Leviticus 13:11

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

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.

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

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

tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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).