Leviticus 13:19

19 and there should be in the place of the ulcer a white sore, or looking white and bright, or fiery, and it shall be seen by the priest;

Leviticus 13:19 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 13:19

And in the place of the boil there be a white rising
In the place where the boil was, a white swelling appears: or a bright spot, white, and somewhat reddish;
white and red mixed, as the Targum of Jonathan; and so Aben Ezra interprets the word "reddish", of the bright spot being mixed of two colours, or part of it so; and such a mixed colour of white and red, Gersom observes, is usual in a swelling, and adds, we are taught how to judge of these appearances, according to a tradition from Moses, which is this: take a cup full of milk, and put in it two drops of blood, and the colour of it will be as the colour of the bright spot, white and reddish; and if you put into it four drops, its colour will be as the colour of the rising (or swelling) reddish; and if you put into it eight drops, its colour will be as the colour of the scab of the bright spot, more reddish; and if you put into it sixteen drops, its colour will be as the colour of the scab of the swelling, very red: hence it appears, says he, that the bright spot is whitest with its redness, and after that the swelling, and next the scab of the bright spot, and then the scab of the swelling; but Bochart ^F16 is of opinion that the word is wrongly rendered "reddish", which, he thinks, contradicts the account of the bright spot being white, and especially as the word for "reddish" has its radicals doubled, which always increase the signification; and therefore if the word bears the sense of redness, it should be rendered "exceeding red", which would be quite contrary to the spot being white at all; wherefore from the use of the word in the Arabic language, which signifies white, bright, and glittering; (See Gill on Lamentations 4:7); he chooses to read the words, "or a bright spot, white and exceeding glittering": but this word we render reddish and white, being read disjunctively, ( Leviticus 13:24 ) ; seems to contradict this observation of his: and it be shewed to the priest;
to look upon and pass his judgment on it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 5. c. 6. col. 689.

Leviticus 13:19 In-Context

17 and the priest shall see , and, behold, the plague is turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the patient clean: he is clean.

18 And if the flesh should have become an ulcer in his skin, and should be healed,

19 and there should be in the place of the ulcer a white sore, or looking white and bright, or fiery, and it shall be seen by the priest;

20 then the priest shall look, and, behold, if the appearance be beneath the skin, and its hair has changed to white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; because it is a leprosy, it has broken out in the ulcer.

21 But if the priest look, and behold there is no white hair on it, and it be not below the skin of the flesh, and it be dark-coloured; then the priest shall separate him seven days.