And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper;
Parallel translations
- WEB and the priest shall go out of the camp. The priest shall examine him, and behold, if the plague of leprosy is healed in the leper,
- BSB The priest is to go outside the camp to examine him, and if the skin disease of the afflicted person has healed,
- NKJV And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper,
- NASB and the priest shall go out to a place outside of the camp. Then the priest shall look, and if the leprous infection has been healed in the person with leprosy,
- NLT who will examine them at a place outside the camp. If the priest finds that someone has been healed of a serious skin disease,
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 priest goes outside the camp and examines the man to confirm the disease is healed. It matters because the priest must verify God's healing work before any cleansing rite proceeds.
Overview
The priest goes out to the excluded leper, examining him to confirm the plague has been cured. The cleansing ritual presupposes that God has already healed; the priest certifies what God has done. That the priest comes out to the outcast beautifully anticipates Christ, who goes to sinners in their exclusion to bring them home (Luke 15:4-5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Lev 13:46All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.
- 2 Kgs 5:3And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
- 1 Cor 6:9–11Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
- Luke 7:22Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
- Job 5:18For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
- 2 Kgs 5:7–8And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
- Luke 17:15–19And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
- Luke 4:27And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
- Exod 15:26And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
- Matt 10:8Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
- Matt 11:5The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
- 2 Kgs 5:14Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
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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 14:3 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
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