Leviticus 13:12

12 If a serious disease breaks out that covers all the skin from head to foot, wherever the priest looks,

Leviticus 13:12 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 13:12

And if a leprosy break out abroad in the skin
Or, if flowering it flowers F13; the man that has it on him looks like a plant or tree covered with white flowers, being spread all over him in white swellings, bright spots or scabs, as it follows:

and the leprosy cover all the skin of [him that hath] the plague, from
his head even to his foot;
such an one as the leper was that came to Christ for healing, said to be full of leprosy, ( Luke 5:12 ) ; and such in a mystical sense is every sinner, whether sensible of it or not, even from the Crown of the head to the sole of the foot, full of the wounds, bruises, and putrefying sores of sin, ( Isaiah 1:6 ) ;

wheresoever the priest looketh;
that is, he cannot look any where upon any part of him but he sees the signs of the leprosy on him; and from whence the Jewish writers gather, that a priest that inspects leprous persons ought to have a clear sight, and to have both his eyes, and that the inspection should not be made in a dark house.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 (xrpt xwrp) (anyousa exanyhsh) , Sept. "florendo floruerit", Montanus; so Drusius & Tigurine version.

Leviticus 13:12 In-Context

10 The priest will examine him; if there is a white swelling in the skin, the hair is turning white, and there is an open sore in the swelling,
11 it is a chronic skin disease. The priest will pronounce him unclean. But he doesn't need to quarantine him because he's already given his diagnosis of unclean.
12 If a serious disease breaks out that covers all the skin from head to foot, wherever the priest looks,
13 the priest will make a thorough examination; if the disease covers his entire body, he will pronounce the person with the sore clean - since it has turned all white, he is clean.
14 But if they are open, running sores, he is unclean.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.