Leviticus 13:47-59

The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woollen garment, or a linen garment;

The garment ... that the ... leprosy is in. 'It is well known that infectious diseases-such as scarlet fever, measles, the plague-are latently imbibed and carried by the clothes. But the language of this passage clearly indicates a disease to which clothes themselves were subject, and which was followed by effects on them analogous to those which malignant leprosy produces on the human body; because similar regulations were made for the rigid inspection of suspected garments by a priest, as for the examination of a leprous person.

It has long been conjectured, and recently ascertained by the use of a lens, that the leprous condition of swine is produced by myriads of minute insects engendered in their skin; and regarding all leprosy as of the same nature, it is thought that this affords a sufficient reason for the injunction in the Mosaic law to destroy the clothes in which the disease, after careful observation, seemed to manifest itself. Clothes are sometimes seen contaminated by this disease in the West Indies and the southern parts of America (Whitelaw's 'Code of Health'); and it may be presumed that, as the Hebrews were living in the desert, where they had not the convenience of frequent changes and washing, the clothes they wore, and the skin mats on which they lay, would be apt to breed infectious vermin, which, being settled in the stuff, would imperceptibly gnaw it, and leave stains similar to those described by Moses. It is well known that the wool of sheep dying of disease, if it had not been shorn from the animal while living, and also skins, if not thoroughly prepared by scouring, are liable to the effects described in this passage.

Whether it be a woollen garment, or a linen garment. These are specified, because the dresses of the Hebrews consisted exclusively of one or other of these materials. х beged (H899) denotes the outer robe (Genesis 39:12; Genesis 39:15; Genesis 41:42; 2 Kings 22:10; 2 Chronicles 18:19), which was commonly made of wool, the staple material for the manufacture of clothing; for, while among the Egyptians woolen garments were worn principally by the lower classes, rarely by the grandees, and occasionally even by the priests, they were much more common among the Hebrews, whose numerous flocks furnished an abundant supply of fleeces (cf. Deuteronomy 22:11; 2 Kings 3:4; Job 31:20; Proverbs 31:13; Isaiah 1:18; Ezekiel 34:3; Hosea 2:5). Pishtiym (H6593), plural of pishteh (H6593), which is a general term, including all kinds of linen, and, being joined with beged (H899), denotes a linen garment.]

Verse 48. Whether it be in the warp, or woof, of linen, or of woollen - literally, whether it is in the warp or woof, for the flax or for the wool-pishtah being used sometimes for the plant (Exodus 9:31; Joshua 2:6; Judges 15:14), and tsemer (H6785) for the fleece, as distinct from the woven fabric (Judges 6:37). This sense the words evidently bear in the latter part of the clause, which is accordingly rendered by the Septugint, ee en tois linois ee en tois eriois, either in the flax or in the wool. It is the only intelligible view that can be taken of them, as it would be difficult or impossible to discern, on a corroding spot appearing in fabricated stuffs, whether the disease were in the warp or in the woof; but very easy if the reference is considered as made to the materials before being interwoven in the loom - i:e., as they existed separately, whether in the raw state or in that of yarn. A similar distinction is made in regard to skins in their, natural and their artificial form, such as bottles.

Verse 49-59. If the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin. The appearance of such stains was the first symptom that excited suspicion; and immediately, consequent upon the discovery of the alarming spots, the affected garment was to be brought under the notice of the priest, who shut it up for a week. At the end of that period it was subjected to another careful inspection: and if the coloured stain was found to have enlarged its range, that was considered decisive of its being х tsaara`at (H6883) mam'eret (H3992)] a "fretting" - literally, an exasperated or malignant - "leprosy;" and on this verdict being pronounced, the garment was consigned to the flames.

But should it have appeared, on the second inspection, not to have been spreading, the priest, having ordered it to be washed, shut it up for another experimental week, when one of two results followed. If after the application of the water the stain remained unchanged in appearance, he was to pronounce it unclean; because the disease, though it had not extended, was (Leviticus 13:55), by 'fretting toward,' corroding the substance of the woven fabric or leather. If, on re-examination, the spot appeared to be fading, it was to be cut out of the stuff; and should a similar spot appear in any other part of the garment, it was 'a spreading leprosy,' and the material in which it had developed itself was to be burned. The cloth or skin, however, was, in the first instance, to undergo a vigorous process of ablution; and should that new spot be removable by water, the garment was washed a second time, and then pronounced "clean."

