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Levítico 13

ARC · Chapter 13/27

1Fallou mais o Senhor a Moysés e a Aarão, dizendo:

2O homem, quando na pelle da sua carne houver inchação, ou pustula, ou empola branca, que estiver na pelle de sua carne como praga da lepra, então será levado a Aarão o sacerdote, ou a um de seus filhos, os sacerdotes,

3E o sacerdote examinará a praga na pelle da carne; se o pello na praga se tornou branco, e a praga parecer mais profunda do que a pelle da sua carne, praga da lepra é; o sacerdote, vendo-o, então o declarará por immundo.

4Mas, se a empola na pelle de sua carne fôr branca, e não parecer mais profunda do que a pelle, e o pello não se tornou branco, então o sacerdote encerrará o que tem a praga por sete dias

5E ao setimo dia o sacerdote o examinará; e eis que, se a praga ao seu parecer parou, e a praga na pelle se não estendeu, então o sacerdote o encerrará por outros sete dias;

6E o sacerdote ao setimo dia o examinará outra vez; e eis-que, se a praga se recolheu, e a praga na pelle se não estendeu, então o sacerdote o declarará por limpo: apostema é; e lavará os seus vestidos, e será limpo.

7Mas, se a apostema na pelle se estende grandemente, depois que foi mostrado ao sacerdote para a sua purificação, outra vez será mostrado ao sacerdote,

8E o sacerdote o examinará, e eis que, se a apostema na pelle se tem estendido, o sacerdote o declarará por immundo: lepra é

9Quando no homem houver praga de lepra, será levado ao sacerdote,

10E o sacerdote o examinará, e eis que, se ha inchação branca na pelle, a qual tornou o pello em branco, e houver alguma vivificação da carne viva na inchação,

11Lepra envelhecida é na pelle da sua carne: portanto o sacerdote o declarará por immundo: não o encerrará, porque immundo é.

12E, se a lepra florescer de todo na pelle, e a lepra cobrir toda a pelle do que tem a praga, desde a sua cabeça até aos seus pés, quanto podem ver os olhos do sacerdote.

13Então o sacerdote examinará, e eis-que, se a lepra tem coberto toda a sua carne, então declarará o que tem a praga por limpo: todo se tornou branco; limpo está.

14Mas no dia em que apparecer n'ella carne viva será immundo.

15Vendo pois o sacerdote a carne viva, declaral-o-ha por immundo: a carne é immunda: lepra é.

16Ou, tornando a carne viva, e mudando-se em branca, então virá ao sacerdote,

17E o sacerdote o examinará, e eis que, se a praga se tornou branca, então o sacerdote por limpo declarará o que tem a praga; limpo está.

18Se tambem a carne, em cuja pelle houver alguma ulcera, se sarar,

19E, em logar da apostema, vier inchação branca ou empola branca, tirando a vermelho, mostrar-se-ha então ao sacerdote.

20E o sacerdote examinará, e eis que, se ella parece mais funda do que a pelle, e o seu pello se tornou branco, o sacerdote o declarará por immundo: praga da lepra é; pela apostema brotou.

21E o sacerdote, vendo-a, e eis que n'ella não apparece pello branco, nem estiver mais funda do que a pelle, mas encolhida, então o sacerdote o encerrará por sete dias.

22Se depois grandemente se estender na pelle, o sacerdote o declarará por immundo; praga é.

23Mas, se a empola parar no seu logar, não se estendendo, inflammação da apostema é; o sacerdote pois o declarará por limpo.

24Ou, quando na pelle da carne houver queimadura de fogo, e no que é sarado da queimadura houver empola branca, tirando a vermelho ou branco,

25E o sacerdote vendo-a, e eis que o pello na empola se tornou branco, e ella parece mais funda do que a pelle, lepra é, que floresceu pela queimadura: portanto o sacerdote o declarará por immundo; praga de lepra é

26Mas, se o sacerdote, vendo-a, e eis que, na empola não apparecer pello branco, nem estiver mais funda do que a pelle, mas recolhida, o sacerdote o encerrará por sete dias.

