If the priest examines the plague of itching, and behold, its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the person infected with itching seven days. On the seventh day the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the appearance of the itch isn’t deeper than the skin, then he shall be shaved, but he shall not shave the itch. Then the priest shall isolate the one who has the itch seven more days.
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Leviticus 13:31-33 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“When a man or woman has a plague on the head or on the beard, then the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if its appearance is deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an itch. It is leprosy of the head or of the beard. If the priest examines the plague of itching, and behold, its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the person infected with itching seven days. On the seventh day the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the appearance of the itch isn’t deeper than the skin, then he shall be shaved, but he shall not shave the itch. Then the priest shall isolate the one who has the itch seven more days. On the seventh day, the priest shall examine the itch; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread in the skin, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes and be clean. But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, then the priest shall examine him; and behold, if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest shall not look for the yellow hair; he is unclean. But if in his eyes the itch is arrested and black hair has grown in it, then the itch is healed. He is clean. The priest shall pronounce him clean.
Parallel Translations
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If the priest examines the plague of itching, and behold, its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the person infected with itching seven days.
On the seventh day the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the appearance of the itch isn’t deeper than the skin,
then he shall be shaved, but he shall not shave the itch. Then the priest shall isolate the one who has the itch seven more days.
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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:
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;
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:
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And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, the appearance thereof be not deeper than the skin, and there be no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days.
And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague; and, behold, if the scall be not spread, and there be in it no yellow hair, and the appearance of the scall be not deeper than the skin,
then 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.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (4)
- Leviticus 13:30 (v32) then the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if its appearance is deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin,…
- Matthew 23:5 (v32) But they do all their works to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments,
- Luke 18:9-12 (v32) He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others. “Two men went up…
- Romans 2:23 (v32) You who glory in the law, do you dishonor God by disobeying the law?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv31, 33 And that there is no black hair in it;…
And that there is no black hair in it; for had that appeared, it had ended the doubt, the black hair being a sign of soundness and strength of nature, Lev 13:37, as the yellow hair was a sign of unsoundness.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv31–33 And in the seventh day the priest shall look…
And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague,.... To see whether it has got any deeper, or spread any further, and has any hair growing in it, and of what colour, that he might be also able to judge whether it was a leprosy or not:
and, behold, if the scall spread not; was neither got into the flesh, nor larger in the skin:
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and there be in it no yellow hair; that is, a thin yellow hair, for such only, as Ben Gersom observes, was a sign of leprosy in scalls, as in Lev 13:30; and the same writer observes, that "and" is here instead of "or", and to be read, "or there be in it no yellow hair"; since a scall was pronounced unclean, either on account of thin yellow hair, or on account of spreading:
and the scall be not in sight deeper than the skin; but be just as it was when first looked upon.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv31, 33 No black hair - For had that appeared, it…
No black hair - For had that appeared, it had ended the doubt, the black hair being a sign of soundness and strength of nature, as the yellow hair was a sign of unsoundness.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v33 Verse 33. The scall shall he not shave] Lest…
Verse 33. The scall shall he not shave] Lest the place should be irritated and inflamed, and assume in consequence other appearances besides those of a leprous infection; in which case the priest might not be able to form an accurate judgment.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v31 Lev 13:31; Lev 13:33. No black hair — For…
Lev 13:31; Lev 13:33. No black hair — For had that appeared, it had ended the doubt, the black hair being a sign of soundness and strength of nature, as this yellow hair was a sign of unsoundness. He shall be shaven — For the more certain discovery of the growth or stay of the plague.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v31 There is no black hair in it More probably,…
There is no black hair in it More probably, there is no yellow hair in it.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v31 Black. The Hebrew, Samaritan, &c., prefix "not," which ought…
Black. The Hebrew, Samaritan, &c., prefix "not," which ought probably to be away, as the natural colour of the hair, in that country, is black; while yellow, or white hair, give reason to suspect leprosy; and (ver. 32,) the Hebrew says, "if there be no yellow hair in it," which insinuates that it was black before. The Septuagint have explained both verses in the same sense, as they found the negation also. If we admit it, we may distinguish black hair from that which approaches to brown, or light-coloured hair. When therefore a person, who had before black hair, has experienced some change, he must be shut up seven days; after which, if his hair be not become yellow or reddish, he must be shaved, &c. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv31, 33 31. No black hair — It is evident that…
31. No black hair — It is evident that the word “black” must here refer to the “yellow,” the colour betokening the leprosy. The words are different in the Hebrew, but the Seventy, Luther, Keil, Knobel, and Canon Cook render them both yellow. Thus they make Lev_13:31 harmonize with 30, 32, and 36. Since the original words for yellow and black differ in only one letter, there is, probably, a clerical error in the latter.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v33 33. It is enjoined in the Mishna (Tal. Bab.…
33. It is enjoined in the Mishna (Tal. Bab. Neg. x. § 5) that two hairs on each side of the scall should be left so that the priest might judge whether the disease had spread.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv31–33 (31) It be not in sight deeper than the…
(31) It be not in sight deeper than the skin.—Better, its appearance is not deeper than the other skin. If the first symptom which manifests itself in the depression of the affected spot is absent.
And that there is no black hair in it.—Better, but there is no black hair in it; that is, the healthy black colour of the hair is absent, which is a suspicious sign. The phrase, “there is no black hair in it,” is another way of saying “there is yellow hair in it.” The presence of yellow hair, however, on the first inspection, though suspicious, did not necessarily indicate by itself leprosy, since the hair sometimes turned yellow temporarily in the case of an ordinary ulcer, and resumed its natural black colour when the patient returned to his usual health. Hence, the absence of the black hair was simply a suspicious symptom, which required the attention of the priest, for which reason the patient had to be put in quarantine for seven days. The alteration of the word “black” into “yellow,” which has been adopted by those commentators who follow the LXX.,is therefore unnecessary. Indeed, if this reading be adopted, both the unfavourable symptoms mentioned in Lev_13:30, which indicate leprosy—viz., (1) the depression of the affected spot, and (2) the discolouring of the hair—would be absent. There would be no reason for quarantine, as the priest in the absence of these criteria would have to pronounce the man clean. (See Lev_13:37.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv31–32 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues telling Moses and Aaron what the people must do when someone has a skin disease.
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priest
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.