Vayikra 13:21

21 But if the kohen examine it, and, hinei, there be no white hair therein, and if it be not deeper than the skin, but be somewhat faded, then the kohen shall quarantine him shivat yamim;

Vayikra 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.

Vayikra 13:21 In-Context

19 And in the place of the boil there be a white swelling, or a bright spot, white, and somewhat reddish, and it be shown to the kohen;
20 And if, when the kohen examine it, hinei, it be in appearance deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the kohen shall pronounce him tamei; it is a nega tzara’at broken out of the boil.
21 But if the kohen examine it, and, hinei, there be no white hair therein, and if it be not deeper than the skin, but be somewhat faded, then the kohen shall quarantine him shivat yamim;
22 And if it spread much abroad in the skin, then the kohen shall pronounce him tamei; it is a nega.
23 But if the bright spot stay in its place, and spread not, it is a burning boil; and the kohen shall pronounce him tahor.
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