UNROLL
Dusk on the open plain: one small, lone goat-hair tent pitched far outside the camp, the camp's many dark tents low and distant behind it, the last light on the mountains.

The Book of

Leviticus 13

When a mark appeared on the skin, the priest looked, waited and looked again. Some had to live outside the camp.

59 verses≈ 12 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–7The offeringsHow sinners draw near
  2. 8–10The priestsOrdained, and a warning
  3. 11–15Clean and uncleanLife before a holy GodChapter 13
  4. 16The Day of AtonementSins carried away
  5. 17–27A holy peopleBe holy, for I am holy

Laws about Skin Diseases

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “When someone has a swelling or rash or bright spot on his skin that may be an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest.

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Seen from behind in early morning, a priest in a white linen tunic, sash and cap stands at the tabernacle court's gate and looks out over the waking camp of dark tents.

The law

The priest’s examination

  1. Unclean

    Deeper than the skin, hair white

    The priest is to examine the infection on his skin, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a skin disease. After the priest examines him, he must pronounce him unclean.

  2. Wait and see

    Not deeper: seven days apart

    If, however, the spot on his skin is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days.

  3. Unchanged: seven days more

    On the seventh day the priest is to reexamine him, and if he sees that the infection is unchanged and has not spread on the skin, the priest must isolate him for another seven days.

  4. Clean

    Faded: clean; wash clothes

    The priest will examine him again on the seventh day, and if the sore has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is a rash. The person must wash his clothes and be clean.

  5. Unclean

    Spreads again: unclean

    But if the rash spreads further on his skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he must present himself again to the priest. The priest will reexamine him, and if the rash has spread on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a skin disease.

Morning at the edge of the camp: a small black goat-hair tent with its flap closed, a clay water jar and a round flat loaf left on a reed mat at its door.

the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is a rash. The person must wash his clothes and be clean.

Leviticus 13:6

The law

A chronic disease

  1. Brought to the priest

    When anyone develops a skin disease, he must be brought to the priest.

  2. Unclean

    White swelling with raw flesh

    The priest will examine him, and if there is a white swelling on the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, it is a chronic skin disease and the priest must pronounce him unclean. He need not isolate him, for he is unclean.

  3. Clean

    White from head to foot

    But if the skin disease breaks out all over his skin so that it covers all the skin of the infected person from head to foot, as far as the priest can see, the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the infected person clean. Since it has all turned white, he is clean.

  4. Unclean

    Raw flesh appears

    But whenever raw flesh appears on someone, he will be unclean. When the priest sees the raw flesh, he must pronounce him unclean. The raw flesh is unclean; it is a skin disease.

  5. Clean

    Raw flesh turns white again

    But if the raw flesh changes and turns white, he must go to the priest. The priest will reexamine him, and if the infection has turned white, the priest is to pronounce the infected person clean; then he is clean.

The law

After a boil or a burn

  1. A white swelling where a boil was

    When a boil appears on someone’s skin and it heals, and a white swelling or a reddish-white spot develops where the boil was, he must present himself to the priest.

  2. Unclean

    Beneath the skin, hair white

    The priest shall examine it, and if it appears to be beneath the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a diseased infection that has broken out in the boil.

  3. Wait and see

    Not beneath: seven days

    But when the priest examines it, if there is no white hair in it, and it is not beneath the skin and has faded, the priest shall isolate him for seven days.

  4. Unclean

    It spreads

    If it spreads any further on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is an infection.

  5. Clean

    Unchanged: only a scar

    But if the spot remains unchanged and does not spread, it is only the scar from the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

  6. Unclean

    In a burn: hair white, deeper

    When there is a burn on someone’s skin and the raw area of the burn becomes reddish-white or white, the priest must examine it. If the hair in the spot has turned white and the spot appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a diseased infection.

  7. Wait and see

    Not deeper: seven days

    But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot, and it is not beneath the skin but has faded, the priest shall isolate him for seven days.

  8. Unclean

    It spreads

    On the seventh day the priest is to reexamine him, and if it has spread further on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a diseased infection.

  9. Clean

    Unchanged: only a scar

    But if the spot is unchanged and has not spread on the skin but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest is to pronounce him clean; for it is only the scar from the burn.

The priest’s verdict

Brought to thepriesta swelling, rash orspot · 13:2The priestexaminesdeeper than the skin?hair white?Seven daysapartthen look again· 13:4–5Cleanwash clothes ·13:6Uncleanoutside thecamp · 13:46Jesus touched aleperand he was clean ·Mark 1:40–42

Whiteboard

The priest did not guess. He looked, set the person apart for seven days, and looked again before he said “clean” or “unclean.” A clean verdict meant washing and going home. An unclean one meant living “alone in a place outside the camp.” Jesus went to such a man, touched him, and made him clean.

