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“When someone has a swelling or rash or bright spot on his skin that could become an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest.
Leviticus 13:2 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “When a man shall have a rising in his body’s skin, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his body the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons, the priests:
  • KJV When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:
  • NKJV “When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests.
  • NASB “When someone has on the skin of his body a swelling, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes an infection of leprosy on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests.
  • NLT “If anyone has a swelling or a rash or discolored skin that might develop into a serious skin disease, that person must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons.

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 person with a suspicious skin condition is brought to the priest for examination. The priest, not a physician, judges ritual cleanness.

Overview

When someone develops a swelling, scab, or bright spot that may be a skin plague, he is brought to the priest. The priest's role is to discern ritual cleanness, distinguishing serious defiling disease from harmless conditions. This careful examination guarded the camp's purity and pictured how sin must be exposed and judged, a work ultimately done by Christ, our Priest, who both diagnoses and cleanses.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 20

  • Deut 24:8In cases of infectious skin diseases, be careful to diligently follow everything the Levitical priests instruct you. Be careful to do as I have commanded them.
  • Lev 14:56and for a swelling, rash, or spot,
  • Lev 14:3The priest is to go outside the camp to examine him, and if the skin disease of the afflicted person has healed,
  • Deut 28:27The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.
  • Mark 1:44“See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
  • Mal 2:7For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
  • Lev 14:35the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘Something like mildew has appeared in my house.’
  • Exod 4:6–7Furthermore, the LORD said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, white as snow.
  • 2 Kgs 5:1Now Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded, for through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. And he was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
  • Luke 5:14“Do not tell anyone,” Jesus instructed him. “But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
  • 2 Sam 3:29May it whirl over the heads of Joab and the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who leans on a staff or falls by the sword or lacks food.”
  • 2 Kgs 5:27Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow.
  • Num 12:10As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous,
  • 2 Chr 26:19–21Uzziah, with a censer in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But while he raged against the priests in their presence in the house of the LORD before the altar of incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead.
  • Deut 17:8–9If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will choose.
  • Matt 8:4Then Jesus instructed him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, as a testimony to them.”
  • Isa 3:17the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.”
  • Luke 17:14When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were on their way, they were cleansed.
  • Isa 1:6From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and festering sores neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.
  • Num 12:12Please do not let her be like a stillborn infant whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Leviticus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Leviticus 13:2YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LeviticusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 13:2 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.