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Leviticus 13:3

in Leviticus 13

The priest is to examine the infection on his skin, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a skin disease. After the priest examines him, he must pronounce him unclean.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

and the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and if the hair in the plague be turned white, and the appearance of the plague be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.

KJV

And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.

This verse in Leviticus 13

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
The hair in the plague is turned white - The sparing growth of very fine whitish hair on leprous spots in the place of the natural hair, appears to have been always regarded as a characteristic symptom. the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh - Rather The stroke appears to be deeper than the scarf skin. The bright spot changed to a brownish color with a metallic or oily luster, and with a clearly-defined edge. This symptom, along with the whitish hair, at once decided the case to be one of leprosy.

This site's exposition

the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron

on Leviticus 13:1-3

The chapter puts a priest where a reader expects a physician and gives him nothing to prescribe. The word rendered leprosy occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and the Hebrew tsara'ath covers a range of skin conditions wider than the disease that carries the English name now. Across fifty-nine verses the priest looks or sees seventeen times and no treatment is ordered anywhere, so his whole office here is to decide and to say.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

When the hair is turned white - This change of colour was an evidence both of the abundance of excrementious humours, and of the weakness of nature, as we see in old and sick persons.
And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The infirmities that consist with grace do not sink deep into the soul, but the mind still serves the law of God, and the inward man delights in it, Rom. vii. But if the matter be really worse than it shows, and the inwards be infected, the case is dangerous. If the sore be at a stay, and do not spread, it is no leprosy,

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

When a Hebrew priest, after a careful inspection, discovered under the cutaneous blemish the distinctive signs of contagious leprosy, the person was immediately pronounced unclean, and is supposed to have been sent out of the camp to a lazaretto provided for that purpose.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The priest shall - pronounce him unclean - וטמא אתו vetimme otho; literally, shall pollute him, i. e., in the Hebrew idiom, shall declare or pronounce him polluted; and in Lev 13:23, it is said, the priest shall pronounce him clean, וטהרו הכהן vetiharo haccohen, the priest shall cleanse him, i. e., declare him clean. In this phrase we have the proper meaning of Mat 16:19: Whatsoever ye bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. By which our Lord intimates that the disciples, from having the keys, i. e., the true knowledge of the doctrine, of the kingdom of heaven, should, from particular evidences, be at all times able to distinguish between the clean and the unclean, the sincere and the hypocrite; and pronounce a judgment as infallible as the priest did in the case of the leprosy, from the tokens already specified. And as this binding and loosing, or pronouncing fit or unfit for fellowship with the members of Christ, must in the case of the disciples be always according to the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven, the sentence should be considered as proceeding immediately from thence, and consequently as Divinely ratified. The priest polluted or cleansed, i. e., declared the man clean or unclean, according to signs well known and infallible. The disciples or ministers of Christ bind or loose, declare to be fit or unfit for Church fellowship, according to unequivocal evidences of innocence or guilt. In the former case, the priest declared the person fit or unfit for civil society; in the latter, the ministers of Christ declare the person against whom the suspicion of guilt is laid, fit or unfit for continued association with the Church of God. […]

The words behind it

22 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְרָאָ֣הand he will see

    veraahH72001300 times

  • הַכֹּהֵ֣ןthe priest

    hakohenH3548750 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • הַנֶּ֣גַעthe plague

    hanega'H506178 times

  • בְּעֽוֹר־on [the] skin of

    beor-H578599 times

  • הַ֠בָּשָׂרthe flesh

    habasorH1320270 times

  • וְשֵׂעָ֨רand [the] hair

    vesearH818128 times

  • בַּנֶּ֜גַעin the plague

    banega'H506178 times

  • הָפַ֣ךְ׀it has turned

    hafakhH201594 times

  • לָבָ֗ןwhite

    lavanH383629 times

  • וּמַרְאֵ֤הand [the] appearance of

    umarehH4758103 times

  • הַנֶּ֙גַע֙the plague

    hanega'H506178 times

  • עָמֹק֙[is] deep

    ʾamokH601317 times

  • מֵע֣וֹרmore than [the] skin of

    meorH578599 times

  • בְּשָׂר֔וֹflesh his

    besaroH1320270 times

  • נֶ֥גַע[is] a plague of

    nega'H506178 times

  • צָרַ֖עַתa serious skin disease

    tzaraatH688335 times

  • ה֑וּאit

    hu'H19311879 times

  • וְרָאָ֥הוּand he will see it

    veraahuH72001300 times

  • הַכֹּהֵ֖ןthe priest

    hakohenH3548750 times

  • וְטִמֵּ֥אand he will declare unclean

    vetime'H2930162 times

  • אֹתֽוֹ׃<obj.> him

    ʾotoH85310935 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Revelation 2:23

    Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 16:27

      For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

    • Psalms 7:9

      Put an end to the evil of the wicked, but establish the righteous, O righteous God who searches hearts and minds.

    • Romans 8:27

      And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

    • Acts 1:24

      And they prayed, “Lord, You know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen

    • 1 Peter 1:17

      Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners.

  • Through

    2 Timothy 3:13

    while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

    it leads to

    • 1 Timothy 4:1

      Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,

    • Titus 3:3

      For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

    • 2 Timothy 3:8

      Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.

Where this verse is studied

About Leviticus

Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.