Read Leviticus 13:1-59 at Bible Gateway.
Lev 13:1 And YHVH spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: 2 When a man has in the skin of his flesh a rising, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his flesh the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests. 3 And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh; and if the hair in the plague is turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean. 4 And if the bright spot is white in the skin of his flesh, and its appearance is not deeper than the skin, and its hair is not turned white, then the priest shall shut up him that has the plague seven days. 5 And the priest shall look on him the seventh day; and, behold, if the plague remains in its appearance, and the plague is not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up seven days more. 6 And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day; and, behold, if the plague is dim, and the plague is not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is a scab; and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean. 7 But if the scab spreads abroad in the skin, after that he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again. 8 And the priest shall look, and, behold, if the scab is spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is leprosy. {p}
This is the first occurrence of leprosy found in Scripture. Leprosy is Strong’s H6883 tsara’ath, a concrete noun meaning “leprosy;” from Strong’s H6879 צרע tsara, a primitive root meaning, “to be stricken with scourge.” The 3-letter root is tsadey + resh + ayin.
tsadey ץ, צ = the trail, thus a man concealed, journey, chase, hunt
resh ר = the head of man, thus head, first, top, beginning, man
ayin ע = the eye, thus watch, know, shade
The story: bringing down (tsadey, as a hunter brings down his game) the man (resh) in one’s eyes (ayin).
The story does not seem to have anything to do with a skin disease, but follow with me. Scripture is using its teaching tools to paint a natural picture of a spiritual truth. To understand it, let’s look at the other Torah mentions of leprosy. It comes up again in the very brief explanation of the 9th Commandment, Do not bear false witness, found in Deu 24:8-9, even referring back to this very passage in Leviticus:
Take heed in a plague of leprosy (tsara’ath), that you observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests- the Levites- shall teach you, as I commanded them, so you shall observe to do. Remember what YHVH your God did to Miriam, on the way, as you came forth out of Egypt!
(For more on Deuteronomy as the explanation of the Ten Commandments, see here.)
The history of what YHVH did to Miriam is recorded in Num 12. Miriam and Aaron had spoken against Moses, and Miriam became leprous as a result. They were bearing false witness against Moses, and it was offensive to YHVH, for Moses was not only a prophet – a man who sees – but he was the steward of YHVH’s house, and YHVH spoke to him face to face, and not in visions or dreams. Miriam and Aaron were bringing him down in their own eyes and in the eyes of the congregation by speaking against him. The tsadey in the Hebrew root word is also the pictograph of the man lying down or hiding in wait or in ambush, something a hunter does, but also something an enemy does, further bringing out the concept that the origin of speech which brings down is the enemy and not the Spirit of God.
Deu 24:8-9 {s} chiastic structure
The chiastic structure reaffirms through the A pair that we are to study what happened to Miriam in order to learn about outbreaks of tsara’ath and what to do about them. The central axis refers to the instructions given to the priests in dealing with leprosy from this very passage in Leviticus. Those who are afflicted with tsara’ath are to be quarantined from the rest of the congregation. Why? Just as leprosy is an infectious physical condition that will quickly spread to others, so tsara’ath – evil speaking – is an infectious spiritual condition that will quickly spread to others!
When we are careful to observe His commandment to refuse to bear false witness, and to refuse to allow the enemy to use our mouth as a tool, then we are fit to dwell in society and around others, but those who use their mouth to bring down are not!
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