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,
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,
- KJV 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;
- 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,
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 5:27Therefore the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your offspring forever.” He went out from his presence a leper, as white as snow.
- 2 Chr 26:19–20Then Uzziah was angry. He had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in Yahweh’s house, beside the altar of incense.
- Lev 13:24“Or when the body has a burn from fire on its skin, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white, or white,
- Lev 13:14–15But whenever raw flesh appears in him, he shall be unclean.
- John 3:19–20This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.
- Amos 5:10They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.
- Lev 13:3–4and the priest shall examine the plague in the skin of the body: and if the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body’s skin, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean.
- John 7:7The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil.
- Num 12:10–12The cloud departed from over the Tent; and behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. Aaron looked at Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.
- Prov 12:1Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
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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.