Key Verses: Leviticus 13:2, 13:45, 13:46
A long chapter gives the priest detailed criteria for diagnosing tsara’at, a term covering various serious skin diseases (traditionally rendered “leprosy”) as well as mold in fabrics. The priest examines the affected person, sometimes isolating him for seven-day periods, and pronounces him clean or unclean. The one declared unclean must tear his clothes, let his hair hang loose, cover his upper lip, cry “Unclean, unclean,” and “live alone... outside the camp.” The same procedures are applied to infected garments, which are washed or burned.
The disease made a person ritually unclean and cut him off from the community and the sanctuary — a living picture of the way sin isolates, spreads, and separates from God and others. The priest here does not heal; he only diagnoses and excludes, which makes the contrast with Jesus so striking. When a leper begs Him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean,” Jesus does the unthinkable — He touches him — and instead of becoming unclean, makes the man clean (Matthew 8:2-3). The law could identify and exclude the defiled; Christ takes the defilement on Himself and restores the outcast.
Key Terms & Words:
- צָרַעַת (tsara’at) - Leviticus 13:2 - “Leprous disease”; a range of defiling skin conditions requiring the priest’s judgment
- טָמֵא טָמֵא (tame tame) - Leviticus 13:45 - “Unclean, unclean”; the cry the afflicted must make
- בָּדָד (badad) - Leviticus 13:46 - “Alone”; the isolation of the unclean outside the camp
Cross-References:
- Numbers 12:10-15 - Miriam struck with leprosy and shut outside the camp
- 2 Kings 5:1-14 - Naaman cleansed of leprosy through Elisha
- Matthew 8:2-3 - Jesus touches and cleanses a leper
- Luke 17:11-19 - Ten lepers cleansed, and one who returns to give thanks
Discussion Questions:
- In what ways does the isolating, spreading nature of the disease picture the effect of sin?
- Why is it significant that the priest could diagnose and exclude but not heal?
- What does Jesus’ willingness to touch the leper reveal about how He deals with our defilement?