Imamat 13:11

13:11 it is a chronic ¹  disease on the skin of his body, ²  so the priest is to pronounce him unclean. ³  The priest ⁴  must not merely quarantine him, for he is unclean. ⁵ 

Imamat 13:27

13:27 The priest must then examine it on the seventh day, and if it is spreading further ⁶  on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce him unclean. It is a diseased infection. ⁷ 

Imamat 13:30

13:30 the priest is to examine the infection, ⁸  and if ⁹  it appears to be deeper than the skin ¹⁰  and the hair in it is reddish yellow and thin, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. ¹¹  It is scall, ¹²  a disease of the head or the beard. ¹³ 

Imamat 13:45

The Life of the Person with Skin Disease

13:45 “As for the diseased person who has the infection, ¹⁴  his clothes must be torn, the hair of his head must be unbound, he must cover his mustache, ¹⁵  and he must call out ‘Unclean! Unclean!’

[13:11]  ¹ tn The term rendered here “chronic” is a Niphal participle meaning “grown old” (HALOT 448 s.v. II ישׁן nif.2). The idea is that this is an old enduring skin disease that keeps on developing or recurring.

[13:11]  ² tn Heb “in the skin of his flesh” as opposed to the head or the beard (v. 29; cf. v. 2 above).

[13:11]  ³ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’, cf. the note on v. 3 above).

[13:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:11]  ⁵ sn Instead of just the normal quarantine isolation, this condition calls for the more drastic and enduring response stated in Lev 13:45-46. Raw flesh, of course, sometimes oozes blood to one degree or another, and blood flows are by nature impure (see, e.g., Lev 12 and 15; cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 191).

[13:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “is indeed spreading.”

[13:27]  ⁷ tn For the rendering “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above.

[13:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the priest shall see the infection.”

[13:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “and behold.”

[13:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “its appearance is deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “deeper than”) the skin.”

[13:30]  ¹¹ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).

[13:30]  ¹² tn The exact identification of this disease is unknown. Cf. KJV “dry scall”; NASB “a scale”; NIV, NCV, NRSV “an itch”; NLT “a contagious skin disease.” For a discussion of “scall” disease in the hair, which is a crusty scabby disease of the skin under the hair that also affects the hair itself, see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 192-93, and J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:793-94. The Hebrew word rendered “scall” (נֶתֶק, neteq) is related to a verb meaning “to tear; to tear out; to tear apart.” It may derive from the scratching and/or the tearing out of the hair or the scales of the skin in response to the itching sensation caused by the disease.

[13:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “It is scall. It is the disease of the head or the beard.”

[13:45]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And the diseased one who in him is the infection.”

[13:45]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and his head shall be unbound, and he shall cover on [his] mustache.” Tearing one’s clothing, allowing the hair to hang loose rather than bound up in a turban, and covering the mustache on the upper lip are all ways of expressing shame, grief, or distress (cf., e.g., Lev 10:6 and Micah 3:7).