Leviticus 13:5

5 On the seventh day the priest must look carefully at the sore again. Suppose it has not changed and has not spread in the skin. Then the priest must make the person stay away from everyone else 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Leviticus 13:5 In-Context

3 "The priest must look carefully at the sore on the person's skin. He must see whether the hair in the sore has turned white. He must also see whether the sore seems to be under the skin. If the sore is white and is under the skin, it is a skin disease. When the priest looks that person over carefully, he must announce that the person is 'unclean.'

4 "Suppose the spot on the skin is white but does not seem to be under the skin. And suppose the hair in the spot has not turned white. Then the priest must make the person stay away from everyone else for seven days.

5 On the seventh day the priest must look carefully at the sore again. Suppose it has not changed and has not spread in the skin. Then the priest must make the person stay away from everyone else for another seven days.

6 On the seventh day the priest must look carefully at the sore again. If it has faded and has not spread, he must announce that the person is 'clean.' It is only a rash. He must wash his clothes. He will be 'clean.'

7 "But suppose the rash spreads in the skin after he has shown himself to the priest a second time. Then he must appear in front of the priest again.