the man is diseased; he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean because of the infection on his head.
Parallel translations
- WEB he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean. His plague is on his head.
- KJV He is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head.
- NKJV he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his sore is on his head.
- NASB he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his infection is on his head.
- NLT the man is indeed infected with a skin disease and is unclean. The priest must pronounce him ceremonially unclean because of the sore on his head.
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 man with the disease on his head is declared leprous and unclean by the priest. It matters because the priest's verdict, not self-assessment, settles a person's standing before God's holiness.
Overview
Concluding the diagnosis of disease that reaches the head, this verse names the man as a confirmed leper whom the priest must pronounce unclean. Uncleanness here is ceremonial, barring fellowship with the camp and the sanctuary, rather than a moral judgment on the sufferer. The need for an authoritative declaration of cleanness anticipates Christ, who alone can pronounce and make the defiled truly clean (Mark 1:40-44).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 2 Jn 1:8–10Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded.
- Matt 6:23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
- 2 Pet 2:1–2Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
- Isa 1:5Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
- Job 36:14They die in their youth, among the male shrine prostitutes.
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 13:44 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.