27Depois o sacerdote o examinará ao setimo dia; se grandemente se houver estendido na pelle, o sacerdote o declarará por immundo; praga de lepra é

28Mas se a empola parar no seu logar, e na pelle não se estender, mas se recolher, inchação da queimadura é: portanto o sacerdote o declarará por limpo, porque signal é da queimadura.

29E, quando homem ou mulher tiverem chaga na cabeça ou na barba,

30E o sacerdote, examinando a chaga, e eis que, se ella parece mais funda do que a pelle, e pello amarello fino n'ella ha, o sacerdote o declarará por immundo; tinha é, lepra da cabeça ou da barba é.

31Mas, se o sacerdote, havendo examinado a praga da tinha, e eis que, se ella não parece mais funda do que a pelle, e se n'ella não houver pello preto, então o sacerdote encerrará o que tem a praga da tinha por sete dias,

32E o sacerdote examinará a praga ao setimo dia, e eis que se a tinha não fôr estendida, e n'ella não houver pello amarello, nem a tinha parecer mais funda do que a pelle,

33Então se rapará; mas não rapará a tinha; e o sacerdote segunda vez encerrará o que a tinha por sete dias

34Depois o sacerdote examinará a tinha ao setimo dia; e eis que, se a tinha não se houver estendido na pelle, e ella não parecer mais funda do que a pelle, o sacerdote o declarará por limpo, e lavará os seus vestidos, e será limpo

35Mas, se a tinha, depois da sua purificação, se houver estendido grandemente na pelle,

36Então o sacerdote o examinará, e eis que, se a tinha se tem estendido na pelle, o sacerdote não buscará pello amarello: immundo está.

37Mas, se a tinha ao seu ver parou, e pello preto n'ella cresceu, a tinha está sã, limpo está: portanto o sacerdote o declarará por limpo.

38E, quando homem ou mulher tiverem empolas brancas na pelle da sua carne,

39Então o sacerdote olhará, e eis que, se na pelle da sua carne apparecem empolas recolhidas, brancas, bustela branca é, que floresceu na pelle; limpo está.

40E, quando se pellar a cabeça do homem, calvo é, limpo está.

41E, se se lhe pellar a frente da cabeça, meio calvo é; limpo está.

42Porém, se na calva, ou na meia calva houver praga branca avermelhada, lepra é, florescendo na sua calva ou na sua meia calva.

43Havendo pois o sacerdote examinado, e eis que, se a inchação da praga na sua calva ou meia calva está branca, tirando a vermelho, como parece a lepra na pelle da carne,

44Leproso é aquelle homem, immundo está: o sacerdote o declarará totalmente por immundo, na sua cabeça tem a sua praga.

45Tambem os vestidos do leproso, em quem está a praga, serão rasgados, e a sua cabeça será descoberta, e cobrirá o beiço superior, e clamará: Immundo, immundo.

46Todos os dias em que a praga houver n'elle, será immundo; immundo está, habitará só: a sua habitação será fóra do arraial

47Quando tambem em algum vestido houver praga de lepra, em vestido de lã, ou em vestido de linho,

48Ou no fio urdido, ou no fio tecido, seja de linho, ou seja de lã, ou em pelle, ou em qualquer obra de pelles,

49E a praga no vestido, ou na pelle, ou no fio urdido, ou no fio tecido, ou em qualquer coisa de pelles apparecer verde ou vermelha, praga de lepra é, pelo que se mostrará ao sacerdote,

50E o sacerdote examinará a praga, e encerrará a coisa que tem a praga por sete dias.

51Então examinará a praga ao setimo dia; se a praga se houver estendido no vestido, ou no fio urdido, ou no fio tecido, ou na pelle, para qualquer obra que fôr feita da pelle, lepra roedora é, immunda está;

52Pelo que se queimará aquelle vestido, ou fio urdido, ou fio tecido de lã, ou de linho, ou de qualquer obra de pelles, em que houver a praga, porque lepra roedora é; com fogo se queimará.

