Leviticus 13:21

21 But when the priest examines it, if there is no white hair in it, and it is not beneath the skin but is faded, the priest must quarantine him seven days.

Leviticus 13:21 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 13:21

But if the priest look on it
Upon a person in a like case as first described, having had a boil, and that healed, and afterwards a white swelling, or a bright spot in the place of it: and, behold, [there be] no white hairs therein;
not two hairs turned white, as Gersom interprets it: and [if] it [be] not lower than the skin;
the bright spot not lower than the skin; not having got into the flesh, only skin deep: the Targum of Jonathan is, not lower in whiteness than the skin; for the bright spot is described as white, and so the rising or swelling, ( Leviticus 13:19 ) ; but [be] somewhat dark;
or rather "contracted"; to which spreading is opposed in the next verse; (See Gill on Leviticus 13:6); then the priest shall shut him up seven days;
to wait and see whether it will spread or not: a boil and burning, the Jews say, make a man unclean in one week, and by two signs, the white hair, and the spreading; by the white hair, both at the beginning and at the end of the week after dismission, and by spreading at the end of the week after it F17.


FOOTNOTES:

F17 Misn. Negaim, c. 3. sect. 4.

Leviticus 13:21 In-Context

19 and a white swelling or a reddish-white spot develops where the boil was, the person must present himself to the priest.
20 The priest will make an examination, and if the spot seems to be beneath the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a skin disease that has broken out in the boil.
21 But when the priest examines it, if there is no white hair in it, and it is not beneath the skin but is faded, the priest must quarantine him seven days.
22 If it spreads further on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is an infection.
23 But if the spot remains where it is and does not spread, it is [only] the scar from the boil. The priest is to pronounce him clean.
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.