Leviticus 13:30

13:30 the priest is to examine the infection,¹ and if² it appears to be deeper than the skin³ and the hair in it is reddish yellow and thin, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean.⁴ It is scall,⁵ a disease of the head or the beard.⁶

¹tn Heb “and the priest shall see the infection.”

²tn Heb “and behold.”

³tn Heb “its appearance is deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “deeper than”) the skin.”

⁴tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).

⁵tn 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.

⁶tn Heb “It is scall. It is the disease of the head or the beard.”