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Leviticus 13: Examining the Plague

The priest carefully examines skin diseases and mildew, pronouncing clean or unclean, while the leper dwells alone outside the camp.

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Leviticus 13 (WEB)

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

2 “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:

3 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.

4 If the bright spot is white in the skin of his body, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and its hair hasn’t turned white, then the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days.

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

6 The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day; and behold, if the plague has faded, and the plague hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. It is a scab. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean.

7 But if the scab spreads on the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again.

8 The priest shall examine him; and behold, if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy.

9 “When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought to the priest;

10 and the priest shall examine him. Behold, if there is a white rising in the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the rising,

11 it is a chronic leprosy in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not isolate him, for he is already unclean.

12 “If the leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the infected person from his head even to his feet, as far as it appears to the priest;

13 then the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the leprosy has covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean of the plague. It has all turned white: he is clean.

14 But whenever raw flesh appears in him, he shall be unclean.

15 The priest shall examine the raw flesh, and pronounce him unclean: the raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy.

16 Or if the raw flesh turns again, and is changed to white, then he shall come to the priest;

17 and the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the plague has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean of the plague. He is clean.

18 “When the body has a boil on its skin, and it has healed,

19 and in the place of the boil there is a white rising, or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it shall be shown to the priest;

20 and the priest shall examine it; and behold, if its appearance is lower than the skin, and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. It has broken out in the boil.

21 But if the priest examines it, and behold, there are no white hairs in it, and it isn’t deeper than the skin, but is dim, then the priest shall isolate him seven days.

22 If it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a plague.

23 But if the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn’t spread, it is the scar from the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

24 “Or when the body has a burn from fire on its skin, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white, or white,

25 then the priest shall examine it; and behold, if the hair in the bright spot has turned white, and its appearance is deeper than the skin; it is leprosy. It has broken out in the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy.

26 But if the priest examines it, and behold, there is no white hair in the bright spot, and it isn’t lower than the skin, but is faded; then the priest shall isolate him seven days.

27 The priest shall examine him on the seventh day. If it has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy.

28 If the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn’t spread in the skin, but is faded, it is the swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; for it is the scar from the burn.

29 “When a man or woman has a plague on the head or on the beard,

30 then the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if its appearance is deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is an itch, it is leprosy of the head or of the beard.

31 If the priest examines the plague of itching, and behold, its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the person infected with itching seven days.

32 On the seventh day the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the appearance of the itch isn’t deeper than the skin,

33 then he shall be shaved, but he shall not shave the itch; and the priest shall shut him up who has the itch seven more days.

34 On the seventh day, the priest shall examine the itch; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread in the skin, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean.

35 But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing,

36 then the priest shall examine him; and behold, if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest shall not look for the yellow hair; he is unclean.

37 But if in his eyes the itch is arrested, and black hair has grown in it; the itch is healed, he is clean. The priest shall pronounce him clean.

38 “When a man or a woman has bright spots in the skin of the body, even white bright spots;

39 then the priest shall examine them; and behold, if the bright spots on the skin of their body are a dull white, it is a harmless rash, it has broken out in the skin; he is clean.

40 “If a man’s hair has fallen from his head, he is bald. He is clean.

41 If his hair has fallen off from the front part of his head, he is forehead bald. He is clean.

42 But if there is in the bald head, or the bald forehead, a reddish-white plague; it is leprosy breaking out in his bald head, or his bald forehead.

43 Then the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the rising of the plague is reddish-white in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the flesh,

44 he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean. His plague is on his head.

45 “The leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’

46 All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. Outside of the camp shall be his dwelling.

47 “The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it is a woolen garment, or a linen garment;

48 whether it is in warp, or woof; of linen, or of wool; whether in a skin, or in anything made of skin;

49 if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything made of skin; it is the plague of leprosy, and shall be shown to the priest.

50 The priest shall examine the plague, and isolate the plague seven days.

51 He shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, whatever use the skin is used for, the plague is a destructive mildew. It is unclean.

52 He shall burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of skin, in which the plague is: for it is a destructive mildew. It shall be burned in the fire.

53 “If the priest examines it, and behold, the plague hasn’t spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin;

54 then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which the plague is, and he shall isolate it seven more days.

