Commentaria in Leviticum
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2. The man in whose skin or flesh shall arise a diverse colour, or a blister, or as it were something shining, that is, the stroke of the leprosy, shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to any one of his sons. 3. And if he see the leprosy in the skin, and the hair turned white, and the leprosy itself lower than the skin and the rest of the flesh, it is the stroke of the leprosy, and at his judgment he shall be separated. 4. But if there be a shining whiteness in the skin, and not lower than the other flesh, and the hair of the former colour, the priest shall shut him up seven days, 5. And shall look upon him the seventh day; and if the leprosy be at a stay, and spread not in the skin, he shall shut him up again seven other days, 6. And on the seventh day he shall look upon him: if the leprosy be somewhat obscure, and not spread in the skin, he shall declare him clean, because it is only a scab: and the man shall wash his garments, and shall be clean. 7. But if the leprosy grow again, after he was seen by the priest and restored to cleanness, he shall be brought to him, 8. And shall be condemned of uncleanness. 9. If the stroke of the leprosy be in a man, he shall be brought to the priest, 10. And he shall view him. And when there shall be a white colour in the skin, and it shall have changed the look of the hairs, and the living flesh itself shall appear: 11. It shall be judged an old and inveterate leprosy in the skin; the priest therefore shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not shut him up, because it is evidently unclean. 12. But if the leprosy break out, running about in the skin, and cover all the skin from the head to the feet, whatsoever falleth under the sight of the eyes, 13. The priest shall view him, and shall judge that the leprosy which he hath is clean: because it is all turned into whiteness, and therefore the man shall be clean. 14. But when the living flesh shall appear in him, 15. Then by the priest’s judgment he shall be defiled, and shall be reckoned among the unclean: for the living flesh, if it be sprinkled with leprosy, is unclean. 16. And if it be turned again into whiteness, and cover all the man, 17. The priest shall view him, and shall judge him to be clean. 18. When there is an ulcer in the flesh and skin, and it is healed, 19. And in the place of the ulcer there appeareth a white scar, or somewhat red, the man shall be brought to the priest: 20. And when he seeth the place of the leprosy lower than the other flesh, and the hairs turned white, he shall defile him: for the evil of leprosy is broken out in the ulcer. 21. But if the hair be of the former colour, and the scar somewhat obscure, and not lower than the neighbouring flesh, he shall shut him up seven days; 22. And if it spread, he shall judge him to have the leprosy: 23. But if it stay in its place, it is but the scar of an ulcer, and the man shall be clean. 24. The flesh and skin that hath been burnt with fire, and is healed, and hath a white or red scar, 25. The priest shall look upon it, and behold it is turned white, and the place is lower than the other skin: he shall defile him, because the evil of leprosy is broken out in the scar. 26. But if the colour of the hairs be not changed, nor the stroke lower than the other flesh, and the leprosy itself be somewhat obscure, he shall shut him up seven days, 27. And on the seventh day he shall view him: if the leprosy be spread in the skin, he shall defile him: 28. But if the whiteness stay in its place, and be not very clear, it is the mark of a burning, and therefore he shall be cleansed, because it is but the scar of the burning. 29. If the leprosy break out in the head or the beard of a man or woman, the priest shall see them, 30. And if the place be lower than the other flesh, and the hair yellow, and thinner than ordinary, he shall defile them, because it is the leprosy of the head and beard. 31. But if he see the place of the spot even with the neighbouring flesh, and the hair black, he shall shut him up seven days, 32. And on the seventh day he shall look upon it. If the spot be not grown, and the hair be of its colour, and the place of the stroke be even with the other flesh: 33. The man shall be shaven, except the place of the spot, and he shall shut him up seven other days. 34. If on the seventh day the stroke be seen to be stayed in its place, and not lower than the other flesh, he shall cleanse him, and his garments being washed he shall be clean. 35. But if after his cleansing, the spot grow again in the skin, 36. He shall not inquire any more whether the hair be turned yellow, because he is evidently unclean. 37. But if the spot stand, and the hairs be black, let him know that the man is healed, and let him confidently pronounce him clean. 