And the priest shall see him: and, behold, if the rising be white in the skin, and it have turned the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh in the rising;
Parallel translations
- WEB and the priest shall examine him. Behold, if there is a white rising in the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the rising,
- BSB The priest will examine him, and if there is a white swelling on the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling,
- NKJV And the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the swelling on the skin is white, and it has turned the hair white, and there is a spot of raw flesh in the swelling,
- NASB The priest shall then look, and if there is a white swelling on the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is new raw flesh in the swelling,
- NLT If the priest finds a white swelling on the skin, and some hair on the spot has turned white, and there is an open sore in the affected area,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A white swelling that whitens the hair with raw flesh signals serious disease. Raw flesh is a telling sign of an advanced affliction.
Overview
The priest examines and finds a white swelling that has turned the hair white, with raw flesh present. These features indicate an established, defiling disease. The presence of raw, exposed flesh vividly portrays the open wound of sin, which festers until it is healed by the Great Physician.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 2 Kgs 5:27The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
- 2 Chr 26:19–20Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.
- Lev 13:24Or if there be any flesh, in the skin whereof there is a hot burning, and the quick flesh that burneth have a white bright spot, somewhat reddish, or white;
- Lev 13:14–15But when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean.
- John 3:19–20And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
- Amos 5:10They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
- Lev 13:3–4And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.
- John 7:7The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
- Num 12:10–12And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.
- Prov 12:1Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 13:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.