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The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woollen garment, or a linen garment;
Leviticus 13:47 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB “The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it is a woolen garment, or a linen garment;
  • BSB If any fabric is contaminated with mildew—any wool or linen garment,
  • NKJV “Also, if a garment has a leprous plague in it, whether it is a woolen garment or a linen garment,
  • NASB “When a garment has a mark of leprosy in it, whether it is a wool garment or a linen garment,
  • NLT “Now suppose mildew contaminates some woolen or linen clothing,

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

The law now turns to a 'leprous' contamination found in garments of wool or linen. It matters because God's concern for purity extended even to the objects of daily life, not only to persons.

Overview

The same Hebrew term used for skin disease covers a spreading rot or mildew in fabric, showing that defilement could attach to a person's possessions as well as his body. By regulating clothing, God taught Israel that holiness touched every sphere of ordinary living. The thoroughness of this concern points to the comprehensive cleansing the gospel brings, renewing all that sin has corrupted.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Jude 1:23And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
  • Col 3:3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
  • Ezek 16:16And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
  • Isa 64:6But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
  • Eph 4:22That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
  • Rom 13:12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
  • Isa 59:6Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.
  • Isa 3:16–24Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 13:47YouTube · 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 13:47 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.