Leviticus 13:4

4 But if the spot on the skin of his body is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest must quarantine the infected person for seven days.^[a]

Leviticus 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.

Leviticus 13:4 In-Context

2 "When a person has a swelling, scab, or spot on the skin of his body, and it becomes a disease on the skin of his body, he is to be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests.

3 The priest will examine the infection on the skin of his body. If the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a skin disease. After the priest examines him, he must pronounce him unclean.

4 But if the spot on the skin of his body is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest must quarantine the infected person for seven days.

5 The priest will then reexamine him on the seventh day. If the infection remains unchanged in his sight and has not spread on the skin, the priest must quarantine him for another seven days.

6 The priest will examine him again on the seventh day. If the infection has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest is to pronounce him clean; it is a scab. The person is to wash his clothes and will become clean.

Footnotes

• [a]. Nm 12:14-15; 2 Kg 15:5