Leviticus 13:9-13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
9 When someone is afflicted with a scaly infection, that person shall be brought to the priest. 10 Should the priest, upon examination, find that there is a white mark on the skin which has turned the hair white and that there is raw flesh in it, 11 it is a chronic scaly infection on the skin. The priest shall declare the person unclean without quarantine, since the individual is certainly unclean. 12 [a]If the scaly infection breaks out on the skin and, as far as the priest can see, covers all the skin of the afflicted person from head to foot, 13 should the priest then, upon examination, find that the scaly infection does cover the whole body, he shall declare the afflicted person clean; since the person has turned completely white; that individual is clean.
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- 13:12–17 This is not a paradox, namely where a limited lesion is impure but one that covers the whole body is pure. Rather, a white lesion that lacks ulcerated skin (“raw flesh”) is pure, even if it covers the whole body. This formulation reflects priestly interest in systematization.
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