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Infections in Garments, Cloth, or Leather

47 “When a garment has a diseased infection in it,[a] whether a wool or linen garment,[b] 48 or in the warp or woof[c] of the linen or the wool, or in leather or anything made of leather,[d] 49 if the infection[e] in the garment or leather or warp or woof or any article of leather is yellowish green or reddish, it is a diseased infection and it must be shown to the priest. 50 The priest is to examine and then quarantine the article with the infection for seven days.[f] 51 He must then examine the infection on the seventh day. If the infection has spread in the garment, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in the leather—whatever the article into which the leather was made[g]—the infection is a malignant disease. It is unclean. 52 He must burn the garment or the warp or the woof, whether wool or linen, or any article of leather which has the infection in it. Because it is a malignant disease it must be burned up in the fire. 53 But if the priest examines it and[h] the infection has not spread in the garment or in the warp or in the woof or in any article of leather, 54 the priest is to command that they wash whatever has the infection and quarantine it for another seven days.[i] 55 The priest must then examine it after the infection has been washed out, and if[j] the infection has not changed its appearance[k] even though the infection has not spread, it is unclean. You must burn it up in the fire. It is a fungus, whether on the back side or front side of the article.[l] 56 But if the priest has examined it and[m] the infection has faded after it has been washed, he is to tear it out of[n] the garment or the leather or the warp or the woof. 57 Then if[o] it still appears again in the garment or the warp or the woof, or in any article of leather, it is an outbreak. Whatever has the infection in it you must burn up in the fire. 58 But the garment or the warp or the woof or any article of leather which you wash and infection disappears from it[p] is to be washed a second time and it will be clean.”

Summary of Infection Regulations

59 This is the law[q] of the diseased infection in the garment of wool or linen, or the warp or woof, or any article of leather, for pronouncing it clean or unclean.[r]

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 13:47 tn Heb “And the garment, if there is in it a mark of disease.”
  2. Leviticus 13:47 tn Heb “in a wool garment or in a linen garment.”
  3. Leviticus 13:48 sn The warp (vertical) and woof (horizontal) thread may be two different sets of thread not yet woven together, or they may refer to two different kinds of thread already woven, in which case one might have the disease in it while the other does not. See the explanation in J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:809-10.
  4. Leviticus 13:48 tn Heb “in any handiwork of skin” (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV); most other modern English versions have “leather.”
  5. Leviticus 13:49 tn Heb “and the infection is.” This clause is conditional in force, and is translated as such by almost all English versions.
  6. Leviticus 13:50 tn Heb “And the priest shall see the infection and he shall shut up the infection seven days.”
  7. Leviticus 13:51 tn Heb “to all which the leather was made into a handiwork.”
  8. Leviticus 13:53 tn Heb “And if the priest sees and behold”; NASB “and indeed.”
  9. Leviticus 13:54 tn Heb “a second seven days.”
  10. Leviticus 13:55 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
  11. Leviticus 13:55 tn Heb “the infection has not changed its eye.” Smr has “its/his eyes,” as in vv. 5 and 37, but here it refers to the appearance of the article of cloth or leather, unlike vv. 5 and 37 where there is a preposition attached and it refers to the eyes of the priest.
  12. Leviticus 13:55 tn The terms “back side” and “front side” are the same as those used in v. 42 for the “back or front bald area” of a man’s head. The exact meaning of these terms when applied to articles of cloth or leather is uncertain. It could refer, for example, to the inside versus the outside of a garment, or the back versus the front side of an article of cloth or leather. See J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:814, for various possibilities.
  13. Leviticus 13:56 tn Heb “And if the priest saw and behold….”
  14. Leviticus 13:56 tn Heb “and he shall tear it from.”
  15. Leviticus 13:57 tn Heb “And if”; NIV, NCV “But if”; NAB “If, however.”
  16. Leviticus 13:58 tn Heb “and the infection turns aside from them.”
  17. Leviticus 13:59 sn The Hebrew term translated “law” (תּוֹרָה, torah) introduces here a summary or colophon for all of Lev 13. Similar summaries are found in Lev 7:37-38; 11:46-47; 14:54-57; and 15:32-33.
  18. Leviticus 13:59 tn These are declarative Piel forms of the verbs טָהֵר (taher) and טָמֵא (tameʾ) respectively (cf. the notes on vv. 3 and 6 above).

47 “When there is a case of leprous disease in a (A)garment, whether a woolen or a linen garment, 48 in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin, 49 if the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin or in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, it is a case of leprous disease, and it shall be shown to the priest. 50 And the priest shall examine the disease and shut up that which has the disease for seven days. 51 Then he shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, the disease is a (B)persistent leprous disease; it is unclean. 52 And he shall burn the garment, or the warp or the woof, the wool or the linen, or any article made of skin that is diseased, for it is a persistent leprous disease. It shall be burned in the fire.

53 “And if the priest examines, and if the disease has not spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, 54 then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the disease, and he shall shut it up for another seven days. 55 And the priest shall examine the diseased thing after it has been washed. And if the appearance of the diseased area has not changed, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean. You shall burn it in the fire, whether the rot is on the back or on the front.

56 “But if the priest examines, and if the diseased area has faded after it has been washed, he shall tear it out of the garment or the skin or the warp or the woof. 57 Then if it appears again in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire whatever has the disease. 58 But the garment, or the warp or the woof, or any article made of skin from which the disease departs when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and be clean.”

59 This is the law for a case of leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, to determine whether it is clean or unclean.

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