Leviticus 13:5

5 On the seventh day the priest will examine it again; if, in his judgment, the sore is the same and has not spread, the priest will keep him in quarantine for another seven days.

Leviticus 13:5 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 13:5

And the priest shall look on him the seventh day
In the day, and not in the night, as Maimonides, but not on the seventh day, if it happened to be on the sabbath F6, then it was put off till after it; and, according to the Jewish canons F7, they do not look upon plagues in the morning, nor in the evening, nor in the middle of a house, nor on a cloudy day, nor at noon, but at the fourth, fifth, eighth, and ninth hours:

and, behold, [if] the plague in his sight be at a stay;
it appears to the priest, according to the strictest view he can take of it, that it is in the same state and condition it was, neither better nor worse:

[and] the plague spread not in the skin:
is not greater or larger than it was, though not less:

then the priest shall shut him up seven days more;
such abundant care was taken, lest after all it should prove a leprosy.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Misn. Negaim, c. 1. sect. 4.
F7 Misn. ib. c. 2. sect. 2.

Leviticus 13:5 In-Context

3 The priest will examine the sore on the skin. If the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears more than skin deep, it is a serious skin disease and infectious. After the priest has examined it, he will pronounce the person unclean.
4 "If the shiny spot on the skin is white but appears to be only on the surface and the hair has not turned white, the priest will quarantine the person for seven days.
5 On the seventh day the priest will examine it again; if, in his judgment, the sore is the same and has not spread, the priest will keep him in quarantine for another seven days.
6 On the seventh day the priest will examine him a second time; if the sore has faded and hasn't spread, the priest will declare him clean - it is a harmless rash. The person can go home and wash his clothes; he is clean.
7 But if the sore spreads after he has shown himself to the priest and been declared clean, he must come back again to the priest
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.