53Mas, o sacerdote, vendo, e eis que, se a praga se não estendeu no vestido, ou no fio urdido, ou no tecido, ou em qualquer obra de pelles,

54Então o sacerdote ordenará que se lave aquillo no qual havia a praga, e o encerrará segunda vez por sete dias;

55E o sacerdote, examinando a praga, depois que fôr lavada, e eis que se a praga não mudou o seu parecer, nem a praga se estendeu, immundo está, com fogo o queimarás; praga penetrante é, seja raso em todo ou em parte.

56Mas se o sacerdote vir que a praga se tem recolhido, depois que fôr lavada, então a rasgará do vestido, ou da pelle, ou do fio urdido ou tecido;

57E, se ainda apparecer no vestido, ou no fio urdido ou tecido ou em qualquer coisa de pelles, lepra brotante é: com fogo queimarás aquillo em que ha a praga;

58Mas o vestido, ou fio urdido ou tecido, ou qualquer coisa de pelles, que lavares, e de que a praga se retirar, se lavará segunda vez, e será limpo.

59Esta é a lei da praga da lepra do vestido de lã, ou de linho, ou do fio urdido ou tecido, ou de qualquer coisa de pelles, para declaral-o por limpo, ou para declaral-o por immundo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Detailed rules for the priest to diagnose 'leprosy' (a broad term for skin diseases) in people and even in fabrics, with precise visual criteria for declaring someone clean or unclean.

Explanation

The Hebrew term tsara'at covered a range of skin conditions, not just modern-day leprosy (Hansen's disease), and could also affect clothing — likely mold or fungus. The priest acted as a kind of public health officer, temporarily isolating suspected cases for observation, a quarantine principle remarkably advanced for its time. The diagnosed person had to live outside the camp and announce their condition, which seems harsh at first glance, but it protected the community from contagion and preserved the holiness of the camp where God dwelt. This shows God's concern both for the community's physical health and for the need for order and social responsibility in the face of serious disease.

