Leviticus 13:30

30 then the priest shall see the plague; and behold, if it be in appearance deeper than the skin and there is in it a yellow thin hair, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.

Leviticus 13:30 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 13:30

Then the priest shall see the plague
The person on whom it is shall come or be brought unto him; and he shall look upon it and examine it: and, behold, if it [be] in sight deeper than the skin;
which is always one sign of leprosy; [and there be] in it a yellow thin hair;
like the appearance of thin gold, as the Targum of Jonathan; for, as Ben Gersom says, its colour is the colour of gold; and it is called thin in this place, because short and soft, and not when it is long and small; and so it is said, scabs make unclean in two weeks, and by two signs, by thin yellow hair, and by spreading, by yellow hair, small, soft, and short F20: now this is to be understood, not of hair that is naturally of a yellow or gold colour, as is the hair of the head and beard of some persons, but of hair changed into this colour through the force of the disease; and so Jarchi interprets it, black hair turned yellow; in other parts of the body, hair turned white was a sign of leprosy, but here that which was turned yellow or golden coloured: Aben Ezra observes, that the colour expressed by this word is, in the Ishmaelitish or Arabic language, the next to the white colour: then the priest shall pronounce him unclean;
declare him a leper, and unfit for company, and order him to do and have done for him the things after expressed, as required in such a case: it [is] a dry scall;
or "wound", as the Septuagint version; "nethek", which is the word here used, Jarchi says, is the name of a plague that is in the place of hair, or where that grows; it has its name from plucking up; for there the hair is plucked away, as Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom note: [even] a leprosy upon the head or beard;
as the head is the seat of knowledge, and the beard a sign of manhood, and of a man's being arrived to years of discretion; when wisdom and prudence are expected in him; this sort of leprosy may be an emblem of errors in judgment, of false doctrines and heresies imbibed by persons, which eat as doth a canker, and are in themselves damnable, and bring ruin and destruction on teachers and hearers, unless recovered from them by the grace of God.


FOOTNOTES:

F20 Negaim, c. 10. sect. 1.

Leviticus 13:30 In-Context

28 And if the bright spot stay in his place and spread not in the skin, but it is somewhat dark, it is a rising from the burning; and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is an inflammation from the burning.
29 "If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard,
30 then the priest shall see the plague; and behold, if it be in appearance deeper than the skin and there is in it a yellow thin hair, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.
31 And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and behold, it is not in appearance deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days.
32 And on the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague; and behold, if the scall spread not and there is in it no yellow hair and the scall is not in appearance deeper than the skin,
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.