Maimonides states that, according to Jewish canons, cloth manufactured of camels' hair and sheep's wool, when the quantity of the former exceeded that of the latter, garments and skins that were dyed, and articles formed of the skins of aquatic animals, were not included among the materials embraced in this ordinance. But no exceptions are stated in the original code; and the wisdom of the legislator is manifested by his making the course prescribed imperative in the case of all corroding cloths or skins adapted for personal apparel or domestic use. It is probable that in rude state of society, consisting, to a large extent, bricklayers and emancipated slave-labourers, among whom clothing would frequently be kept in a state of sordid neglect, such minute and stringent regulations were absolutely necessary for preventing the mischievous consequences which the climate might produce. In these circumstances, an active as well as strict surveillance was imperatively demanded as a measure of sanatory precaution; and no general interdict could have produced a practical effect in allaying popular apprehensions, ready to be excited by any rumour of infection, as well as in promoting a general attention to cleanliness, equal to the act, enforced by public authority, of destroying every polluted article of clothing.

The leprosy in garments has long been a source of perplexity to biblical commentators, who have made vain attempts to explain the occult phenomenon. Michaelis considered the woollen stuffs which exhibited in some parts a threadbare appearance, and afterward broke into holes, had been manufactured from the wool of diseased sheep, that was favourable to the production of vermin; and Calmet ascribed the effects here described to the ravages of animalculae, which gnawed the texture. But neither of these hypotheses is sufficient to satisfy all the conditions of the sacred narrative, especially to account for the diverse coloration of the corroding patches in the clothes.

It is now the established belief, founded on the observation of analogous facts, that the green and reddish plague-spots had most probably a cryptogamous origin-were caused by a mould-`a fungus'-which is the most protean of all plants, assuming different forms on different substances, but familiar to us in the green, light, fleecy covering which it spreads over old shoes, stale pieces of bread, or cast-off clothes left in damp, ill-ventilated places.

The red leprosy of garments has played a somewhat remarkable part in history. It was very common in the Middle Ages, occuring often before the outbreak of epidemics, which it was supposed to herald-appearing suddenly on the sacramental host, and on the vestments of priests-and was regarded with superstitious fear as a signaculum, or omen of gloomy presage.

The researches of microscopists have dispelled the mystery and terror which surrounded it for so many ages, and resolved it into a mere collection of minute and simple fungi ('British and Foreign Evangelical Review,' No. 47:; article 'Biblical Botany,' by H. Macmillan).

With regard to leprosy in the person, it appears that, though sometimes inflicted as a miraculous judgment (Numbers 12:10; 2 Kings 5:27), it was a natural disease, well known in Eastern countries still; but the term, as used in this popular, unscientific history, seems to have been applied to any cutaneous eruption of an extensive range or a disgusting appearance. In the more accurate nomenclature of modern times, lepra and leprosy are considered as strictly applicable to diseases of the skin characterized by, scaly patches of a white, shining colour, of different sizes, but generally of a circular shape. This species of leprosy, which may extend over the whole surface of the body, and often lasts for years without producing any constitutional derangement, is not contagious.

In a report by the Royal College of Physicians, prepared a few years ago for the Secretary of State for the British colonies, it is stated that, in return to interrogatories despatched to all the colonies, as well as to various other parts of the world, an immense mass of evidence was obtained, which having been elaborately digested and collated clearly established these important points-That leprosy is not communicable by proximity or contact with the diseased, and that there is not 'anything which justifies measures for the compulsory segregation of lepers' ('British Medical Journal'). This common form of the disease is what is described in Leviticus 13:13 of this chapter, and its non-contagious character was well-known in the Mosaic age. But under the general designation of leprosy, several varieties of cutaneous disease are comprised, differing in degrees of malignity, all of which, under the irritating influence of the climate, would then, as similar affections do still, become rapidly virulent and dangerous. A combination of natural causes, specified at the beginning of the chapter, predisposed the Israelites to disorders of the skin; and it is probable that the extensive prevalence of these shortly after the Exodus necessitated at that time the enactment of the strict and severe regulations to which those afflicted by such distempers were subjected. Considered even from a sanitary point of view, the rules prescribed by the Hebrew legislator for distinguishing the true character and varieties of the disease, are far superior to the method of treatment now followed in the same quarter of the world, and evince the divine wisdom by which he was guided.

But the course prescribed was special; and the fact that every suspected case was brought for examination-not to an elder, nor to any of the heads of houses, but to a priest, as was done continuously until the time of our Lord (Matthew 8:4) - proves that it was designed, not solely for sanatory; but still more for ritual purposes. It was intended and calculated to impress the minds of the people with a conviction that trouble, whether in a mild or a severe form, proceeded from God, and was a punishment of sin-more especially that leprosy, the victim of which was considered as dead, was the external symbol of sin in its deepest malignity-involving entire separation from God and His people, and leading to spiritual death. The laws enacted, therefore, by divine authority regarding leprosy, while they pointed in the first instance to sanatory ends, were at the same time designed, by stimulating to carefulness against ceremonial defilement, to foster a spirit of religious fear and inward purity.