Leviticus 13:39

_IF A MAN ALSO OR A WOMAN HAVE IN THE SKIN OF THEIR FLESH BRIGHT SPOTS, EVEN WHITE BRIGHT SPOTS;_ If a man also or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots. This modification of the leprosy is distinguished by a dull-white colour [it is called _ LªBAANOT_ (H3836) _ BOHAQ_ (H933), a 'freckled spot'], and it is entirely a cutaneous disorder, not uncommon in the East (Niebuhr, 'Descrip. de l'Arabie,' p. 119), but never injuring the constitution. It is described as not penetrating below the skin of the flesh, and as not rendering necessary an exclusion from society. It is by medical writers termed 'lepra,' which is often confounded with leprosy, although entirely different. It is evident, then, this common form of leprosy was not contagious, otherwise Moses would have prescribed as strict a quarantine in this as in the other cases. And hereby we see the

18-44 The priest is told what judgment to make, if there were any appearance of a leprosy in old sores; and such is the danger of those who having escaped the pollutions of the world are again entangled therein. Or, in a burn by accident, ver. Leviticus 13:24. The burning of strife and contention often occasions the rising and breaking out of that corruption, which proves that men are unclean. Human life lies exposed to many grievances. With what troops of diseases are we beset on every side; and thy all entered by sin! If the constitution be healthy, and the body lively and easy, we are bound to glorify God with our bodies. Particular note was taken of the leprosy, if in the head. If the leprosy of sin has seized the head; if the judgment be corrupted, and wicked principles, which support wicked practices, are embraced, it is utter uncleanness, from which few are cleansed. Soundness in...

FRECKLED SPOT - If Leviticus 13:12 refers to the Lepra commonis, the Hebrew בהק _bôhaq_ here may denote some kind of eczema, a skin disease of a somewhat similar external character. Leviticus 13:38, Leviticus 13:39 would seem more in their natural place between Leviticus 13:17....

EXPOSITION UNCLEANNESS DERIVED FROM LEPROSY OR CONTACT WITH LEPERS AND LEPROUS THINGS (Leviticus 13:1, Leviticus 14:1). A third cause of uncleanness is found in a third class of offensive or repulsive objects. There is no disease which produces so foul an appearance in the human form as leprosy. There was, therefore, no disease so suitable for creating ceremonial, because representing spiritual, uncleanness. The name leprosy has been made to cover a number of diseases similar but not identical in character. There are many spurious forms of leprosy, and many diseases akin to leprosy which do not

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" w; 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. w כהות "costractae", Junius Tremellius, Piscator....

3. LEPROSY: TYPE OF INDWELLING SIN CHAPTER 13 _ 1. Leprosy in a person (Leviticus 13:1)_ 2. The infected garment. (Leviticus 13:47) 3. The cleansing of the garment (Leviticus 13:58) The entire chapter treats of leprosy. It has been argued from the side of critics that the disease described here is not the one we know as leprosy, but only a similar disease of the skin. The arguments advanced to support this objection are silenced by Matthew 8:1. The man who came to our Lord had leprosy. The Lord told him “show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testi

GENERAL PROCEDURE. Certain classes of signs arouse suspicion. The priest is to inspect. If he sees them to be distinctly leprous, the patient is to be so treated; otherwise he is to be secluded for one or two periods of seven days; if there is no further spreading, he is discharged clean. LEVITICUS 13:1. FIRST CASE. A ring or scab on the flesh. If there are white hairs more than skin-deep, the disease is present. LEVITICUS 13:9. RECOVERY OF CLEANNESS. The grounds for deciding as to whether the leprosy has run its course are as follows; if the hair is white and there is raw flesh, the patient needs no isolation for inspection purposes, the decision can be made at once; but if he is white all over, the disease is regarded as at an end; probably a case of leucoderma is in m

DARKISH WHITE. faintish, or dead white;. harmless eruption, or "tetter"....

_White spots in the skin_(38, 39) These, if they are dull, and not of the character described in Leviticus 13:3, are a -tetter" (_freckled spot_A.V.), a skin disease which is not of a leprous character. The Heb. word _bohaḳ_(only in Leviticus 13:39) is still used by the Arabs to denote this kind of eruption....

UNCLEANNESS CONNECTED WITH LEPROSY It is tolerably certain that the leprosy of the OT. is not the leprosy of the Middle Ages, which is still to be found in the East. The latter is a terrible and loathsome disease, called _elephantiasis_, in consequence of which the skin thickens, the features are distorted, and the very limbs mortify and drop off from the body. The leprosy of the Bible is a skin disease, known as _psoriasis_, in which the skin and hair grow white, and which is accompanied with scab and flaky scales which peel off. It is doubtful whether it was infectious or not. Some varieties may have been so; but it is to be observed that when the disease entirely covered the body the person was pronounced clean and could mix in society. Leprosy is regarded in the Bible as a type of sin in its loathsomeness and disfiguring and corrupting effects, and its treatment was in many points s...