Deep Dive

Leviticus 13:57

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But if it reappears in the fabric, weave, or knit, or on any leather article, it is spreading. You must burn the contaminated article.

Commentaries

Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.

Keil-Delitzsch Old Testament Commentaryv. 57

But if the mole appeared again in any such garment or cloth, i.e., if it appeared again after this, it was a leprosy bursting forth afresh, and the thing affected with it was to be burned. Leprosy in linen and woollen fabrics or clothes, and in leather, consisted in all probability in nothing but so-called mildew, which commonly arises from damp and want of air, and consists, in the case of linen, of round, partially coloured spots, which spread, and gradually eat up the fabric, until it falls to pieces like mould. In leather the mildew consists most strictly of "holes eaten in," and is of a "greenish, reddish, or whitish colour, according to the species of the delicate cryptogami by which it has been formed."

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Matthew Henry Bible Commentaryv. 57

The next ceremonial uncleanness is that of the leprosy, concerning which the law was very large and particular; we have the discovery of it in this chapter, and the cleansing of the leper in the next. Scarcely any one thing in all the levitical law takes up so much room as this. I. Rules are here given by which the priest must judge whether the man had the leprosy or no, according as the symptom was that appeared. 1. If it was a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot (v. 1-17). 2. If it was a bile (Lev 13:18-23). 3. If it was in inflammation (Lev 13:24-28). 4. If it was in the head or beard (Lev 13:29-37). 5. If it was a bright spot (Lev 13:38, Lev 13:39). 6. If it was in a bald head (Lev 13:40-44). II. Direction is given how the leper must be disposed of (Lev 13:45, Lev 13:46). III. Concerning the leprosy in garments (Lev 13:47, etc.).

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