Leviticus 13 · Verse 3

Leviticus 13:3

And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.

Leviticus 13:3, King James Version

Leviticus 13:3 in other translations

BSB	The priest is to examine the infection on his skin, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a skin disease. After the priest examines him, he must pronounce him unclean.
WEB	The priest shall examine the plague in the skin of the body. If the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body’s skin, it is the plague of leprosy; so the priest shall examine him and pronounce him unclean.
ASV	and the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and if the hair in the plague be turned white, and the appearance of the plague be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.
YLT	and the priest hath seen the plague in the skin of the flesh, and the hair in the plague hath turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the skin of his flesh--it is a plague of leprosy, and the priest hath seen him, and hath pronounced him unclean.
DARBY	And when the priest looketh on the sore in the skin of the flesh, and the hair in the sore is turned white, and the sore looketh deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the sore of leprosy; and the priest shall look on him and pronounce him unclean.
BBE	And if, when the priest sees the mark on his skin, the hair on the place is turned white and the mark seems to go deeper than the skin, it is the mark of a leper: and the priest, after looking at him, will say that he is unclean.
Webster	And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight is deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.

What does Leviticus 13:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 13:3-6

3-6. the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh, &c.--The leprosy, as covering the person with a white, scaly scurf, has always been accounted an offensive blemish rather than a serious malady in the East, unless when it assumed its less common and malignant forms. When a Hebrew priest, after a careful inspection, discovered under the cutaneous blemish the distinctive signs of contagious leprosy, the person was immediately pronounced unclean, and is supposed to have been sent out of the camp to a lazaretto provided for that purpose. If the symptoms appeared to be doubtful, he ordered the person to be kept in domestic confinement for seven days, when he was subjected to a second examination; and if during the previous week the eruption had subsided or appeared to be harmless, he was instantly discharged. But if the eruption continued unabated and still doubtful, he was put under surveillance another week; at the end of which the character of the disorder never failed to manifest itself, and he was either doomed to perpetual exclusion from society or allowed to go at large. A person who had thus been detained on suspicion, when at length set at liberty, was obliged to "wash his clothes," as having been tainted by ceremonial pollution; and the purification through which he was required to go was, in the spirit of the Mosaic dispensation, symbolical of that inward purity it was instituted to promote.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 3 The priest shall - pronounce him unclean - וטמא אתו vetimme otho; literally, shall pollute him, i. e., in the Hebrew idiom, shall declare or pronounce him polluted; and in Lev 13:23, it is said, the priest shall pronounce him clean, וטהרו הכהן vetiharo haccohen, the priest shall cleanse him, i. e., declare him clean. In this phrase we have the proper meaning of Mat 16:19 : Whatsoever ye bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. By which our Lord intimates that the disciples, from having the keys, i. e., the true knowledge of the doctrine, of the kingdom of heaven, should, from particular evidences, be at all times able to distinguish between the clean and the unclean, the sincere and the hypocrite; and pronounce a judgment as infallible as the priest did in the case of the leprosy, from the tokens already specified. And as this binding and loosing, or pronouncing fit or unfit for fellowship with the members of Christ, must in the case of the disciples be always according to the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven, the sentence should be considered as proceeding immediately from thence, and consequently as Divinely ratified. The priest polluted or cleansed, i. e., declared the man clean or unclean, according to signs well known and infallible. The disciples or ministers of Christ bind or loose, declare to be fit or unfit for Church fellowship, according to unequivocal evidences of innocence or guilt. In the former case, the priest declared the person fit or unfit for civil society; in the latter, the ministers of Christ declare the person against whom the suspicion of guilt is laid, fit or unfit for continued association with the Church of God. The office was the same in both, a declaration of the truth, not from any power that they possessed of cleansing or polluting, of binding or of loosing, but by the knowledge they gained from the infallible signs and evidences produced on the respective cases.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Leviticus 13:1-17

