Instructions about skin diseases
13
And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 📚“When a man has a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot on the skin of his body, and it seems to be the mark 📖 of leprosy 📖 in the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests. 3 📚And the priest shall look at the mark in the skin of the body, and if the hair in the mark has turned white and the mark appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a mark of leprosy; and the priest shall look at him and pronounce him unclean. 4 📚If the bright spot is white in the skin of his body, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the mark for seven days. 5 And the priest shall look at him on the seventh day, and if the mark in his sight appears to be unchanged, and the mark has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days. 6 📚And the priest shall look at him again on the seventh day, and if the mark is somewhat dark, and the mark has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a scab. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 7 📚But if the scab spreads further in the skin after he has been seen by the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again; 8 📚and if the priest looks and sees that the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy.9 “When the mark of leprosy is on a man, then he shall be brought to the priest. 10 📚And the priest shall look at him, and if the swelling is white in the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, 11 it is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not isolate him; for he is unclean.
12 📚“And if leprosy breaks out on the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the one who has the mark, from his head to his foot, wherever the priest looks, 13 📚then the priest shall look and if the leprosy appears to cover his whole body, he shall pronounce the one who has the mark clean; it has all turned white; he is clean. 14 But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. 15 And the priest shall look at the raw flesh, and pronounce him to be unclean, for the raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy. 16 📚But if the raw flesh changes and turns white, he shall come to the priest. 17 And the priest shall look at him, and if the plague appears to have turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the one who has the mark clean; he is clean.
18 📚“And the body which has a boil in its skin that has healed, 19 📚and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling or a bright spot, white and somewhat reddish, it should be shown to the priest. 20 📚And when the priest sees it, if it appears to be lower than the skin, and the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a mark of leprosy broken out of the boil. 21 📚But if the priest looks at it, and no white hairs appear in it, and if it is not lower than the skin, but is somewhat dark, then the priest shall isolate him for seven days. 22 And if it spreads over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a mark of leprosy. 23 📚But if the bright spot is unchanged and has not spread, it is the scar of the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
24 📚“Or if the body has in its skin a burn from fire, and the raw flesh that was burned has a white bright spot, somewhat reddish or white, 25 📚then the priest shall look at it, and if it appears that the hair in the bright spot has turned white, and it appears to be deeper than the skin, it is leprosy, broken out in the burn. Therefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the mark of leprosy. 26 📚But if the priest looks at it, and no white hair appears to be in the bright spot, and it is no lower than the other skin, but is somewhat dark, then the priest shall isolate him for seven days. 27 And the priest shall look at him on the seventh day, and if it is spread over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the mark of leprosy. 28 And if the bright spot is unchanged, and has not spread in the skin, but is somewhat dark, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is an inflammation from the burn.
29 📚“If a man or woman has a mark on the head or the beard, 30 📚then the priest shall look at the mark, and if he sees that it appears to be deeper than the skin, and there is yellow thin hair in it, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a scale, leprosy on the head or beard. 31 And if the priest looks at the mark of the scale, and sees that it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the mark of the scale for seven days. 32 📚And on the seventh day the priest shall look at the mark, and, if he sees that the scale has not spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the scale does not appear to be deeper than the skin, 33 he shall shave himself, but he shall not shave the scale. And the priest shall isolate the one who has the scale for seven more days. 34 📚And on the seventh day the priest shall look at the scale, and if it appears that the scale has not spread in the skin, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And he shall wash his clothes, and be clean. 35 📚But if the scale spreads further in the skin after his cleansing, 36 then the priest shall look at him, and if it appears that the scale has spread in the skin, the priest shall not look for yellow hair; he is unclean. 37 But if the scale appears to be unchanged, and black hair has grown in it, the scale is healed; he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
38 “And if a man or a woman has bright spots, white bright spots, in the skin of the body, 39 📚then the priest shall look, and if the bright spots appearing in the skin of the body are dull white, it is a rash broken out in the skin; he is clean.
40 📚“And the man who has lost his hair, though he is bald, he is clean. 41 And the one who has lost his hair from the part of his head toward his face, though he is bald on the forehead, he is clean. 42 But if there is on the bald head, or bald forehead, a white reddish sore, it is leprosy broken out on his bald head, or his bald forehead. 43 Then the priest shall look at it, and if the swelling of the sore appears to be reddish white on his bald head, or on his bald forehead, like the leprosy that appears in the skin of the body, 44 📚he is a leprous man; he is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his mark is on his head.
45 📚“And the leper who has the mark shall wear his clothes torn, and have his head uncovered, and shall put a covering on his upper lip, and shall cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 📚He shall remain unclean all the days in which the mark is on him; he is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.
13:45-46 Num 5:1-4; 12:10-14; Luke 17:11-12; Heb 13:12-13. The Lord Jesus suffered in the place of lepers outside the camp (note at 5:11-12). So great was His love for sinners. Outside the camp of God’s people is where sinners are and where they must remain unless they repent and trust in the Lord Jesus.🪶
Instructions about mildew
47 📚“And if a garment has the mark of leprosy in it, whether it is a woolen garment, or a linen garment, 48 📚whether it is in the warp or woof, of linen, or of wool, whether in a hide, or in anything made of hide, 49 and if the mark in the garment, or in the hide, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of hide, is greenish or reddish, it is a mark of leprosy, and shall be shown to the priest. 50 📚And the priest shall look at the mark, and isolate that which has the mark for seven days. 51 📚And he shall look at the mark on the seventh day. If the mark has spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a hide, or in anything that is made of hide, the mark is a fretting leprosy; it is unclean. 52 📚Therefore he shall burn that garment, whether warp or woof, on wool or on linen, or anything of hide, that has the mark; for it is a fretting leprosy; it shall be burned in the fire.
53 “And if the priest looks, and it appears that the mark has not spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything of hide, 54 then the priest shall command them to wash the thing that has the mark, and he shall isolate it for seven more days. 55 📚Then, after it has been washed, the priest shall look at the mark, and if it appears that the mark has not changed its colour, and the mark has not spread, it is unclean. You shall burn it in the fire. It is eaten away on the inside or on the outside. 56 And if the priest looks, and the mark appears to be somewhat darker after washing it, then he shall tear it out of the garment, or out of the hide, or out of the warp, or out of the woof. 57 📚And if it still appears in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything of hide, it is a spreading mark. You shall burn that which has the mark in the fire. 58 📚And the garment, whether warp or woof, or whatever thing made of hide it may be which you wash, if the mark has gone from it, then it shall be washed the second time, and shall be clean.
59 “This is the law about the mark of leprosy in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or woof, or anything made of hides, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean”.
13:47-59 The same Hebrew word used for the disease that attacks persons is here used for that which attacks cloth and leather goods. No known kind of leprosy does this. It is not necessary for us to know exactly what this disease was. If this disease in the skin symbolizes sin in the nature breaking out in sinful acts, then sin in the clothing probably signifies defilement of one’s outward way of life. Garments signify the life we live before all (Rev 3:4; 16:15). The unclean garment was to be burned (v 52) or washed (v 58). Sin that defiles our outward walk must be judged in the fire of God’s holiness, and washed by the Word of God (John 13:10; 15:3; Eph 5:26; Isa 1:16-17; Jude 23).⚜