55 Then the priest shall examine it, after the plague is washed; and behold, if the plague hasn’t changed its color, and the plague hasn’t spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in the fire. It is a mildewed spot, whether the bareness is inside or outside.

56 If the priest looks, and behold, the plague has faded after it is washed, then he shall tear it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof:

57 and if it appears again in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire that in which the plague is.

58 The garment, either the warp, or the woof, or whatever thing of skin it is, which you shall wash, if the plague has departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and it will be clean.”

59 This is the law of the plague of mildew in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp, or the woof, or in anything of skin, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.

Summary

This long and detailed chapter gives the priest's procedures for diagnosing the plague of leprosy, a term covering various skin diseases and even mildew in fabric. When a person develops a rising, scab, or bright spot, he is brought to the priest, who examines the affected skin, watching for telltale signs such as white hair, depth below the skin, raw flesh, or spreading. If uncertain, the priest isolates the person for seven days, then examines again, pronouncing him clean or unclean. Various cases are treated, boils, burns, scalp conditions, baldness, and even greenish or reddish growths in woolen and linen garments. The one declared a leper must wear torn clothes, let his hair hang loose, cover his lip, and cry, “Unclean! Unclean!” dwelling alone outside the camp. Garments judged unclean are washed or burned. These laws protected the community and dramatized how sin defiles and isolates, cutting a person off from fellowship. Against this dark backdrop the Gospels shine all the brighter, for Jesus reached out and touched lepers, and instead of becoming unclean himself, he made the unclean clean.

Key Figures

  • The priest — The careful examiner who inspects the plague, isolates when uncertain, and pronounces a person or garment clean or unclean.
  • The afflicted person — The one with a skin disease who is brought to the priest and, if declared leprous, must dwell alone outside the camp.
  • Yahweh (the LORD) — The God who gives these laws to Moses and Aaron, guarding his people's health and dramatizing the defiling, isolating power of uncleanness.

Key Verse

Leviticus 13:46 (WEB)

All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. Outside of the camp shall be his dwelling.

Lessons Learned

  • God appoints careful, patient discernment rather than hasty judgment about uncleanness.
  • Uncleanness, like sin, defiles and separates a person from the community.
  • What is corrupt and spreading must be dealt with honestly, not ignored.
  • The isolation of the leper highlights our deep need for One who can make the unclean clean.
  • Discernment takes patience. The priest is to “isolate the infected person for seven days” and examine again (Leviticus 13:4-5, WEB). Right judgment is careful and unhurried.
  • Uncleanness must be named. The leper is to “cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’” (Leviticus 13:45, WEB). What defiles is to be acknowledged honestly, not concealed.
  • Sin isolates. The leper “shall dwell alone. Outside of the camp shall be his dwelling” (Leviticus 13:46, WEB). Defilement cuts a person off from fellowship, picturing the alienating power of sin.
  • Corruption that spreads must be removed. A garment with spreading mildew “shall be burned in the fire” (Leviticus 13:52, WEB). What is destructive and spreading cannot simply be tolerated.
  1. Why does God require such careful, repeated examination before declaring someone unclean?
  2. In what ways does the defilement and isolation of leprosy picture the effects of sin?
  3. Why must the leper announce his own uncleanness and dwell outside the camp?
  4. How does this chapter's bleak picture make Jesus' willingness to touch lepers so striking (see Mark 1:40-42)?
  5. Where might you be hiding something “spreading” in your life rather than bringing it into the light?
  1. The careful process, with isolation and re-examination, ensures justice and protects both the individual and the community from rash verdicts. It models discernment that is patient and fair rather than hasty.
  2. Like sin, leprosy spreads, defiles, and separates the person from fellowship and from worship. The physical condition becomes a vivid picture of how sin alienates us from God and others.
  3. The cry and the dwelling apart protect others and acknowledge the reality of the condition. Yet the heartbreaking isolation magnifies our longing for restoration that only God can give.
  4. Where the law required distance, Jesus drew near and touched the leper, and rather than being defiled, he cleansed the man. He alone reverses uncleanness, taking our defilement and giving his cleanness.
  5. This is a gentle personal-application question. Encourage members to bring hidden, festering sin into the light of Christ's cleansing rather than letting it spread. Keep the tone hopeful and confidential.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.