The plague of leprosy was an uncleanness, rather than a disease. Christ is said to cleanse lepers, not to cure them. Common as the leprosy was among the Hebrews, during and after their residence in Egypt, we have no reason to believe that it was known among them before. Their distressed state and employment in that land must have rendered them liable to disease. But it was a plague often inflicted immediately by the…

Read the full comment on Leviticus 13:1-17 →

Leviticus 13:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְרָאָ֣הve.ra.'Ahand he will seeH7200

הַכֹּהֵ֣ןha.ko.Henthe priestH3548

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

הַנֶּ֣גַעha.Ne.ga'the plagueH5061

בְּעֽוֹר\־be.'or-on [the] skin ofH5785

הַ֠בָּשָׂרHa.ba.sorthe fleshH1320

וְשֵׂעָ֨רve.se.'Arand [the] hairH8181

בַּנֶּ֜גַעba.Ne.ga'in the plagueH5061

הָפַ֣ךְ\׀ha.Fakhit has turnedH2015

לָבָ֗ןla.VanwhiteH3836

וּמַרְאֵ֤הu.mar.'Ehand [the] appearance ofH4758

הַנֶּ֙גַע֙ha.Ne.ga'the plagueH5061

עָמֹק֙'a.Mok[is] deepH6013

מֵע֣וֹרme.'ormore than [the] skin ofH5785

בְּשָׂר֔וֹbe.sa.Roflesh hisH1320

נֶ֥גַעNe.ga'[is] a plague ofH5061

צָרַ֖עַתtza.Ra.'ata serious skin diseaseH6883

ה֑וּאHu'itH1931

וְרָאָ֥הוּve.ra.'A.huand he will see itH7200

הַכֹּהֵ֖ןha.ko.Henthe priestH3548

וְטִמֵּ֥אve.ti.Me'and he will declare uncleanH2930

אֹתֽוֹ\׃'o.To<obj.> himH853

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Leviticus 13:3

Romans 3:19-20
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Revelation 2:23
And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
2 Timothy 2:16-17
But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymeneus and Philetus;
Romans 7:7
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
1 Corinthians 5:4-6
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
Matthew 16:19
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Leviticus 13:2
When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:
Malachi 2:7
For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
Haggai 2:11
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
Hosea 7:9
Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
Ezekiel 44:23
And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
2 Timothy 3:13
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

shall look.
2; 10:10; Eze 44:23; Hag 2:11; Mal 2:7; Ac 20:28; Ro 3:19,20; 7:7
Heb 13:7; Re 2:23
turned.
Eze 16:30; Ho 7:9
deeper.
Ge 13:3; 2Ti 2:16,17; 3:13
pronounce.
Mt 16:19; 18:17,18; Joh 20:23; Ro 3:19,20; 1Co 5:4-6; 2Th 3:14,15
1Ti 1:20

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Leviticus 13:2
When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:
Leviticus 13:3
And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.
Leviticus 13:4
If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days:

Read all of Leviticus 13

Leviticus 13:3 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y el sacerdote mirará la llaga en la piel de la carne: si el pelo en la llaga se ha vuelto blanco, y pareciere la llaga más hundida que la tez de la carne, llaga de lepra es; y el sacerdote le reconocerá, y le dará por inmundo.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	et le sacrificateur verra la plaie qui est dans la peau de sa chair; et si le poil dans la plaie est devenu blanc, et si la plaie paraît plus enfoncée que la peau de sa chair, c’est une plaie de lèpre; et le sacrificateur le verra, et le déclarera impur.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und besieht der Priester das Übel in der Haut des Fleisches, und das Haar in dem Übel hat sich in weiß verwandelt, und das Übel erscheint tiefer als die Haut seines Fleisches, so ist es das Übel des Aussatzes; und sieht es der Priester, so soll er ihn für unrein erklären.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Qui cum viderit lepram in cute, et pilos in album mutatos colorem, ipsamque speciem lepræ humiliorem cute et carne reliqua: plaga lepræ est, et ad arbitrium ejus separabitur.