Leviticus 13:1

This long chapter provides instructions for the ancient priests of Israel to follow in dealing with physical conditions suspected of being leprosy. We have actually found no key whatever for any application of the instructions here to the concerns and interests of our society today, except in the general sense regarding the typical nature of leprosy as a type of sin, due to its loathsomeness, and its fatal consequences.

Since a number of different symptoms are enumerated here, some of which led to a designation of leprosy in the victim, and others which resulted in his being pronounced "clean," it is quite obvious that several different physical disorders resulted in the sufferer's being brought to the priest for diagnosis.

Knight identified the following diseases as coming under inspection in this chapter:

"(1) The horrible anaesthetic leprosy that exists unto this day; (2) tuberculous leprosy that begins with a skin disease and develops into deformities; (3) several kinds of skin eruptions resembling leprosy, but sometimes disappearing spontaneously; and (4) a number of diseases known and treated today under such names as herpes, ringworm, eczema, and psoriasis.[1]

The Holy Scriptures were never provided in order to give men scientific information, and the thing that is in view here is the divine instruction to protect the spread of disease, especially that of leprosy. It is not the cure of this malady which is given here, but the rules for the isolation and quarantine of those having it. That such instructions are Divine should not be for a moment questioned. The human race has continued to isolate and quarantine lepers all over the world until this very day. The extreme repugnance of the disease, as well as its incurable nature, made it an especially appropriate type of sin. The fact that those ancient priests charged with the task of observing human maladies and deciding which was leprosy and which was not were probably subject to human error in their decisions should not obscure the truth that the method they followed was the best known and the most efficient that that age provided.

North commented that, "The application of the word leprosy in this chapter is very wide; and it has even been doubted that true leprosy is contemplated at all."[2]

However, we need have no hesitance in believing that actual leprosy was surely included in this chapter, because other passages in the Bible plainly indicate the characteristics of leprosy in its worst form. Moses' prayer concerning the leprosy of Miriam has this: "Let her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed" (Numbers 12:12). "All references to this disease in the Scriptures imply that it was incurable and that its removal required the exercise of Divine power."[3] Naaman, it will be remembered, sought the cure of his leprosy, not because of any fancied skill of Israel's physicians, but because there was a "prophet of God" in Israel. And when Naaman inquired of the King of Israel, the king tore his garments and exploded with the remark: "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy?" (2 Kings 5:7). Such references to the disease may be multiplied, but these are enough to show that there was indeed real leprosy in the land, and that the people knew it and recognized it. Any notion, therefore, that this chapter is dealing only with such a thing as psoriasis is ridiculous. There were probably, of course, many persons who came to the priests with diseases other than leprosy, and those of course, were, after investigation, declared "clean."

"And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it become in the skin of his flesh the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: 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. And if the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and the appearance thereof be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white, then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days: and the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, if in his eyes the plague be at a stay, and the plague be not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up seven days more: and the priest shall look on him again the seventh day; and, behold, if the plague be dim, and the plague be not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is a scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean. But if the scab spread abroad in the skin, after that he hath showed himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again: and the priest shall look; and, behold, if the scab be spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is leprosy."

In the first 28 verses, four different cases of suspected leprosy are described, the first in this paragraph, the second in Leviticus 13:9-17, the third in Leviticus 13:18-23, and the fourth in Leviticus 13:24-28. Note that extended observation in certain cases was required to determine if leprosy actually existed. There was also a provision, that even when declared clean, a patient might still be denominated as leprous and unclean, if the malady returned in such a manner as to justify such a decision. This indicated that the judgment of the priests in these matters was not considered "divine," but human judgment, exercised to the best of their ability.