Fun facts

  • The procedure of 'shutting up' the person for seven days of observation is one of the earliest documented quarantine protocols in history, millennia before modern medicine formalized the concept.
  • Jesus touched lepers to heal them (Matthew 8:3), a shocking gesture by the standards of the time, since touching a leper normally made a person unclean too — showing Jesus' power to reverse impurity instead of being contaminated by it.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Levítico 13:1This instruction was given to Moses and Aaron together, repeating the pattern from chapter 11 — another purity matter that directly involved the priests’ technical judgment.
  2. Levítico 13:2The word translated “leprosy” here is much broader than today’s Hansen’s disease: it covers blotches, swellings, scabs, and skin sores in general — anything suspicious went through the same examination by the priest, who acted as a kind of public health inspector, not a doctor treating one specific disease.
  3. Levítico 13:3White hair inside the spot and a sore that looked deeper than the surrounding skin were the two signs that led the priest to declare impurity right at the first exam, without needing a waiting period.
  4. Levítico 13:4When the skin mark didn’t show the more serious signs, the priest didn’t decide on the spot — he shut the person away for seven days to see whether the mark grew or stayed the same. It was a quarantine-by-observation system, with no definitive diagnosis at the first exam.
  5. Levítico 13:5If after the first week of quarantine the mark hadn’t changed or grown, the priest still didn’t decide: he confined the person for seven more days, giving extra time to be sure.
  6. Levítico 13:6If after the two weeks of observation the mark had faded, the case was considered a simple passing swelling, not the serious condition — the person washed their clothes and returned to normal life.
  7. Levítico 13:7But if after being declared clean the mark started spreading again, the person had to present themselves to the priest again — the initial diagnosis wasn’t final forever; it could be revisited.
  8. Levítico 13:8Seeing that the mark had genuinely spread after all that, the priest then confirmed the impurity — the continued growth of the mark was what settled the more serious diagnosis.
  9. Levítico 13:9A new case begins here within the chapter: whenever this kind of mark appeared on someone, the person had to be brought to the priest for evaluation, no exceptions.
  10. Levítico 13:10White hair in the mark and exposed raw flesh inside it were the most serious signs of all — unlike the other marks in the chapter, this combination left no doubt.
  11. Levítico 13:11When there was exposed raw flesh, the priest didn’t even need to confine the person for seven days to observe — the case was already considered serious and chronic enough to declare impurity on the spot.
  12. Levítico 13:12It seems contradictory: if the mark covered the person’s whole body from head to foot, they were declared clean. The more widely accepted reading is that, without exposed raw flesh, the sign considered dangerous wasn’t present — the standard here was an open sore inside the mark, not the size of the mark itself.
  13. Levítico 13:13Here comes the formal confirmation of the paradox from verse 12: if the white mark had covered the entire body without any raw flesh appearing, the priest declared the person clean.
  14. Levítico 13:14But the decisive standard appears here: on the day any raw flesh showed up inside that white mark, the person came to be considered unclean — an open sore always outweighed the standard of the mark’s size.
  15. Levítico 13:15Seeing exposed raw flesh, the priest confirmed the impurity without hesitation — the same decisive standard repeats, reinforcing that an open sore was the most serious sign in the whole system.
  16. Levítico 13:16But the process allowed for recovery: if that exposed flesh healed and turned white like the rest, the person could return to the priest to be reassessed.
  17. Levítico 13:17Seeing that the sore had genuinely healed and turned white, the priest reversed the diagnosis and declared the person clean — the system didn’t lock anyone into a permanent label without checking again.
  18. Levítico 13:18This passage deals with a different case: a boil or sore that had already healed but left a mark on the skin afterward — one more variation within the same examination system.
  19. Levítico 13:19If a white or reddish swelling appeared where the healed sore had been, the person needed to show this new sign to the priest for evaluation, even though they had already healed before.
  20. Levítico 13:20If this new sign looked deeper than the skin and had white hair, the priest declared impurity — the same two standards as always, now applied to an old scar.
  21. Levítico 13:21If the sign had no white hair and didn’t look deeper, but was shrinking, the priest still didn’t decide: he confined the person for seven days, the same waiting process seen at the start of the chapter.
  22. Levítico 13:22If after the week of waiting the sign had spread significantly, then the priest confirmed the impurity — continued growth decided the case.
  23. Levítico 13:23But if the mark had stayed in the same place without growing, it was just a normal inflammation of the old scar — the priest declared the person clean, no mystery behind it.
  24. Levítico 13:24A new scenario: a burn from fire that, while healing, develops a white or reddish mark — the examination system extends even to marks left by burns.
  25. Levítico 13:25White hair in the mark and an appearance deeper than the skin — the same standards as always — here indicated that the serious condition had “sprouted” from the burn, not just an ordinary scar.
  26. Levítico 13:26Without these more serious signs, the priest again didn’t decide on the spot: he confined the person for seven days to observe whether the burn mark changed.
  27. Levítico 13:27If after the week the burn mark had spread significantly, the priest confirmed the serious condition — the same standard of continued growth used throughout the chapter.
  28. Levítico 13:28If the mark had stopped spreading, it was just an ordinary sign of the burn healing, without seriousness — the person was declared clean.
