Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 13:13
Then the priest shall consider: and, behold, [if] the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce [him] clean [that hath] the plague: it is all turned white: he [is] clean.
Verse 13. If the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean] Why is it that the partial leper was pronounced unclean, and the person totally covered with the disease clean? This was probably owing to a different species or stage of the disease; the partial disease was contagious, the total not contagious. That there are two different species or degrees of the same disease described here, is sufficiently evident. In one, the body was all covered with a white enamelled scurf; in the other, there was a quick raw flesh in the risings. On this account the one might be deemed unclean, i. e., contagious, the other not; for contact with the quick raw flesh would be more likely to communicate the disease than the touch of the hard dry scurf. The ichor proceeding from the former, when brought into contact with the flesh of another, would soon be taken into the constitution by means of the absorbent vessels; but where the whole surface was perfectly dry, the absorbent vessels of another person coming in contact with the diseased man could imbibe nothing, and therefore there was comparatively no danger of infection. Hence that species or stage of the disease that exhibited the quick raw rising was capable of conveying the infection for the reasons already assigned, when the other was not. Dr. Mead thus accounts for the circumstance mentioned in the text. See on Le 13:18. As the leprosy infected bodies, clothes, and even the walls of houses, is it not rational to suppose that it was occasioned by a species of animalcula or vermin burrowing under the skin? Of this opinion there are some learned supporters.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
If the leprosy, i.e. the sign or appearance of the leprosy; or the scab is called a leprosy, because at first view it seemed to be so to the priest, and to other beholders.
Have covered all his flesh: when it appeared in some one part, it discovered the ill humour which lurked within, and withal the inability of nature to expel it; but when it overspread all, it manifested the strength of nature conquering the distemper, and purging out the ill humours into the outward parts.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then the priest shall consider,…. Look wistly upon it, and well weigh the matter in his own mind, that he may make a true judgment and pronounce a right sentence:
and, behold, [if] the leprosy have covered all his flesh; from head to foot, so that no quick, raw, or sound flesh appear in him:
he shall pronounce [him] clean [that hath] the plague; not clean from a leprosy he is covered with; but that he is free from pollution by it, and under no obligation to bring his offering, or to perform, or have performed on him any of the rites and ceremonies used in cleansing of the leper:
it is all turned white; his skin and flesh with white bright spots, scabs and swellings, and no raw and red flesh appears:
he [is] clean; in a ceremonial sense: this may seem strange, that one that had a bright spot, or a white swelling, or a scab that spreads, a single one of these, or here and there one, should be unclean, and yet, if covered over with them, should be clean; the reason in nature is, because this shows a good healthful inward constitution, which throws out all its ill humours externally, whereby health is preserved; as we see in persons that have the measles or smallpox, or such like distempers, if they stick in the skin, and only here and there one rises up in a tumour, and to an head, it is a bad sign; but if they come out kindly and well, though they cover the whole body, things are very promising: the mystical or spiritual meaning of this is, that when a man sees himself to be a sinful creature, all over covered with sin, and no part free, and disclaims all righteousness of his own to justify him before God, but wholly trusts to, and depends upon the grace of God for salvation, and the righteousness of Christ for his acceptance with God; he becomes clean through the grace of God and the blood and righteousness of Christ.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
13. All turned white: he is clean Here is a paradox; the partial leper is unclean, the total leper is clean. The explanation of Patrick is, that this uniform white covering is indicative of some other disease, and not the real leprosy, yet it has so strong a resemblance as to prompt the writer to give it the same name. But the more common theory is, that the crisis of the leprosy is reached when the patient becomes white from head to foot “broken out blooming on the skin,” with an enamelled, hard, dry scurf, incapable of communicating the contagion by contact. Canon Cook argues that the disease treated of in this chapter is the elephantiasis, and not the leprosy, and that when the entire surface turns white it indicates that it is not the elephantiasis, but some other disease, which did not render the man unclean. This solution of the difficulty agrees very nearly with Patrick’s. It is a prevalent opinion that the leprosy is here treated, not on sanitary but wholly on ceremonial grounds, and that the leprosy is arbitrarily pronounced unclean, just as a corpse is unclean a moment after life is extinct, and that the ceremonial pollution, by arbitrary appointment, continues only so long as the disease is spreading.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 13:13 Then the priest shall consider: and, behold, [if] the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce [him] clean [that hath] the plague: it is all turned white: he [is] clean.
Ver. 13. He shall pronounce him clean, ] i.e., Not infectiously or incurably unclean.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
break out abroad = cometh quite out. Type of the sinner confessing his totality of evil then he is clean, 1Jn 1:9, 1Jn 1:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
if the leprosy: It may seem strange that the partial leper should be pronounced unclean, and the person totally covered with the disease clean. This was probably owing to a different species or stage of the disease; the partial being contagious, the total not. That there are two different species, or degrees, of the disease described here, is sufficiently evident: in one, the person was all covered with a white enamelled scurf; in the other, there was a quick raw flesh in the risings. On this account, the one was deemed unclean, or contagious, the other not; for contact with the quick raw flesh would be more likely to communicate the disease, than the touch of the hard dry scurf. The ichor proceeding from the former, when brought into contact with the flesh of another, would soon be taken into constitution by means of the absorbent vessels; but where the surface was perfectly dry; the absorbent vessels of another, coming in contact with the diseased man, could imbibe nothing, and there was consequently but little or no danger of infection. This is the learned Dr. Mead’s view of the subject; who thus accounts for the circumstances mentioned in the text.
he is clean: Isa 64:6, Joh 9:41
Reciprocal: Lev 14:7 – pronounce
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 13:13. If the leprosy have covered all the flesh It may seem strange that a man who is all over leprous should be pronounced clean, and yet one who is but partially leprous should be unclean. To explain this it has been said, that when the disorder appeared only in some one part, or in a few parts, it discovered the ill humour that lurked within, and withal the inability of nature to expel it; but when it overspread all, it manifested the strength of nature, conquering the distemper, and purging out the ill humours into the outward parts. So that this sort of breaking out was rather a relief to the body than a disease; and there was no danger in the eruption. The most solid account, however, of this matter is, that this kind of leprosy was not infectious, and for that reason, he who was affected with it, is here pronounced clean. In confirmation of this we are told, that this white, or universal leprosy, is not attended with an itching, as in the other kinds.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
13:13 Then the priest shall consider: and, behold, [if] the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce [him] {e} clean [that hath] the plague: it is all turned white: he [is] clean.
(e) For it is not that contagious leprosy that infects, but a form of scales which does not leave the skin raw as leprosy does.