Leviticus 13:20

20 and when the priest seeth the place of the leprosy (to be) lower than the other flesh, and the hairs turned into whiteness, the priest shall defoul him, that is, (shall) deem him (to be) foul, (the priest shall pronounce him to be defiled, or unclean); for the wound of leprosy is bred in the botch [for a plague of leprosy is sprung in the botch].

Leviticus 13:20 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 13:20

And if, when the priest seeth it
And has thoroughly viewed it and considered it: behold, it [be] in sight lower than the skin;
having eaten into and taken root in the flesh under the skin: and the hair thereof be turned white;
which are the signs of leprosy before given, ( Leviticus 13:3 ) ; the priest shall pronounce him unclean;
not fit for company and conversation, but obliged to conform to the laws concerning leprosy: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil;
which was there before: this is an emblem of apostates and apostasy, who having been seemingly healed and cleansed, return to their former course of life, and to all the impurity of it, like the dog to its vomit, and the swine to its wallowing in the mire, ( Proverbs 26:11 ) ( 2 Peter 2:22 ) ; and so their last state is worse than the first, ( Matthew 12:45 ) ( Luke 11:26 ) , as in this case; at first it was a boil, and then thought to be cured, and afterwards arises out of it a plague of leprosy.

Leviticus 13:20 In-Context

18 The flesh and the skin, in which a botch is bred, and is healed, (The flesh and the skin, in which a boil, or a sore, is bred, and then is healed,)

19 and the place of the botch, or a fell sore (or the sore), appeareth white, either red, the man shall be brought to the priest;

20 and when the priest seeth the place of the leprosy (to be) lower than the other flesh, and the hairs turned into whiteness, the priest shall defoul him, that is, (shall) deem him (to be) foul, (the priest shall pronounce him to be defiled, or unclean); for the wound of leprosy is bred in the botch [for a plague of leprosy is sprung in the botch].

21 That if the hair is of the former colour, and the sign of the wound is some-deal dark, and is not lower than the flesh beside, the priest shall close the man seven days; (But if the hair is of the former colour, and the mark of the plague is somewhat dark, and is not lower than the flesh beside it, the priest shall enclose the man for seven days;)

22 and soothly, if his sore waxeth, the priest shall deem the man to be (a) leper; (and if his sore groweth, or spreadeth, the priest shall pronounce him to be a leper;)