  29. Levítico 13:29Here begins a section specifically for sores on the head or beard, handled with slightly different standards than marks on the rest of the body.
  30. Levítico 13:30The “scall” on the head or beard, likely a fungal infection of the scalp, followed a similar standard but with thin yellow hair instead of white hair — a sign that the text is cataloguing different skin conditions, not treating everything as a single disease.
  31. Levítico 13:31Without black hair and without a deeper appearance, the priest confined the person with a scall on the head for seven days, the same waiting system applied to this scalp condition.
  32. Levítico 13:32If after the week the scall hadn’t grown and no thin yellow hair had appeared, the process moved on to one more verification step before any final decision.
  33. Levítico 13:33The person shaved the hair around it, but not over the mark itself — a practical precaution so as not to interfere with the exact observation of the affected area during one more week of waiting.
  34. Levítico 13:34If after this second week the scall was still not spreading, the priest finally declared the person clean, and they washed their clothes to close the process.
  35. Levítico 13:35But if after already being declared clean the scall started spreading again, the case had to be reopened and reassessed — the same principle of review seen elsewhere in the chapter.
  36. Levítico 13:36In this case of recurrence, the priest no longer even needed to look for thin yellow hair: the simple fact that it had started growing again was already enough to confirm the impurity.
  37. Levítico 13:37But if the scall had genuinely stopped and even black hair had grown back there, it was a sign of complete healing — black hair returning meant the skin had gone back to normal.
  38. Levítico 13:38A new condition appears here: white spots on the skin of men or women, a category apart from the previous ones.
  39. Levítico 13:39If these white spots were merely dull-looking and receding, it was a kind of harmless skin rash — the priest declared the person clean without any quarantine at all.
  40. Levítico 13:40Common baldness, without swelling or a reddish mark, was declared clean without exam or quarantine. The text makes clear that baldness by itself had nothing unclean about it — it only became a problem if a suspicious mark appeared on top of the bald spot.
  41. Levítico 13:41Baldness at the front of the head, just like the common baldness of the previous verse, was also declared clean on its own — losing hair wasn’t a sign of impurity.
  42. Levítico 13:42Only when a reddish-white mark appeared on the bald spot did the case become grounds for examination — baldness itself was never the problem, only a suspicious mark over it.
  43. Levítico 13:43The priest examined this mark on the bald spot with the same standards used on the rest of the body: a reddish-white color similar to that of skin with hair.
  44. Levítico 13:44With the signs confirmed, the person was declared a leper even though the mark was only on the bald head — the same diagnostic system applied regardless of where the mark appeared.
  45. Levítico 13:45Torn clothes, an uncovered head, and crying “Unclean, unclean” when approaching someone weren’t punishment — they were a mandatory public warning, a kind of ancient public health system meant to prevent accidental contact for as long as the condition lasted.
  46. Levítico 13:46For as long as the condition lasted, the person had to live isolated, outside the camp — a temporary measure of separation, tied to the length of the illness, not a permanent sentence.
  47. Levítico 13:47In the most widely accepted reading today, “leprosy” in wool, linen, or leather clothing is mold, fungus, or some blight that degrades the fabric, showing up as greenish or reddish patches. The same name and the same examination process applied both to a mold stain on clothing and to a mark on skin, because the ritual logic — something “eating away” at what should be whole — was the same.
  48. Levítico 13:48The same examination logic extended to fabrics: warp or woven thread, of linen or wool, and even leather items could “catch” this kind of mark, treated with the same process as human skin.
  49. Levítico 13:49A greenish or reddish mark on clothing or leather was the warning sign that required showing the item to the priest — probably mold or fungus, but treated with the same protocol as skin.
  50. Levítico 13:50Just as he did with people, the priest also shut away suspicious objects for seven days before deciding anything — the same quarantine-by-observation system, now applied to fabric.
  51. Levítico 13:51If after the week the mark had spread through the fabric or leather, it was considered a blight that “eats away” at the material, and the item was declared ruined.
  52. Levítico 13:52The solution for a condemned piece of clothing or leather was simple and final: burn it — there was no middle ground once the mark had truly spread.
  53. Levítico 13:53If the mark hadn’t grown after the week of waiting, the process moved to one more step before discarding the item for good.
  54. Levítico 13:54In this case the priest had the affected item washed and shut it away again for seven more days — giving it another chance before deciding between saving or burning it.
  55. Levítico 13:55If after washing the mark still looked the same, even without growing further, the item was still burned — the fact that it didn’t disappear with washing was enough to condemn the fabric.
  56. Levítico 13:56But if the mark had faded after washing, the priest had just the affected piece torn out of the fabric, saving the rest of the item.
  57. Levítico 13:57If after that the mark appeared again in another part of the same item, then the final solution was to burn everything — the material was considered permanently compromised.
  58. Levítico 13:58But if the washing had actually solved the problem, one more wash was enough and the item was cleared as clean — the process allowed saving clothes that had only been stained on the surface.
  59. Levítico 13:59This verse closes the chapter by summing up its purpose: to give the priests a clear standard for declaring fabric or leather clean or unclean, the same way it was done with human skin.

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