Vayikra 13:4

4 If the bright spot be white in the skin of his basar, and in appearance be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white, then the kohen shall quarantine him that hath the nega shivat yamim;

Vayikra 13:4 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 13:4

If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh
The Targum of Jonathan is, white as chalk in the skin of his flesh; but other Jewish writers make the whiteness of the bright spot to be the greatest of all, like that of snow; (See Gill on Leviticus 13:2):

and in sight [be] not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof
be not turned white;
though it be a bright spot, and be very white, yet these two marks not appearing, it cannot be judged a leprosy, at most it is only suspicious: wherefore

then the priest, shall shut up [him that hath] the plague seven
days;
in whom the bright spot is, and of whom there is a suspicion of the plague of leprosy, but it is not certain; and therefore, in order to take time, and get further knowledge, the person was to be shut up from all company and conversation for the space of seven days; by which time it might be supposed, as Ben Gersom observes, that the case and state of the leprosy (if it was one) would be altered; and Aben Ezra remarks, that most diseases change or alter on the seventh day.

Vayikra 13:4 In-Context

2 When a man shall have in the skin of his basar a swelling, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his basar like the nega tzara’at; then he shall be brought unto Aharon the kohen, or unto one of his Banim the kohanim;

3 And the kohen shall examine the nega in the skin of the basar; and when hair in the nega is turned white, and the nega in appearance be deeper than the skin of his basar, it is a nega tzara’at; and the kohen shall examine him, and pronounce him tamei.

4 If the bright spot be white in the skin of his basar, and in appearance be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white, then the kohen shall quarantine him that hath the nega shivat yamim;

5 And the kohen shall examine him on the yom hashevi’i; and, hinei, if the nega in his sight be unchanged, and the nega spread not in the skin; then the kohen shall quarantine him another shivat yamim;

6 And the kohen shall examine him again on the yom hashevi’i; and, hinei, if the nega be somewhat faded, and the nega spread not in the skin, the kohen shall pronounce him tahor; it is but a scab; and he shall wash his clothes, and be tahor.