Leviticus 13 Study Notes

13:1-14:32 The instructions on physical purity emphasize the holiness of God and the necessity of purity in every aspect of our relationship with him. In order for God’s covenant people to enter the tabernacle—that is, enter into the place for worship and fellowship with him—their bodies had to be free from skin disease. The priests diagnosed the disease and isolated the sick person. But God in his grace provided for the restoration of the isolated party after healing occurred. A restored person could return to the community of the faithful.

13:1 God addressed both Moses and Aaron in v. 1; 11:1; 14:33; and 15:1 (cp. 10:8).

13:2 The Hebrew word for “skin disease” (tsara’ath) was translated into the Greek as lepra and transliterated as such into Latin. Thus most English translations render the word as “leprosy.” The Hebrew word, however, is a generic term that refers to changes in the surface of the human skin and is best translated as a serious disease on the skin; it can also indicate fungus or mildew (v. 47; 14:34). During the postexilic period, rabbis identified seventy-two types of skin disease.

13:3-8 Two different types of problems are described here. One can be classified as minor because the disorder was not severe and the isolation was not long, but in the second type, the infinitive absolute in v. 7 indicates that the infection had spread drastically. The ritual period of seven days is predominant in Leviticus (8:33; 12:2; 14:8; 15:13,28, 23:6; 25:4). The number seven and its derivatives occur 176 times in Leviticus. It symbolizes fullness, perfection, or completion. Later rabbis suggested that the person being isolated was banished outside the camp or city, while others suggested that it was in special quarters, as in the case of King Uzziah (1Kg 15:5; 2Ch 26:21).

13:9,11,15 The chronic serious disease on the skin involved the presence of raw flesh rendering a person unclean. The Hebrew word tsara‘ath appears thirty-five times in the OT, but only six times outside of Leviticus (Dt 24:8; 2Kg 5:3,6-7,27; 2Ch 26:19). A person is pronounced unclean seven times in chap. 13 (vv. 11,15,36,44,46,51,55).

13:25 The skin condition described here could be identified as psoriasis.

13:30 The term scaly outbreak appears only in this pericope of the Bible (vv. 30-37; 14:54). It refers to a skin disease that appeared on a person’s head or chin.

13:45-46 The person rendered unclean was relegated to life outside the community until healed. The torn . . . clothes were a sign of mourning, while the crying out was a warning to those who were ceremonially clean. This practice was still observed during Jesus’s time, when ten men with serious skin diseases stood at a distance from the community and were asked by Jesus to show themselves to the priest after he had healed them (Lk 17:11-14).

13:47-59 As with contagious skin diseases, so also with mildew or fungus; no spreadable contamination of fabric or leather was permitted to undermine the ceremonial cleanliness of the community.