Leviticus - 13:20



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.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Leviticus 13:20.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.
And when he shall see the place of the leprosy lower than the other flesh, and the hair turned white, he shall declare him unclean, for the plague of leprosy is broken out in the ulcer.
and the priest shall look on it, and behold, it looketh deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof is turned white; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the sore of leprosy broken out in the boil.
And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it is in sight lower than the skin, and the hair of it is turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.
and the priest hath seen, and lo, its appearance is lower than the skin, and its hair hath turned white, and the priest hath pronounced him unclean; it is a plague of leprosy, in an ulcer it hath broken out.
And if, when the priest sees it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.
And after looking at it, if it seems to go deeper than the skin, and the hair on it is turned white, then the priest will say that the man is unclean: it is the leper's disease, it has come out in the bad place.
And when he will have seen the place of the leprosy lower than the rest of the flesh, and that the hair has turned white, he shall declare him contaminated. For the plague of leprosy has arisen from the ulcer.
Et quum inspexerit sacerdos, si pilus profundior fuerit cute, et pilus conversus fuerit in albedinem, contaminabit eum sacerdos: quia plaga leprae est ex ulcere germinans.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Lower than the skin - Rather, reaching below the scarf skin.

And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it [be] in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall pronounce him (g) unclean: it [is] a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.
(g) No one was exempted, but if the priest pronounced him unclean, he was put out from among the people: as appears by the example of Mary the prophetess, (Numbers 12:14) and by king Uzziah, (2-Chronicles 26:20).

And if, when the priest seeth it,.... And has thoroughly viewed it and considered it:
behold, it be in sight lower than the skin; having eaten into and taken root in the flesh under the skin:
and the hair thereof be turned white; which are the signs of leprosy before given, Leviticus 13:3,
the priest shall pronounce him unclean; not fit for company and conversation, but obliged to conform to the laws concerning leprosy:
it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil; which was there before: this is an emblem of apostates and apostasy, who having been seemingly healed and cleansed, return to their former course of life, and to all the impurity of it, like the dog to its vomit, and the swine to its wallowing in the mire, Proverbs 26:11; and so their last state is worse than the first, Matthew 12:45, as in this case; at first it was a boil, and then thought to be cured, and afterwards arises out of it a plague of leprosy.

If the priest found the appearance of the diseased spot lower than the surrounding skin, and the hair upon it turned white, he was to pronounce the person unclean. "It is a mole of leprosy: it has broken out upon the abscess."

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