Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 13:5
And the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, [if] the plague in his sight be at a stay, [and] the plague spread not in the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more:
5. If the plague (i.e. the rising described in Lev 13:2) has not spread (the Heb. verb occurs only in chs. 13, 14), he is to be shut up another seven days, and if the spot then appears dull (the Heb. word in this sense is confined to the two chs.; it is applied to the eye becoming dim through age, 1Sa 3:2), and there is no sign of its spreading, the priest shall pronounce him clean.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the plague spread not – Rather, advance not, so as to show that the disease is under the cuticle and assuming the symptoms of Lev 13:3.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
If the plague be at a stay: this translation is justified by the following clause, which is added to explain it. Otherwise the words are and may be rendered thus, stand or abide in its own colour; the Hebrew word being used for colour as well as for sight.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the priest shall look on him the seventh day,…. In the day, and not in the night, as Maimonides, but not on the seventh day, if it happened to be on the sabbath f, then it was put off till after it; and, according to the Jewish canons g, they do not look upon plagues in the morning, nor in the evening, nor in the middle of a house, nor on a cloudy day, nor at noon, but at the fourth, fifth, eighth, and ninth hours:
and, behold, [if] the plague in his sight be at a stay; it appears to the priest, according to the strictest view he can take of it, that it is in the same state and condition it was, neither better nor worse:
[and] the plague spread not in the skin: is not greater or larger than it was, though not less:
then the priest shall shut him up seven days more; such abundant care was taken, lest after all it should prove a leprosy.
f Misn. Negaim, c. 1. sect. 4. g Misn. ib. c. 2. sect. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(5) And the priest shall look on him.If at the end of a week there is no alteration in the symptoms, the case must be adjourned for another seven days. The same priest who inspected it at the first must examine it again, as another one could not tell whether it has spread or not. If the priest died in the interim, or was taken ill, another priest could examine the patient, but could not pronounce him unclean. If the seventh day happened to be a Sabbath or feast day, the case had to be put off to the following day.
If the plague in his sight be at a stay.Better, if the plagued spot remain the same in its colour, that is, if the suspicious spot which caused the individual to be shut up had not altered its complexion. The expression here translated sight is the same which is rightly rendered by colour in the Authorised Version in Lev. 13:55 of this very chapter. (Comp. also Num. 11:7.) It will thus be seen that though the affected spot had not spread, still it retained its unhealthy and suspicious complexion.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Seven days more It would seem that the suspected leper must necessarily be imprisoned two weeks. But if the symptoms had disappeared entirely at the end of the first week, the man was doubtless entitled to a discharge, otherwise there would be no use of any examination till the end of the second week. The priest who made the first examination must make the second also, as another could not tell whether the disease had spread.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ought not this state of suspense to teach believers an useful lesson, to wait the LORD’S time upon all occasions of doubt? Hab 2:2 . And ought not ministers, in a very particular manner, to learn here from with what caution they should decide in all cases of a spiritual nature? 1Co 4:1-5 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 13:5 And the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, [if] the plague in his sight be at a stay, [and] the plague spread not in the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more:
Ver. 5. Spread not in the skin. ] So if men mend by admonition, and take up in time; if they refuse not to be reformed, hate not to be healed, as Babylon, Jer 51:9 as Ephraim. Hos 7:1 “When I would have healed Ephraim, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered,” or brake out as a leprosy in his forehead. See Eze 24:13 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. (App-6.)
his sight = its appearance.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Reciprocal: Exo 29:30 – seven days Lev 13:26 – then the priest Lev 14:8 – seven days