. 31If on examining this case the priest finds no spot which seems deeper than the surrounding skin, and no yellow hair, he shall isolate the person for seven days. 32He shall examine the infected part on the seventh day, and if he finds that the disease has not spread, that the hair on it is not yellow, and that there is no spot which seems deeper than the surrounding skin, 33the sick person will shave his hair, all except the part affected with the disease, and the priest is to isolate him again for seven days. 34He must examine the infected part on the seventh day, and if he finds that it has not spread over the skin, and that there is no spot which seems deeper than the surrounding skin, the priest shall declare the sick person clean. After washing his clothes he will be clean. 35But if after this purification the disease does spread over the skin, 36the priest must examine him; if he finds that it has indeed spread over the skin, this means that the sick person is unclean, and there is no need to look and see whether the hair is yellow. 37Whereas if, so far as he can see, the disease has not spread and dark hair is beginning to grow on it, this means that the sick person is cured. He is clean, and the priest is to declare him clean.
38If shiny spots break out on the skin of a man or woman, and if these spots are white, 39the priest must examine them. If he finds them to be a dull white, it is a rash that has broken out on the skin: the sick person is clean.
40If a man loses the hair on top of his head, this is baldness of the scalp but the man is clean. 41If he loses his hair from the front of the head, this is baldness of the forehead but the man is clean. 42If, however, a reddish white sore appears on the top of his head or forehead, this means that leprosy has broken out. 43The priest must examine it, and if he finds a reddish white swelling on the head or forehead, which looks like leprosy of the skin, 44this means that the man is leprous: he is unclean. The priest shall declare him unclean; he is suffering from leprosy of the head.
45A person infected with leprosy must wear torn clothing and leave his hair uncombed; he must cover his upper lip and cry, “Unclean, unclean.” 46As long as the disease lasts he must be unclean; and therefore he must live away from others: he must live outside the camp.
“Leprosy” (mildew) on clothing
47When a mark of mildew appears on a piece of clothing — woolen or linen clothing, 48linen or woolen textile material or covering, leather or leatherwork — 49and if this clothing, textile material, covering, leather or leatherwork appears greenish or reddish, it is a spreading mildew to be shown to the priest. 50The priest must examine it and put the object away for seven days. 51If on the seventh day he observes that the mildew has spread on the garment, textile material, covering, leather or leatherwork, whatever it may be, it is a case of spreading mildew and the object is unclean. 52The priest will burn this clothing, textile material, linen or woolen covering, leather article of any kind, on which the mildew has spread and which must be destroyed by fire.
53But if on examination the priest finds that the mildew has not spread on the clothing, textile material, covering or leather object whatever it may be, 54he is to order the object to be washed and is to isolate it again for a period of seven days. 55After the cleansing he must examine it again and if he finds that the mildew has not changed color, even though it has not spread, the article is unclean. It must be destroyed by fire.
56But if on examination the priest finds that the mildew has faded after washing, he is to cut it out of the clothing, leather, textile material or covering. 57But if the mildew reappears on the same clothing, textile material, covering or leather article whatever it may be, this means that the mildew is spreading again and the owner must destroy the article by fire. 58The clothing, textile material, covering or leather article whatever it may be, from which the mildew disappears after washing, is to be clean after it has been washed a second time.
59Such is the law for a case of leprosy in a linen or woolen garment, in textile material, in clothing or in anything of skin — for judging whether it is clean or unclean.”
- Lev 13,1 In cases of leprosy, which was considered a contagious disease, the sick person was required to live apart from the community. A leper was considered unclean, meaning that he could not participate in public or religious life (see what is said in 8:1 and 11:1). At a time when misfortunes were thought to be divine punishment, leprosy was seen as a sign of a divine curse. The people easily believed that the leper excluded from the community was actually unclean in God's eyes. Among their obligations, priests had to diagnose leprosy and prescribe the isolation of lepers. They were also responsible for verifying cures and for allowing lepers to return to their families. This is what Jesus recalled when he healed lepers (Mk 1:43). Sacrifices for the purification of lepers were part of ancient folk ways. The mysterious sin which, according to them, had caused leprosy, was transferred to two birds (14:5). One of them was killed so that the sin would disappear with the bird. For more assurance, the other bird was released to take far away that same sin now dissolved in the dead bird's blood (14: 6-7).
