Leviticus 13:37

37 Soothly if the spot standeth still, and the hairs be black, know then the priest that the man is healed, and trustily pronounce he the man clean. (But if the spot standeth still, and the hairs be black, then let the priest know that they be healed, and trustily pronounce he that they be clean.)

Leviticus 13:37 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 13:37

But if the scall be in his sight at a stay
If in a few days, or in a short space of time after this, it should appear that the scall is at a full stop, and does not spread any further at all: and [that] there is black hair grown up therein;
which is a sign of health and soundness, and so of purity; yea, if it was green or red, so be it, it was not yellow, according to Jarchi, it was sufficient: the scall is healed;
from whence it appears that it had been a leprous scall, but was now healed, an entire stop being put to the spread of it; and though yellow hairs might have appeared in it, yet, as Gersom observes, two black hairs having grown up in it, it was a clear case that the corruption of the blood had departed, and it had returned to its former state: he [is] clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean;
he was clean before, and is the reason why he pronounces him so; wherefore it is not the sentence of the priest, but the truth of his case that makes him clean; teaching, as Ainsworth observes, that the truth of a man's estate, discerned by the word and law of God, made the man clean or unclean, and not the sentence of the priest, if it swerved from the law.

Leviticus 13:37 In-Context

35 Else if after the cleansing, a spot waxeth again in the skin, (But if, after they be pronounced clean, a spot groweth again, or spreadeth, in the skin,)
36 the priest shall no more inquire, whether the hair is changed into white colour, for apertly he is unclean. (the priest shall inquire no more, whether the hair is changed to white colour, or not, for they be openly unclean.)
37 Soothly if the spot standeth still, and the hairs be black, know then the priest that the man is healed, and trustily pronounce he the man clean. (But if the spot standeth still, and the hairs be black, then let the priest know that they be healed, and trustily pronounce he that they be clean.)
38 A man or a woman, in whose skin whiteness appeareth,
39 the priest shall behold them; if he perceiveth, that whiteness some-deal dark shineth in the skin, know he, that it is no leprosy, but a spot of white colour, and that the man is clean. (the priest shall examine them; if he perceiveth that a somewhat dark whiteness shineth in the skin, know he, that it is not leprosy, but a spot of white colour, and they be clean.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.