38. If a man or woman have a white spot in the skin, 39. The priest shall view them: if he find that there is a darkish whiteness in the skin, let him know that it is not leprosy, but a white spot, and the man is clean. 40. The man whose hair falleth from his head, is bald and clean: 41. And if the hair fall from his forehead, he is bald before, and clean. 42. But if in the baldness of the hinder or the forepart of the head there be a white or reddish sore, 43. And the priest see it, he shall condemn him undoubtedly of leprosy, which is risen in the baldness. 44. Whosoever therefore shall be defiled with leprosy, and is separated at the judgment of the priest, 45. Shall have his clothes hanging loose, his head bare, his mouth covered with a cloth, and he shall cry out that he is defiled and unclean. 46. All the time that he is a leper and unclean, he shall dwell alone without the camp. 47. A woollen or linen garment that hath the leprosy, 48. In the warp or in the woof, or a skin, or whatsoever is made of a skin, 49. If it be infected with a white or red spot, shall be reckoned the leprosy, and shall be shewn to the priest: 50. Who shall look upon it, and shut it up seven days. 51. And on the seventh day looking on it again, if he perceive that it is spread, it is a settled leprosy: he shall judge the garment unclean, and every thing wherein it shall be found: 52. And therefore it shall be burnt with fire. 53. But if he see that it is not spread, 54. He shall command, and they shall wash that wherein the leprosy is, and he shall shut it up seven other days. 55. And when he shall see that the former face is not returned, nor yet the leprosy spread, he shall judge it unclean, and it shall be burnt with fire, because the leprosy is spread through the whole surface of the garment, or through the whole. 56. But if the place of the leprosy be somewhat obscure, after the garment is washed, he shall tear it off, and shall divide it from that which is whole. 57. But if after this there appear in those places, which before were without spot, a leprosy flying and wandering, it must be burnt with fire. 58. If it cease, he shall wash with water the parts that are pure, the second time, and they shall be clean. 59. This is the law of the leprosy of garments, woollen and linen, of the warp and of the woof, and of every thing made of skins, how it is to be cleansed or defiled.
The question is, what and of what kind was this leprosy of the Jews?
I say first, that this leprosy was a disease, often natural, often also sent upon the Jews by the special providence of God, especially to punish their graver sins; either of simony: for on this account Giezi was smitten by Eliseus with leprosy, 4 Kings 5:27; or of sacrilege: for on this account king Ozias, usurping the priesthood and wishing to burn incense, was touched with leprosy by God, 2 Paralipomenon 26:21; or of homicide: for on this account David imprecates leprosy on Joab, who slew Abner, 2 Kings 3:29; or of murmuring and rebellion, especially against priests: so Mary the sister of Moses, murmuring against Moses, was seized with leprosy, Numbers 12:10. On which matter there is a famous place in Deuteronomy 24:8, where God expressly threatens leprosy to those who will not obey the priests. “Observe diligently,” He says, “that thou incur not the stroke of the leprosy, but (that thou mayest avoid it) thou shalt do whatsoever the priests of the Levitical race shall teach thee, according to what I have commanded them, and fulfil it carefully. Remember what the Lord your God did to Mary.” This leprosy therefore often was not so much a natural disease as a divine plague, as I shall show more fully at verse 47.
And this was the cause why God committed the judgment and expiation of leprosy to the priests, and willed that lepers should present and show themselves to the priests, that by them they might be pronounced either cleansed of leprosy or still defiled. Namely, that they might be forced to humble themselves before priests, against whom they had proudly risen, and so by this humiliation expiate the fault and punishment of their pride. So Mary, raising herself against Moses, was smitten with leprosy, from which she was healed only by the help and prayers of Moses, Numbers 12:11. There was also another cause, namely that lepers under the old law were as it were irregular: for they were unclean not only naturally but also legally, so that they were barred not only from the society of men, but also from the temple and sacred rites. This irregularity, however, a physician could not take away, but a priest. Therefore, that it might be taken away, they had to present themselves to the priest and supplicate, who expiated them, and restored them to the sacred rites according to the rite which God prescribes in chapter 14.