Leviticus 13:3

13:3 The priest must then examine the infection ¹  on the skin of the body, and if the hair ²  in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of the body, ³  then it is a diseased infection, ⁴  so when the priest examines it ⁵  he must pronounce the person unclean. ⁶ 

Leviticus 13:5

13:5 The priest must then examine it on the seventh day, and if, ⁷  as far as he can see, the infection has stayed the same ⁸  and has not spread on the skin, ⁹  then the priest is to quarantine the person for another seven days. ¹⁰ 

Leviticus 13:30

13:30 the priest is to examine the infection, ¹¹  and if ¹²  it appears to be deeper than the skin ¹³  and the hair in it is reddish yellow and thin, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. ¹⁴  It is scall, ¹⁵  a disease of the head or the beard. ¹⁶ 

---

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

² tn There is no “if” expressed, but the contrast between the priestly finding in this verse and the next verse clearly implies it.

³ tn Heb “and the appearance of the infection is deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “deeper than”) the skin of the his flesh.” See the note on v. 20 below.

⁴ tn For the translation “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above. Cf. TEV “a dreaded skin disease”; NIV “an infectious skin disease”; NLT “a contagious skin disease.”

⁵ tn The pronoun “it” here refers to the “infection,” not the person who has the infection (cf. the object of “examine” at the beginning of the verse).

⁶ tn Heb “he shall make him unclean.” The verb is the Piel of טָמֵא (tame’) “to be unclean.” Here it is a so-called “declarative” Piel (i.e., “to declare unclean”), but it also implies that the person is put into the category of actually being “unclean” by the pronouncement itself (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 175; cf. the corresponding opposite in v. 6 below).

⁷ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).

⁸ tn Heb “the infection has stood in his eyes”; ASV “if in his eyes the plague be at a stay.”

⁹ tn Although there is no expressed “and” at the beginning of this clause, there is in the corresponding clause of v. 6, so it should be assumed here as well.

¹⁰ tn Heb “a second seven days.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and the priest shall see the infection.”

¹² tn Heb “and behold.”

¹³ tn Heb “its appearance is deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “deeper than”) the skin.”

¹⁴ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).

¹⁵ tn 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.

¹⁶ tn Heb “It is scall. It is the disease of the head or the beard.”