Keluaran 4:6

4:6 The Lord also said to him, “Put your hand into your robe.” ¹  So he put his hand into his robe, and when he brought it out – there was his hand, ²  leprous like snow! ³ 

Imamat 14:8

The Seven Days of Purification

14:8 “The one being cleansed ⁴  must then wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe in water, and so be clean. ⁵  Then afterward he may enter the camp, but he must live outside his tent seven days.

Bilangan 12:10

12:10 When ⁶  the cloud departed from above the tent, Miriam became ⁷  leprous ⁸  as snow. Then Aaron looked at ⁹  Miriam, and she was leprous!

Matius 8:2

8:2 And a leper ¹⁰  approached, and bowed low before him, saying, ¹¹  “Lord, if ¹²  you are willing, you can make me clean.”

[4:6]  ¹ tn The word חֵיק (kheq), often rendered “bosom,” refers to the front of the chest and a fold in the garment there where an item could be placed for carrying (see Prov 6:27; 16:33; 21:14). So “into your robe” should be understood loosely here and in v. 7 as referring to the inside of the top front of Moses’ garment. The inside chest pocket of a jacket is a rough modern equivalent.

[4:6]  ² tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) points out the startling or amazing sight as if the reader were catching first glimpse of it with Moses.

[4:6]  ³ sn This sudden skin disease indicated that God was able to bring such diseases on Egypt in the plagues and that only he could remove them. The whitening was the first stage of death for the diseased (Num 12:10; 2 Kgs 5:27). The Hebrew words traditionally rendered “leprous” or “leprosy,” as they are used in Lev 13 and 14, encompass a variety of conditions, not limited to the disease called leprosy and identified as Hansen’s disease in modern times.

[14:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “the one cleansing himself” (i.e., Hitpael participle of טָהֵר [taher, “to be clean”]).

[14:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he shall be clean” (so ASV). The end result of the ritual procedures in vv. 4-7 and the washing and shaving in v. 8a is that the formerly diseased person has now officially become clean in the sense that he can reenter the community (see v. 8b; contrast living outside the community as an unclean diseased person, Lev 13:46). There are, however, further cleansing rituals and pronouncements for him to undergo in the tabernacle as outlined in vv. 10-20 (see Qal “be[come] clean” in vv. 9 and 20, Piel “pronounce clean” in v. 11, and Hitpael “the one being cleansed” in vv. 11, 14, 17, 18, and 19). Obviously, in order to enter the tabernacle he must already “be clean” in the sense of having access to the community.

[12:10]  ⁶ tn The disjunctive vav (ו) is here introducing a circumstantial clause of time.

[12:10]  ⁷ tn There is no verb “became” in this line. The second half of the line is introduced with the particle הִנֵה (hinneh, “look, behold”) in its archaic sense. This deictic use is intended to make the reader focus on Miriam as well.

[12:10]  ⁸ sn The word “leprosy” and “leprous” covers a wide variety of skin diseases, and need not be limited to the actual disease of leprosy known today as Hansen’s disease. The description of it here has to do with snow, either the whiteness or the wetness. If that is the case then there would be open wounds and sores – like Job’s illness (see M. Noth, Numbers [OTL], 95-96).

[12:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “turned to.”

[8:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And behold, a leper came.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[8:2]  sn The ancient term for leprosy covers a wider array of conditions than what we call leprosy today. A leper was totally ostracized from society until he was declared cured (Lev 13:45-46).

[8:2]  ¹¹ tn Grk “a leper approaching, bowed low before him, saying.”

[8:2]  ¹² tn This is a third class condition. The report portrays the leper making no presumptions about whether Jesus will heal him or not.