Leviticus 13:45

his clothes shall be rent not the usual Heb. word, but one used only here and in Leviticus 10:6; Leviticus 21:10; Jewish tradition exempted women from rending their clothes. The actions of the leper here prescribed are those of a mourner; rending the garments, and letting the hair go loose (cp. Leviticus 10:6; Leviticus 21:10; Ezekiel 24:17), covering the upper lip (cp. Ezekiel 24:17; Ezekiel 24:22; Micah 3:7), crying, Unclean (Lamentations 4:15). The leper was regarded as one dead; Miriam is so described (Numbers 12:12) and Josephus refers to lepers as -in no way differing from the dead" (Ant.iii. 11. 3). Cp. mediaeval rites relating to lepers in HDB. iii. 98 b.

The office from the Sarum Manual used at the seclusion of a leper may be found in R. M. Clay's Mediaeval Hospitals, pp. 273 ff.