NOTES for Lev 13:29-59
29 If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard; |
30 Then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard. |
31 And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it be not in sight deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days: |
32 And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague: and, behold, if the scall spread not, and there be in it no yellow hair, and the scall be not in sight deeper than the skin; |
33 He shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that hath the scall seven days more: |
34 And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the scall: and, behold, if the scall be not spread in the skin, nor be in sight deeper than the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him clean: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean. |
35 But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing; |
36 Then the priest shall look on him: and, behold, if the scall be spread in the skin, the priest shall not seek for yellow hair; he is unclean. |
37 But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and that there is black hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he is clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean. |
38 If a man also or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots, even white bright spots; |
39 Then the priest shall look: and, behold, if the bright spots in the skin of their flesh be darkish white; it is a freckled spot that groweth in the skin; he is clean. |
40 And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean. |
41 And he that hath his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, he is forehead bald: yet is he clean. |
42 And if there be in the bald head, or bald forehead, a white reddish sore; it is a leprosy sprung up in his bald head, or his bald forehead. |
43 Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the rising of the sore be white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh; |
44 He is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head. |
45 And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. |
46 All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be. |
47 The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woollen garment, or a linen garment; |
48 Whether it be in the warp, or woof; of linen, or of woollen; whether in a skin, or in any thing made of skin; |
49 And if the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a plague of leprosy, and shall be shewed unto the priest: |
50 And the priest shall look upon the plague, and shut up it that hath the plague seven days: |
51 And he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague be spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a skin, or in any work that is made of skin; the plague is a fretting leprosy; it is unclean. |
52 He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woollen or in linen, or any thing of skin, wherein the plague is: for it is a fretting leprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire. |
53 And if the priest shall look, and, behold, the plague be not spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; |
54 Then the priest shall command that they wash the thing wherein the plague is, and he shall shut it up seven days more: |
55 And the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed: and, behold, if the plague have not changed his colour, and the plague be not spread; it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire; it is fret inward, whether it be bare within or without. |
56 And if the priest look, and, behold, the plague be somewhat dark after the washing of it; then he shall rend it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof: |
57 And if it appear still in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a spreading plague: thou shalt burn that wherein the plague is with fire. |
58 And the garment, either warp, or woof, or whatsoever thing of skin it be, which thou shalt wash, if the plague be departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and shall be clean. |
59 This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woollen or linen, either in the warp, or woof, or any thing of skins, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean. |
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The connection between illness, even serious illness, and defilement is not visible at first glance. In fact, one can imagine a sin that defiles a person, but illness? A person is not guilty of his illness. One could, of course, say that every illness is a consequence of sin, but hardly anyone will dare to assert that this exact, concrete sin committed by a person produced this exact illness from which he is now suffering. There are, of course, cases in which the connection is more or less obvious, but they are far fewer than cases that do not allow an unambiguous interpretation.
Besides, a reasonable question arises: why leprosy in particular? There are many other diseases in the world, widespread enough, especially in those times, that killed just as effectively as leprosy, and sometimes much more quickly. Meanwhile, the answer to the question lies in the understanding of defilement that was characteristic of the pre-Christian era and was also reflected in the Book of Leviticus.
A person was defiled not only by the consequences of a sin he had committed, although by them first of all, of course. A person was defiled by everything connected in one way or another with death, with the world of shadows, with Sheol. In those times death was all-powerful. In the fallen world it was absolute; everything ended with it, and life was only an episode, bright, encouraging, inspiring, but only an episode.
Even those paths that could lead a person beyond death and its power did not change the picture: after all, one could get away from death only by getting away from life as well, at least from the life by which this world lived. Only after the coming of Christ did the situation change radically: now death has over us exactly as much power as we allow it to have. Before, however, everything was different, and diseases like leprosy separated a person from life, and therefore from God, from God's presence, from God's holiness. Death is incompatible with God's life and with God's holiness.
It is impossible to be sanctified while dying. Today, as we complete our earthly path, we remain in the space of God's holiness, in the Kingdom, if, of course, we have shared in its life. Before the coming of Christ, however, death meant departure from God's world. And leprosy was not life; it was slow death. Life in dying, sometimes prolonged for decades. Such a life in dying could not be sanctified, and that is why lepers were unclean. This is exactly why the Gospel says so much about Jesus healing lepers: so that we may understand how the Kingdom differs from this world.
Readings for 30 October 2025
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