Leviticus 13:39

39 The priest shall view them. If he find that a darkish whiteness shineth in the skin, let him know that it is not the leprosy, but a white blemish, and that the man is clean.

Leviticus 13:39 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 13:39

Then the priest shall look
Upon the man or woman that has these spots, and upon the spots themselves, and examine them of what kind they are: and, behold, [if] the bright spots in the skin of their flesh [be]
darkish white;
their whiteness is not strong, as Jarchi observes; but dusky and obscure, or "contracted" F23; small white spots, not large and spreading: it [is] a freckled spot [that] grows in the skin;
a kind of morphew, which the above writer describes as a sort of whiteness which appears in the flesh of a ruddy man: he [is] clean;
from leprosy; this is observed, lest a person that is freckled and has a morphew should be mistaken for a leprous person; as every man that has some spots, failings, and infirmities, is not to be reckoned a wicked man.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 (twhk) "costractae", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Leviticus 13:39 In-Context

37 But if the spot be stayed, and the hair be black, let him know that the man is healed: and let him confidently pronounce him clean.
38 If a whiteness appear in the skin of a man or a woman,
39 The priest shall view them. If he find that a darkish whiteness shineth in the skin, let him know that it is not the leprosy, but a white blemish, and that the man is clean.
40 The man whose hair falleth off from his head, he is bald and clean:
41 And if the hair fall from his forehead, he is bald before and clean.
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