Reflect

Outside the camp

The law kept the unclean outside the camp, away from the place where God dwelt. Jesus did something no priest could do: He reached out, touched a leper, and made him clean. Who lives ‘outside the camp’ around you: lonely, ashamed, avoided, left out? Write down one person, and one way you could come near them as Jesus did.

The law

On the head or chin

  1. Unclean

    Yellow, thin hair, deeper

    If a man or woman has an infection on the head or chin, the priest shall examine the infection, and if it appears to be deeper than the skin and the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a scaly outbreak, an infectious disease of the head or chin.

  2. Wait and see

    Not deeper: seven days

    But if the priest examines the scaly infection and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days.

  3. Unchanged: shave, seven more days

    On the seventh day the priest is to reexamine the infection, and if the scaly outbreak has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it, and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, then the person must shave himself except for the scaly area. Then the priest shall isolate him for another seven days.

  4. Clean

    Not spread: clean

    On the seventh day the priest shall examine the scaly outbreak, and if it has not spread on the skin and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, the priest is to pronounce him clean. He must wash his clothes, and he will be clean.

  5. Unclean

    Spreads after cleansing

    If, however, the scaly outbreak spreads further on the skin after his cleansing, the priest is to examine him, and if the scaly outbreak has spread on the skin, the priest need not look for yellow hair; the person is unclean.

  6. Clean

    Black hair grows: healed

    If, however, in his sight the scaly outbreak is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, then it has healed. He is clean, and the priest is to pronounce him clean.

The law

Spots and baldness

  1. Clean

    Dull white spots: harmless

    When a man or a woman has white spots on the skin, the priest shall examine them, and if the spots are dull white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin; the person is clean.

  2. Bald: still clean

    Now if a man loses his hair and is bald, he is still clean.

  3. Receding hairline: still clean

    Or if his hairline recedes and he is bald on his forehead, he is still clean.

  4. Unclean

    A reddish-white sore on the bald head

    But if there is a reddish-white sore on the bald head or forehead, it is an infectious disease breaking out on it. The priest is to examine him, and if the swelling of the infection on his bald head or forehead is reddish-white like a skin disease, the man is diseased; he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean because of the infection on his head.

Seen from far behind at dusk, a man in a torn wool cloak, his hair loose, stands alone on a stony slope outside the camp, looking back toward the distant tents.

A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ As long as he has the infection, he remains unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.

0:15

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Pray

For those shut out

Think of someone who is sick, or someone who feels shut out: by illness, by shame, by the way others treat them. Pray for them by name. Thank Jesus that He did not keep His distance from the unclean, but touched them and made them clean, and that He bore our disgrace “outside the camp” so that we could be brought near.

Laws about Mildew

God
Dusk at the edge of the camp: a small fire on bare ground with a wool cloak burning in it, gray smoke drifting toward the dark tents.

The law

If it spreads

  1. Unclean

    Spread after seven days

    On the seventh day the priest shall reexamine it, and if the mildew has spread in the fabric, weave, knit, or leather, then regardless of how it is used, it is a harmful mildew; the article is unclean.

  2. Burned

    Burn it

    He is to burn the fabric, weave, or knit, whether the contaminated item is wool or linen or leather. Since the mildew is harmful, the article must be burned up.

  3. Wait and see

    Not spread: wash it, seven days more

    But when the priest reexamines it, if the mildew has not spread in the fabric, weave, knit, or leather article, the priest is to order the contaminated article to be washed and isolated for another seven days.

  4. Burned

    Unchanged after washing: burn it

    After it has been washed, the priest is to reexamine it, and if the mildewed article has not changed in appearance, it is unclean. Even though the mildew has not spread, you must burn it, whether the rot is on the front or back.

  5. Cut out

    Faded: cut out the patch

    If the priest examines it and the mildew has faded after it has been washed, he must cut the contaminated section out of the fabric, leather, weave, or knit.

  6. Burned

    It comes back: burn it

    But if it reappears in the fabric, weave, or knit, or on any leather article, it is spreading. You must burn the contaminated article.

  7. Clean

    Gone after washing: wash again

    If the mildew disappears from the fabric, weave, or knit, or any leather article after washing, then it is to be washed again, and it will be clean.

This is the law concerning a mildew contamination in wool or linen fabric, weave, or knit, or any leather article, for pronouncing it clean or unclean.”

Question

Quick question

The law told a person with a skin disease how to live while he was unclean.

What did a person with a skin disease have to cry out?

You’ve experienced

Leviticus 13

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A verse to carry with you

The priest will examine him again on the seventh day, and if the sore has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is a rash. The person must wash his clothes and be clean.

Leviticus 13:6

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